O.P. Berry

O. P. BERRY, founder and for some years proprietor of the Berry Machine Company at Petrolia, Butler County, Pennsylvania, is the inventor of the Berry Pump Piston or Plunger Valve, which is coming into more general use in sand wells every day. It is an article which has been tried in service for some years and not found wanting, and its durability and efficiency enables it to outstrip its competitors.
0. P. Berry was born in Elk County, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1845, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Silvers) Berry. His father was born near Brady's Bend in 1810, and died at the age of forty-nine years. His mother was born in Butler County in 1821. There were the following children born of their marriage: David, John, O. P., Wakefield, George A., Thomas M., Miles H. and Catherine. The mother of this family formed a second marital union with Samuel Jordan, and they had two children, Abner M. and Annie E.
O. P. Berry lived in Elk County until his seventh year when his parents moved to Clarion County, his father dying at Monterey. He was reared in that county and there learned the trade of a machinist; for a period of nine years he traveled about for H. T. Blaiiey, setting up machinery. In 1896 he established what has since been known as the Berry Machine Company, which he operated with much success for some years and then turned it over to his sons. He obtained a patent from the government on his invention. He is a member of the order of American Mechanics.
Mr. Berry is a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in 1861 as a private in Company F, Sixty-seventh Regiment of Pennsylvania, and served until January 4, 1865, when they were discharged at Washington, D. C. The regiment was in many important engagments and all its members were taken prisonersin in the Shenandoah, the regiment being badly demoralized. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He has always taken a deep interest in public affairs, and has served the village as constable and as councilman.
September 3, 1872, Mr. Berry was married to Miss Melinda J. Bowser, a daughter of Peter and Jane Bowser. Her father died May 14, 1879, and her mother lived to reach the age of seventy-eight years. They were parents of the following children: Alfred, Lewis, Logan, Andrew J., James M., Ross T., Harry M., Melancthon G., Adeline, Melinda J. and Amelia.
Mr. and Mrs. Berry also became parents of eleven children: Lewis D., John P., George I., Harry II., Pryor, Roy, Elizabeth J., Alma V., Adeline, Arminta L. and Lotta G. Lewis D., who lives at Petrolia, married Clara Stoughton and has two children, Ruth and Pauline. John P. Berry of Petrolia, married Allie Given and they have three children — Chester, Mary M. and Iva. Elizabeth J. married Demer Hemphill of Fairview Township, and they have a son, Roy. Alma V. married William Neal of Petrolia and they have two children, Elizabeth and Pryor. Arminta married James W. Espey and has Laurine, Helen, and Walter R. Ada Berry married Geo. L. Gilchrist and has one son, Lawrence.
Source: 20th century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and respresentative citizens, McKee, James A., 1909, page 1430-1433.