The 1859 Johnson County Tornado killed five people – including Iowa City’s first schoolmaster – Jesse Berry. His widow, Calista Clarinda Worden Berry – known around town as Mrs. C.C. Berry – survived, and with the help of her brother Edward Worden, the Berry family went on to play a major role in our community’s growth during the second half of the 19th century. Read more here.
In the late summer of 2023, I had the honor of meeting Ruth Ann Easter – Mrs. C.C. Berry’’s great, great, great granddaughter. In our on-line conversations, she and her cousin – Deanna (Sutton) Cooley Clark – sent me a big collection of photographs taken from C.C. Berry’s Photograph Album that dates back to 1877. Above, you see the cover and the blank index page. Sadly, many of the subjects and dates of the photographs in this album are not clearly identified, but because of its great historical significance, we are reproducing – on this page – a handful of the Iowa City-themed photos and, when possible, giving as much information as we can. So here goes…
Calista Clarinda Worden was born in Cattaraugus County, New York on March 19, 1826* – the daughter of Nathaniel Worden (1802–1849*) and Calista Stacy (1803–1898).
The Worden family had five daughters – Sarah P. (1823), Calista C. (1826), Esther L. (1829), Lucy M. (1832), and Ann Ursula (1835) – and one son – Edward N. (1827). Details are not clear on how the Worden family chose to live in Johnson County, but historical records do indicate that C.C. arrived in 1839 – just as Iowa City was coming into existence. C.C.’s father – Nathaniel – died in Illinois in the 1840’s, but in the 1850 U.S. Census – C.C.’s mother – Calista Stacy Worden – and four of C.C.’s siblings – Edward, Esther, Lucy, & Ursula – are living here in Johnson County.
Three years after arriving in Johnson County, Calista C. Worden – age 16/17 – married Jesse Berry on April 14, 1842. Jesse Berry was born to Henry & Phebe McGuire Berry in Rockingham County in Virginia around 1814, and just like his young bride, arrived here in 1839.
You can read much more about C.C. & Jesse Berry and their lives in Johnson County, Iowa here.
Sadly, in her photograph album, there are only two photograph of Calista – both taken when she was older. Interestingly, the first is a large photograph – in poor condition – taken at the 1886 Annual Reunion of The Old Settlers Association (OSA) of Johnson County.
(Below) We’ve taken the original photograph (as you see it above) and tried to make it a bit clearer – enlarging it as well. As you can see from the pics below, either C.C. or a family member circled C.C.’s face in the crowd. Calista and her brother – Edward Worden – were both very active members of the OSA – which first formed in 1866, holding annual reunions in Johnson County from the 1880’s until 1925. Read more here.
The second photograph (below) features C.C. after she had moved from Iowa City to Washita County, Oklahoma, where she lived with her oldest son – Henry Nathaniel Berry and his family – before she passed away in 1906. Read more details here.
Our pioneer couple – Jesse & C.C. Berry – living in Iowa City – had three children – Phebe* – born in 1843, Henry N. – born in 1844, and George L. – born in 1850. In C.C.’s album, we found the following photographs of the children:
* While the photographs (above) all come from the C.C. Berry collection, the one on the left might not be Phebe Berry. In C.C.’s album, Phebe’s page was missing a photograph, and the pic shown above – while not identified as Phebe – does come from Iowa City (see below) and may very well be her.
Phebe Berry Bailey was born in Iowa City to Jesse & Calista (C.C.) Berry on March 4, 1843, and was named after her father’s mother – Phebe McGuire Berry. Phebe married Dr. John Isaac Bailey in October 1872, and lived in nearby West Branch in Cedar County, Iowa. Together, the Baileys had one daughter – Gertrude Bailey Rifley – born in 1875. Phebe died on May 2, 1913 at age 70, and is buried in the West Branch cemetery. Her husband died in 1910 and is buried in West Branch as well.
Henry Nathaniel Berry was born on December 17, 1844 in Iowa City – the oldest son of Jesse & Calista (C.C.) Berry. As a 15-year-old, Henry suffered four broken ribs in the 1859 tornado that killed his father – Jesse. Read more here. A farmer in Johnson County, Henry also made quite a name for himself in local politics. The photograph above was taken in March of 1875 when Henry was 31. The 1880 U.S. Census indicates that Henry & his wife – Amanda (Maude) Alt Berry (married in 1866) – are living in Iowa City with their four children – Jesse, Harry, Mable & Arthur. According to family records, a fifth child – Cora – was born later that same year (1880). After living in Oklahoma for a season, Henry & Amanda moved to San Mateo County, California, where Henry died, at age 71, on January 31, 1916, and Amanda passed in 1938. More on Amanda Alt and her family later.
George L. Berry was born in Iowa City to Jesse & Calista (C.C.) Berry in September 1850 and was only eight years old when his father – Jesse – was killed in the May 1859 tornado. The picture above was taken when George turned 21 in September 1871. In an Iowa City newspaper account from 1909, it appears that George – when young – traveled with the circus, and was seriously hurt with a head injury when trying to break up a fight between two workers. This concussion affected him greatly and while he took a job with the Rock Island Railroad – living with his wife, Winifred (Minnie) McCauley Berry, in Illinois – he was unable to keep his employment, which ultimately led to a confinement in the Mt. Pleasant, Iowa mental institution. Records indicate that George died November 20, 1883, at age 33, leaving his wife and daughter Winifred L. Berry (1878). At the time of this writing, a burial location for George is unknown.
In a posting found on Ancestry.com, we came across a picture of Henry & George Berry when they were young men (above left) in Iowa City – circa 1870. In C.C. Berry’s photograph album, an unnamed and undated photo of two very young boys (above right) was found. Our best guess is that this is Henry & George in the mid-1850’s.
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Berry was born on December 24, 1836 to George & Ann Wright Berry. George is the oldest brother of Iowa City’s Jesse Berry, so Lizzie would be Jesse’s young niece. The Berry family lived in Brookville in Franklin County, Indiana, and quite possibly, this photograph was taken there.
Nettie Ann Bailey Gruwell is Phebe Berry’s step-daughter. Nettie was born on August 16,1866 and is the daughter of Phebe’s husband – Dr. John Isaac Bailey and his first wife – Lucinda A. Vanpelt Bailey. Nettie married Abraham Clarkson Gruwell in Cedar County, Iowa on August 21, 1884, died (age 77) in Los Angeles on May 27, 1944, and is buried in Ames, Iowa.
As we mentioned earlier, Amanda (Maude) Alt Berry (above center) was born in Johnson County, Iowa in 1846 and married Henry Nathaniel Berry – at age 20 – in 1866. Growing up, Amanda had ten siblings, and above left, she is pictured in 1855 with one of her older sisters – Eliza Jane “Lida” Alt Statler – who born in 1843. Above right, the two sisters are pictured again – circa 1860’s.
The photograph above is of Mary Drew (Alt) Wein (1791-1869) – taken at Wetherby’s Studio in Iowa City – probably in the mid-1860’s.
As we mentioned earlier, Henry N. Berry married Amanda (Maude) Alt Berry in 1866. Interestingly, there was a close family connection here in Iowa involving Amanda’s family – the Alts – Jacob Henry Alt (1813-1898) – on her father’s side, and the Wein’s – Mary Wein Alt (1820-1901) – on her mother’s side. You see, Amanda’s mother – Mary Wein Alt – was the daughter of George Wein (1777-1857) and Elizabeth (Elliot) Heyl – who were married in 1815. After Elizabeth died at a young age, George remarried in 1835 – uniting with the widow – Mary Drew Alt – whose first husband was Amanda’s grandfather on her father’s side – Jacob Alt (1782-1833) in 1909! Whew. I hope you followed this one big happy Alt/Wein family connection! But wait! There’s more!
The Alt/Wein connection continues! Pictured above is Amanda (Maude) Alt Berry’s aunt and uncle – Mary Alt Wray (1820-1898) and Carson Buford Wray (1819-1899) of North Liberty, Iowa. Carson Wray came to Johnson County in 1841, marrying Mary Alt – daughter of Jacob Alt and Mary Drew (Alt) (pictured earlier) – in 1842. As we said, it’s apparent that several generations of the Alt family and the Wein family were intertwined here in Iowa City, with Aunt Mary and Uncle Carson both being buried in nearby Ridgewood Cemetery in North Liberty.
The Coral Mill – as it became to be known – struggled to make it over the first few years – hobbling along just long enough until Ezekiel Clark and his brother-in-law – Samuel J. Kirkwood – came into town from Ohio. Clark and his business partner E.W. Lake bought the struggling mill in 1848, hiring Kirkwood (1855) to be his plant manager, and together Clark & Company made the Coral Mill – renamed the Clarksville Mill – into the most successful milling operation in eastern Iowa. In light of all this success, and with the mill and dam drawing other like-minded businesses into the area, the townspeople decided to take the name of the mill and call their growing home – you guessed it – Clarksville. Read more here.
It’s obvious that Ezekiel Clark (1817-1898) and his second wife – Sylvia Porter Sessions Clark (1818-1882) were good friends with Jesse & C.C, Berry. Ezekiel lost his first wife – Susan Urania Dyer Clark – in 1849 when she suddenly died at age 28. Ezekiel & Susan had three children: John Henry Clark (1841), Samuel Kirkwood Clark (1844), and Phila Isabel Clark (1845) – who later married John N. Coldren.
Following his first wife’s death, Ezekiel married Sylvia Sessions on January 1, 1850, and we’re believing these two photos (above) were probably taken in the mid-1850’s.
Henry & Maria L. Downs came to Iowa City in 1856. Their two youngest children – Horace Sanders Downs (1869-1925) and Capitola E. Downs (1873-1877) were captured in this photograph that must have been taken around 1875 – since little Capitola died at age 4.
Very little is known about the Iowa Citians who appear in these final four photographs. Above – it appears that these two photographs are of a Mrs. Wright. Below – while these two Iowa City gentlemen go unidentified, they remain wonderful examples of friends of the Johnson County pioneer Mrs. C.C. Berry. Read more here.
In closing – without a doubt, Iowa City had some great photographers in the second half of the 19th century. Of course, we start with the very first photographer – Isaac A. Wetherby and his son Charles C. Wetherby. Read more here.
And then, of course, there’s James Photography located at 126 S. Clinton Street, T.W. Townsend on the corner of Clinton & Washington Streets, and the lessor-known Iowa City studios of the 1880’s – Samuel H. Sperry’s and Werts on the second floor of 18 S. Clinton Street. Read more here.
Kudos to the amazing resources below for the many quotes, photographs, etc. used on this page.
A special thanks to Ruth Ann Easter & Deanna (Sutton) Cooley Clark for their contributions to this page. Family photographs from the Calista Clarinda (Worten) Berry Family Photo Album Collection are used by permission of Deanna (Sutton) Cooley Clark and Ruth Ann Easter – keepers of the repository.
Calista Clarinda Worden Berry, Find-A-Grave
Phebe Berry Bailey, Find-A-Grave
Henry Nathaniel Berry, Find-A-Grave
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