Green Berry ANDERSON ^{3 4}

  General Notes:

Per the family records of Dr. John Q. Anderson (recounting information his father, Albert Slayton Anderson, had given him in 1946, which should be more dependable than his other recollections given these are of his own parents):

"Berry Anderson, their [Richard and Martha's] son (1836-1923) was born in Missouri [Tennessee] and was twenty-four years old when the Civil War began. He was married and had three children. Living in an area in which there was so much division among neighbors between the North and South, he did not want to get into the war at all; each side was trying to conscript men in the area. He finally was embroiled in the conflict this way:

One day in August he started to the mill with corn to grind for meal when Confederate troops surrounded the mill in order to impress the men who had gathered there to have corn ground. The Confederates captured Berry Anderson and ten of his neighbors, took their horses, and marched them twenty-five miles without water in the August heat. When the prisoners begged for water, they were told that they would be shot if they resisted. That evening when the party camped in some woods., the prisoners were kept under guard, as were the horses which were hobbled and picketed. Berry and one of his neighbors had planned to escape that night as soon as their captors went to sleep. They pretended to be asleep until they saw the guard dozing. They crawled out to the horses, took the hobbles off two, and used the hobble ropes for bridles. As they escaped the guard was aroused and pursued, but they outran the Confederates and got home. They hid out for several days and then went and joined the Northern army.

Berry was gone from home for a year without leave, even though his wife died during his absence. Afterwards, he met and married Martha Henson, who owned land and eighty head of horses. Confederate recruiting parties were again in that part of Missouri, and again Berry escaped them, though he had to leave his home unprotected. Either the Confederates or the Bushwhackers took all of Martha's horses, except one race horse, and 400 head of cattle as well. Martha kept the one horse she had left tied to a tree in the yard of her fine stable. Since Bushwhackers were operating in the area, it was hard to tell who did the most stealing, the Yankees, Confederates, or the Bushwhackers, who were renegades that belonged to neither side but who stole stock and sold to whoever would pay the highest price, North or South. Many Missouri horses were stolen and run to Texas where there was a demand for them and where they would not be recognized.

One day a party of Bushwhackers rode up to Martha's house, and the leader of the band came up to the door and offered to buy the race horse tied in the yard. She protested that the horse was her last and that she would not sell him under any circumstances. When the man became belligerent, she picked up her shotgun and ordered him out of the yard. That night her horse was stolen. "Little Bill," as the horse was called, was taken to Texas with other stolen Missouri horses, and it was later said that he won $50,000 in races.

Later, a man named Brown was recognized as the leader of the Bushwhackers who stole Martha's horse. He was wanted for crimes by North and South; the Northern Army, for instance, had a $10,000 reward out for him. When Brown returned from Texas with another man, they stopped in the Anderson neighborhood at a spring to get a drink. Two local men waited in hiding for them. As the Bushwhackers turned and approached within about a hundred yards, the local men shot and killed both of them. The two men split the reward the Yankees were offering for Brown. (Whether Berry Anderson was one of the men who shot the Bushwhackers is not known. In all likelihood he was.)"

More information is available about Green Berry Anderson and later descendants from the family records of Dr. John Q. Anderson, Helen Hill and Zelda Villnave/Denise Ganly. ⁶

  Research Notes:

The family records of Zelda Villnave and Denise Ganly identify Green Berry Anderson as William Greenberry Anderson. No source is given for the name William. ⁸

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census: 1840, Barry County, Missouri. ⁹

Household of Richard Anderson: Presumed to be one of the male children in the 5-10 age range.

2. Census: 1850, Lawrence County, Missouri. ¹⁰

Household of Richard Anderson: Greenberry, 16, M, TN

Note that Green Berry's first wife, Sophia Hays, appears in the household of her parents, Enoch and Margarette Hays at Dwelling 318, Family 322 as follows: Hays, Sophia, 16, F, TN.

3. Census: 1860, Lawrence County, Missouri. ¹¹

Berry Anderson, 26, M, Farmer, --/$125, TN
Sophia Anderson, 26, F, TN
Taylor Anderson, 3, M, MO
Nancy J. Anderson, 1, F, MO

4. Military Service: 1862, Lawrence County, Missouri. ^{6 12}

Per family records of John Q. Anderson:
In his application for a Civil War pension, dated 24 Mar 1923, Green Berry initially stated that he enlisted in the Northern Army on 5 Apr 1862 at Mt. Vernon. He identified his unit as Company A, 7th Missouri Militia Cavalry. When his name could not be found on the rolls of that unit, his application was amended to claim service in Company E, 76 En. Mo. Mil. The response by the government was that it did not appear that such unit was ever mustered into the service of the U. S.

Per research records of Dale West:
Green B. Anderson
Private, Company A, 76th Regt, E.M.M.
Enrolled 12 Aug 1862 at Mt. Vernon

In the pension application, Green Berry described his service as a "war dispatch carrier." He mentions carrying messages for Generals Lyons, Siegel, Allen and Wilkes. Dale West notes that General Lyon was killed in August, 1861 at Wilson's Creek and that General Siegel's campaigns in southwest Missouri were also in 1861, which conflicts with both his stated enlistment date of 5 Apr 1862 and the roster card which shows he enrolled 12 Aug 1862. Dale speculates that perhaps Green Berry served in a Lawrence County Home Guard Militia Regiment that saw active service in 1861 [might this have been the 7th Provisional Regt. E.M.M.?]. This unit was deactivated in August and September, 1861, and most of the men who served in this early unit enrolled in the 76th Regt. E.M.M. in 1862. It's possible he also served in Company E as well as Company A, for men often changed units. Note his brothers, John and Taylor, enrolled in Company A in 1864.

The pension application describes Green Berry as follows: complexion as medium fair; color of eyes as blue; color of hair as black.

Other information is also contained in the pension application. When such information is included in this database, the source is identified as the pension application.

5. Census: 1870, Sebastian County, Arkansas. ¹³

Anderson, G. B., 33, M, W, Farmer, --/$100, TN, No Right to Vote*
Anderson, Martha, 24, F, W, Keeping House, TN, Cannot Read or Write
Anderson, ____** Taylor, 12, M, W, At Home, MO, School, Cannot Read or Write
Anderson, Susana, 8, F, W, At Home, MO
Anderson, Malizza, 7, F, W, At Home, MO
Anderson, James W., 3, M, W, At Home, MO

*Column 20 is so marked for Green Berry Anderson, Isaac Shipman and Taylor Anderson, but not John Anderson (John should probably be checked again), in the 1870 census for Sebastian Co., AR. That column's heading reads as follows: "Male Citizens of U. S. of 21 years of age and upwards, whose right to vote is denied or abridged on other grounds than rebellion or other crimes." Perhaps, they had not lived long enough in Sebastian County to satisfy a residency requirement. Note that a pro forma 1870 census form indicates a mark in this column signified the person was eligible to vote. Query.

**Very difficult to read. Appears as "Gan E," which was probably an abbreviation for Granville.

6. Census: 1900, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. ¹⁴

Anderson, Berry, Head, W, M, Mar 1840, Married 10 years, MO, MO, MO, Farmer, Can Read and Write and Speak English, Rented Farm
-Anderson, Jane, Wife, W, F, May 1850, 50, Married 10 years, TN, TN, TN, Can Read and Write and Speak English
-Anderson, Alice, Daughter, W, F, Jan 1879, 21, Single, IT, MO, TN, Can Read and Write and Speak English
-Anderson, Albert, Son, W, M, Feb 1882, 18, Single, IT, MO, TN, Day Laborer, Can Read and Write and Speak English
-Anderson, Joe, Son, W, M, Nov 1890, 9, Single, IT, MO, TN, At School, Can Read, but not Write, and Speak English
-Tabor, Ross, SSon, W, M, Jul 1879, 21, Single, IT, MO, TN, Day Laborer, Can Read and Write and Speak English
-Tabor, Ethel, SDaughter, W, F, Oct 1883, 16, Single, AR, MO, TN, At School, Can Read and Write and Speak English

Green married Sophia HAYS on 28 Oct 1855 in Lawrence County, Missouri.¹ (Sophia HAYS died about 1863 in Lawrence County, Missouri ¹⁵.)

Green next married Martha HENSON on 4 Dec 1864 in Lawrence County, Missouri.² (Martha HENSON died about 1888.)

Green next married Edna Jane MILLER on 1 Jan 1889 in Hacket, Sebastian County, Arkansas. (Edna Jane MILLER was born in May 1850 in Tennessee ¹⁴ and died in Jan 1929 near Hollis, Harmon County, Oklahoma ¹⁶.)