Title
ABRAM B. BERRY FAMILY
Creator
Dorothy Berry De St. Clement
Coverage
TOWNSHIP 140N RANGE 93W
Text
ABRAM B. BERRY FAMILY
TAYLOR MY HOME TOWN
Let me see the old home town
Where it was so happy and bright
Let me linger there till eventide
When starlight claims the night,
Let me hear the wind's soft whisper
With memories sweet strain
And 1 will see the years roll backward
And be young again.
By Dorothy Berry De St. Clement
Abram B. Berry came to Taylor, Dakota Territory, 1884 with his wife, Annie, and his daughters, Maple and Dorothy. They came to seek a home and a living as a hotel keeper of the Taylor Hotel or the Berry Hotel as it became known. His wife, Annie, ran the other hotel operations with the help of Norwegian hired girls. Dorothy describes Taylor in her book “White Gumbo.” “Taylor was not the gopher mound town we expected, but a treeless wide awake town that transacted more business in one day than Chester did in one month.” They had come from Chester, N.J.
Berry operated the hotel until he went to his ranch northeast of Taylor. It was called the X-B Ranch. He became interested in thoroughbred horses and sheep. The winter of 1895 he wintered 1100 head of sheep with only a loss of three. From a newspaper item he states, “The band is healthy and will shear more than average weight fleece this spring. I predict that there is a brighter prospect for the sheep industry and the man who holds onto his flock is the man who will win.” July 6, of the same year a news item reports, “Our Taylor sheep growers had a sale of 7 cars of wool on Monday and did very well getting 10¢ per pound right through.”
Mr. Berry was justice of peace, fur buyer, Indian trader, grain elevator agent, grain grower, rancher and sheep raiser. He was a veterinarian and armed with a veterinary book and instruments obtained from a mail order house, he was ready to doctor sick animals.
Dorothy was born on a farm near Far Hills, N.J. and was about five years old when they came to Taylor. Her earliest years in school found her attending a prairie school six months a year and studying at home with a governess from the East. As a young girl, she began her writing career and contributed to children's pages in newspapers and periodicals.
Dorothy attended NDAC at Fargo for three years in the 90's. At the AC she combined literary subjects with a short course in stock raising, stock breeding and judging. On the family ranch she rode broncos, broke colts, rounded up cattle, horses and sheep and helped in judging stock. Following her years at the college she taught in country schools. She taught the Jesperson school at one time.
She spent a vacation in New Jersey and while east met the Italian count, Count Guilio de Sauteiron de St. Clement, in New York and later they were married. He was a passenger agent for the Italian Steamship lines. The couple traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Italy, staying in America the required time to keep their citizenship.
Dorothy de St. Clement wrote “White Gumbo” a story of the midwest about the time of the gay 90's. from Moorhead to Glendive and published in 1951. She wrote, “I want this book to boost North Dakota and put it before the eyes of all the world. It is a state to be proud of and now that oil has been discovered there, there is no limit to what will happen to the prosperity of the dear old state. I am proud to call it ‘My State’.”
From Lorraine Dohrmann's Scrapbook
TAYLOR MY HOME TOWN
Let me see the old home town
Where it was so happy and bright
Let me linger there till eventide
When starlight claims the night,
Let me hear the wind's soft whisper
With memories sweet strain
And 1 will see the years roll backward
And be young again.
By Dorothy Berry De St. Clement
Abram B. Berry came to Taylor, Dakota Territory, 1884 with his wife, Annie, and his daughters, Maple and Dorothy. They came to seek a home and a living as a hotel keeper of the Taylor Hotel or the Berry Hotel as it became known. His wife, Annie, ran the other hotel operations with the help of Norwegian hired girls. Dorothy describes Taylor in her book “White Gumbo.” “Taylor was not the gopher mound town we expected, but a treeless wide awake town that transacted more business in one day than Chester did in one month.” They had come from Chester, N.J.
Berry operated the hotel until he went to his ranch northeast of Taylor. It was called the X-B Ranch. He became interested in thoroughbred horses and sheep. The winter of 1895 he wintered 1100 head of sheep with only a loss of three. From a newspaper item he states, “The band is healthy and will shear more than average weight fleece this spring. I predict that there is a brighter prospect for the sheep industry and the man who holds onto his flock is the man who will win.” July 6, of the same year a news item reports, “Our Taylor sheep growers had a sale of 7 cars of wool on Monday and did very well getting 10¢ per pound right through.”
Mr. Berry was justice of peace, fur buyer, Indian trader, grain elevator agent, grain grower, rancher and sheep raiser. He was a veterinarian and armed with a veterinary book and instruments obtained from a mail order house, he was ready to doctor sick animals.
Dorothy was born on a farm near Far Hills, N.J. and was about five years old when they came to Taylor. Her earliest years in school found her attending a prairie school six months a year and studying at home with a governess from the East. As a young girl, she began her writing career and contributed to children's pages in newspapers and periodicals.
Dorothy attended NDAC at Fargo for three years in the 90's. At the AC she combined literary subjects with a short course in stock raising, stock breeding and judging. On the family ranch she rode broncos, broke colts, rounded up cattle, horses and sheep and helped in judging stock. Following her years at the college she taught in country schools. She taught the Jesperson school at one time.
She spent a vacation in New Jersey and while east met the Italian count, Count Guilio de Sauteiron de St. Clement, in New York and later they were married. He was a passenger agent for the Italian Steamship lines. The couple traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Italy, staying in America the required time to keep their citizenship.
Dorothy de St. Clement wrote “White Gumbo” a story of the midwest about the time of the gay 90's. from Moorhead to Glendive and published in 1951. She wrote, “I want this book to boost North Dakota and put it before the eyes of all the world. It is a state to be proud of and now that oil has been discovered there, there is no limit to what will happen to the prosperity of the dear old state. I am proud to call it ‘My State’.”
From Lorraine Dohrmann's Scrapbook