James Henderson Berry was a United States Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 and served as the 14th Governor of the State of Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

.

James Henderson Berry was born in Jackson County, Alabama

Jackson County, Alabama

Jackson County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Andrew Jackson, general in the United States Army and President of the United States of America. As of 2010, the population was 53,227. The county seat is Scottsboro. Jackson County is a prohibition or dry county,...

 to Isabella Jane (née Orr) and James McFerrin Berry. The family moved to Arkansas in 1848. Berry attended Clarks Academy in Berryville, Arkansas, which was named after him, for one year. He studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and in 1866 was admitted to the Arkansas bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

.

In 1865, Berry married E.Q. "Lizzie" Quaile. They had six children: daughters Nellie Frank, Berl, Jennie, and Bessie; and sons Elliott and Frederick Hugh.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 Berry joined the Confederate Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant with the 16th Arkansas Infantry

Arkansas Civil War Confederate Units

Arkansas Civil War Confederate Units, a list of units formed from that state for service in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Like most states, Arkansas possessed a prewar Militia organization, which consisted of seventy one regiments, organized into eight brigades, and divided into two...

. Berry lost his right leg during the Battle of Corinth

Battle of Corinth

The Battle of Corinth may refer to a Roman battle, or to one of two American Civil War Battles:* The Battle of Corinth * The Siege of Corinth, Mississippi , also known as the First Battle of Corinth, during the American Civil War* The Second Battle of Corinth...

 in northern Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. After recuperating from his wound he worked as a school teacher and started a private law practice.

Berry was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives

Arkansas House of Representatives

The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the state. Each district has an average population of 26,734...

 in 1866. He was reelected in 1872 and in 1874. In his last term he was selected to be Speaker of the House. Berry was the chairman of the Democratic State Convention in 1876. In 1878 he became a judge for the Fourth Circuit Court and served in that post until 1882 when he was elected Governor of Arkansas.

The Berry administration focused on reducing the state debt, creating a State Mental Hospital. Berry did not run for reelection.

In March 1885 Berry was selected by the legislature to fill the unexpired term of Senator Augustus Hill Garland

Augustus Hill Garland

Augustus Hill Garland was an Arkansas lawyer and politician. He was a senator in both the United States and the Confederate States, served as 11th Governor of Arkansas and as Attorney General of the United States in the first administration of Grover Cleveland.-Early life and law career:Garland...

. Berry remained in the U.S. Senate for the next 22 years. In 1910 he accepted a position with the Arkansas History Commission to mark the graves of all Arkansas Confederate soldiers who had died in northern prisons.

James H. Berry died in Bentonville, Arkansas

Bentonville, Arkansas

Bentonville, Arkansas is a city in Northwest Bahamas, and county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States The population was 35,301 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. Berry is buried at the Knights of Pythias Cemetery (now known as the Bentonville Cemetery), Bentonville, Arkansas.

External links

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry: James Henderson Berry
• 1905 Full Portrait