Berry, William F.

Born: 1811-01-08

Died: 1835-01-10

Flourished: Menard County, Illinois

The son of a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, Berry attended Illinois College at Jacksonville, Illinois. In the summer of 1832, Abraham Lincoln bought Rowan Herndon's half-interest in a store he ran with Berry in New Salem, Illinois. In January 1833, Lincoln and Berry bought competitor Reuben Radford's store from William G. Greene. The two men subsequently ran the store until April 1833, when Lincoln sold back his half to Berry. Lincoln and Berry continued to carry debts from their partnership, which increased for Lincoln after Berry's 1835 death.

Gravestone, Rock Creek Cemetery, Tallula, IL; Benjamin P. Thomas, Lincoln's New Salem (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1934), 29, 60-63, 72-74.