DAR Project – Julia Barnes and Mary Ray, members of the Hudson Berry chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Fork Shoals Baptist Church. The chapter is planning to help clean and restore a Revolutionary War veteran gravestone in the church cemetery.
Revolutionary War veteran Hudson Berry is interred at Fork Shoals Baptist Church in Pelzer. Berry served in Virginia and was one of the earliest settlers of Greenville County. Berry and his wife were among the earliest members listed in the 1812 Fork Shoals church minutes. His descendants include ministers, community leaders, and military veterans.
The Hudson Berry chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, is planning to help clean and restore his gravestone at the church cemetery.
A preliminary visit to the church was made on Nov. 14, 2013, by Julia Barnes, Regent of the Hudson Berry chapter and member of Winnie Davis 442 UDC, her husband Michael Barnes, Commander of Palmetto Sharpshooters SCV, and Dr. Timothy M. Drake, Jr., of Clemson University.
The gravestone is embedded in a deep granite base which is over 2 feet in the ground, so the marker is not in danger of toppling over. Mrs. Barnes is working with Mary Ray of the Church cemetery committee to order markers for veterans of all wars in cemetery who have broken, illegible, or missing headstones.
Any churches or other cemetery groups who would like assistance in obtaining markers for veterans are urged to contact Winnie Davis UDC president Dona Morgan at scdona6@aol.com or Julia Barnes at juliabarnes@charter.net .
