William Wells Berry, (Sr.) (Nashville, TN)

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Photo of William Wells Berry, Sr. (date unknown)

William Wells Berry, (Sr.)

Biography

  • Birth: June 8, 1813
  • Death: June 15, 1878
  • Spouse: Jane Eliza (White) Berry (1820-1905) (Married 1840)
  • Father of William Wells Berry, Jr., President of the American National Bank of Nashville, charter 3032.


William Wells Berry, Sr. was born June 8, 1813, in Baltimore, Maryland. William's parents were Horatio Berry (1776-1855) and Sarah (Godman) Berry (1781-1831). William was raised and educated in the private schools of Baltimore, where he completed his education in 1829. The next five years of his life were in the employment of the Keerle and Company, a wholesale drug house in Baltimore.

William moved to Nashville in 1834. The population of Nashville at the time was between 5,000 and 6,000 residents. Evidently William thought Nashville needed a local manufacturer and seller of apothecary items, because he founded the drug business of Berry, Demoville and Company, and it was a very successful business.

On March 10, 1840, he married Miss Jane Eliza White. Jane was the daughter of General William White, who served under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. General White was also wounded in a duel with Sam Houston.

William Berry's drug company was very successful, and it made him a wealthy man. He was soon asked to sit on the Board of Directors for The Planter's Bank of Tennessee, where he served from 1854-1862. During the Civil War, union forces occupied his drug warehouse in downtown Nashville and used it as a hospital for union troops. After the end of the war, the Planter's Bank failed. Dempsey Weaver, the Cashier of that bank, along with Edgar Jones and William Berry decided to fund and open a national bank. The Third National Bank of Nashville, charter 1296, received approval from the Comptroller of the Currency on June 24, 1865, and opened for business in early July in the old Planter's Bank building at the northeast corner of Cherry (now 4th Avenue North) and Union Streets. William Berry was elected President, Dempsey Weaver Vice-President, and Edgar Jones as Cashier.

Being President of a national bank added to William's clout. He started a dry goods company called William W Berry Dry Goods. He founded and was elected President of the Equitable Fire Insurance Company of Nashville. He invested in land near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and south of Nashville he bought a farm. He became one of the wealthiest men in Nashville.

Due to health concerns, William resigned as President of Third National on January 11, 1877, and John Kirkman replaced him. His health continued to decline until William passed away on June 15, 1878, at the age of 66. He died at home and was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, in Nashville. His family farm, Edgewood, was eventually subdivided and became the basis for the small, incorporated city of Berry Hill, on the southern side of Nashville. William's son, William Wells Berry, Jr., would later serve as President of the American National Bank of Nashville, charter 3032.

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, William W. Berry was involved with the following bank(s):


Sources

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