The Prentiss Headlight
Thursday, Feb. 8, 1934

JUDGE AND MRS. P. W. BERRY OBSERVE THEIR GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Judge and Mrs. P. W. Berry, Sr., quietly observed their golden wedding here at their home on February 7th. There was no formal celebration, but there was an old fashioned turkey dinner and many friends called to congratulate them upon having reached the fiftieth milestone in their wedding life, and too, upon their remarkably good health and fine spirits.

It was on February 7th, 1884, down at the manor house of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Magee, parents of the bride, at Old Blountsville, when Mr. Prentiss Webb Berry and Miss Effie Jane Magee were joined in the holy bonds of wedlock by Judge Alex Stringer. There was a big wedding feast served at the hospitable home of the bride's parents and much hilarity and all good wishes for the bride and groom. And it was a wedding that has lasted until this good day.

Through the years there have come many shadows, death, the viscitudes of time, and too, much sunshine, as God has sprinkled the way of this couple through the years. They are the parents of 13 children, six of whom, five boys and one girl, are living. They have known each other all their lives, went to school together, spelled in the old time spelling matches then so popular. The judge could not turn his bride to be down. No, sir, but she encouraged him to learn his spelling lessons just as she, through all the years, has been an inspiration to him in fighting the battles which each young couple must face in a life.

They were both born on Whitesand Creek and have thus lived all their lives almost within ear shot of this romantic little stream that laughs its way to the sea as merrily today as it did on the day, in the long ago, when the music mingled with the wedding bells of this bride and groom. Coincidentally, it has happened that they are the parents of 13 children and Judge Berry himself is the thirteenth child in a large family.

Judge and Mrs. Berry, as everybody here knows, are the founders of the town of Prentiss and it is he after whom it gets its name. Back in their younger days, just when their children were growing up, Judge Berry owned and farmed all the land upon which the present township is located. The lumber of the house in which they live today came from the pine trees, the tallest long leaf pines in the world, the best heart yellow pine lumber the world has ever known, that once grew in the streets of Prentiss. Judge Berry, not a civil engineer, but a man of great judgment and fine mind, showed engineers how to make a detour in negotiating the high watershed between this place and Whitesand. This was a problem that baffled engineers in surveying the route for the building of the now Mississippi Central railroad, then belonging to the J. J. Newman Lumber Co.

As the fiftieth anniversary of their lives together has approached, no doubt this fine couple has reflected on the flight of the years. It was around old Bethany church, of beloved memory, where they were wont to meet on the day for services in the long ago. They remember the old ministers of the gospel, the Rev. T. Shuck Powell, Dr. Jas. P. Williams, Dr. Norvell Robertson, and other sainted men who proclaimed the gospel with the fervor and power characteristic of those days. It was down just below the present railroad trestle crossing Whitesand Creek, near Prentiss, where in the long ago Dr. Jas. P. Williams, now gone to his reward, baptised Judge Berry.

Of the large family of Judge Berry's brothers and sisters, there now remain but two, himself and a sister, Mrs. Rose O'Roark, Columbia. All the others have crossed over the Great Divide.

There were ten children in the Geo. W. Magee family, their mother being previous to her marriage Miss Betsy Jane Atwood. Of these ten children, the following are still living: Mrs. P. W. Berry, Sr., Mrs. John Tyrone, Sr., and Zebulon Magee, Prentiss; Mrs. Lissie Slaton, California; Judge George Wood Magee, Monticello; Jeff Magee, Texas; Thomas Magee, Edinburg, Texas.

They were from a stock of people who "lent not their graces to the graves, but left copies to the world to emulate" and, they, too, have given to the world a fine family, one of their sons Kendall Berry, being editor and owner of one of the leading newspapers in Arkansas and is recognized as one of the leading editorial writers in that state.

We congratulate this fine couple, not old, but growing old gracefully, upon reaching their golden wedding anniversary. The years have flown, the sorrows have come, the baffling experiences of life have been met, the problems encountered and solved, all with courage, fidelity, and faith in a Kind Providence whose charities distill as the dews of the heavens. May the years yet to come and we hope they may be many, be filled with joy and peace and with the knowledge which they possess already, that "God is in His Heaven; all's right with the world."
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This story is taken from an article in the Prentiss Headlight in 2004 in commeration of the 100th anniversary of Prentiss:

He was a wealthy landowner who had a great deal of interest in whether on not a railroad would come through the area that is now named after him. He was in the thriving timber industry when he approached the Mississippi Central Railroad with the idea of an easier route than the proposed idea which would have taken the railroad through the small town of Blountville. Mr. Berry deeded some of his land to the railroad, and this opened the way for a new town to be formed. The buildings of businesses were moved over the "ditch" from Blountville to this new area. It then became apparent that the new town would need a new name as well. The railroad company offered Mr. Berry the privilege of naming the town. He toyed with the idea of naming it after his wife Effie or after his eldest daughter, Maggie. In the end, Mrs. Berry convinced him to name it after himself, Prentiss. Little is known about this most important founding father, except that he was a humble and generous man. He not only donated the land for the town, but also the land for the Prentiss Baptist Church, which it still stands on today. Although he did name and essentially form the town, he took little interest in directly being involved in its politics, but records do show that he seved as an alderman in the early days. Newspaper articles from back then also make mention of Mr. Prentiss by referring to him as Judge P. W. Berry.
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The Prentiss Headlight
17 January 1946

P. W. Berry, Sr. Passes

Early in the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 9th of the New Year 1946, Mr. Prentiss Webb Berry, Sr., age 83 years, founder of the Town of Prentiss, answered the final summons and entered upon eternal sleep. Mr. Berry suffered a stroke of paralysis Jan. 10, 1944 and had been an invalid since that time. During the two years that he was confined to his bed, his devoted wife was continually at his side to minister to his every need. At times when he could not recognize other members of the family, Mrs. Berry was always sure that when his eyes found her, he knew her. Everything that loving hands could do was done to make him comfortable...he had passed beyond the aid of medicine.

Mr. Berry was a member of the Prentiss Baptist Church and a Mason. He was born in Simpson county but spent most of his life in what is now Jefferson Davis county. He was the son of Richard Talley Berry, a native of South Carolina and Martha Jane Williams (sic - Wilkes) Berry, being the youngest of thirteen children, 12 of whom lived to be grown. Of the large family of six girls and six boys, Mr. Berry was the last to die.

Mr. Berry helped to organize Jefferson Davis County and served two terms as a member of the Board of Supervisors of this county. He possessed keen business acumen and was always careful in the expenditure of the taxpayers money. His judgment was highly respected and his counsel was diligently sought. He was prominently identified with the political and civic affairs of his town and county.

Mr. Berry was married to Miss Effie Magee, who survives, Feb. 7, 1884. They were privileged to celebrate their golden Wedding Annivrsary 12 years ago and were planning to celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary when Mr. Berry was stricken with the stroke that proved fatal two years later. Their home was blessed with the coming of thirteen children, only five of which survive. They lost their first-born son, Buford, at the age of 27 months. Twins James Ray and Ada May, the next to bless their home, died at the age of sixteen and seventeen days of age, respectively. Two other sons, Myron and Magee, were next to answer the call of the Grim Reaper. Two daughters, Mrs. Maggie Berry Johnson and Mrs. Betty Berry Scott, died in 1930, with the last daughter, Mrs. Nona Berry Dale, wife of Fred Dale of Prentiss, passing to her reward last September.

Funeral services for Mr. Berry were held from the home Friday at 10 A.M., with Dr. W. L. Sewell, pastor of the Prentiss Baptist Church, in charge, assisted by Rev. Eliot Jones, Methodist pastor. Pall bearers were Messrs. R. E. Tyrone, C. R. Quinn, R. E. Dale, W. J. Hubbard, M. M. Davis, and B. R. Williams.

Interment was made in the Brady Cemetery near Prentiss, with the members of Blountville Lodge No. 44, F. and A. M. in charge.

Immediate survivors are his wife and five sons, Wood L. Berry, George Berry and Prentiss Webb Berry, Jr., Prentiss; Paul Berry, Florida; Kendall Berry, Blytheville, Ark., and several grandchildren.