82 BERRY, ALBERT S., CAPTAIN with his wife, Shirley, and their children, Linda, Jim, and Alan, moved to Quito, Ecuador, where Bernstein worked until 1968. When he returned to Kentucky, he opened the El Greco (formerly the Isle of Capri) restaurant in Southgate. An inspired entrepreneur, Bernstein bought the Mike Fink riverboat in 1976 from Captain John Beatty, who had turned it into Northern Kentucky’s first floating restaurant. The vessel remains anchored at a site parallel to Covington’s scenic Riverside Dr. Along with his family and a friend, Betty Blake, Bernstein started a business known as BB Riverboats. The business’s first riverboat, the Betty Blake, was the official riverboat at the 1982 World Fair in Knoxville, Tenn. BB Riverboats then bought another riverboat, the Chaperon, and today the fleet consists of the Belle of Cincinnati, the Mark Twain, the River Queen, the River Raft, the Shirley B, and other floating units. In 1982 the Bernstein family started a catering company as an offshoot of BB Riverboats. In 1984 they opened a Chuck E Cheese franchise unit in Florence, Ky. During the mid-1980s, the family opened four additional restaurant operations: Benjamin’s, Covington Landing, Crocket’s River Café, and Shirley’s. Bernstein died at his Cincinnati home in late January 1992 and was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in that city. His children and grandchildren continue to operate the family businesses. Bernstein, Alan. Interview by Nancy J. Tretter, January 7, 2005, Covington, Ky. “Fink Owner Bernstein Is Dead,” KP, January 21, 1992, 1K.
Nancy J. Tretter
BERRY, ALBERT S., CAPTAIN (b. May 13, 1837, Dayton, Ky.; d. January 6, 1908, Newport, Ky.). Albert Seaton Berry, a Confederate officer, a politician, and a judge, was the son of James T. Berry (founder of Jamestown, now part of Dayton, Ky.) and Virginia Wise Berry. He was a grandson of Washington Berry and Alice Thornton Taylor Berry, who was a sister of James Taylor Jr., founder of Newport. Albert’s early education was in Newport schools, and he attended Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, graduating in 1856, and went on to the Cincinnati Law School. After graduation he was admitted to the bar. He was named Newport city attorney in 1858 and served for two years. In 1861 he joined the Kentucky 5th Cavalry Unit of the Confederate Army as a private, serving until the end of the war, when he was discharged as a captain. Three days before Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Berry was captured by Union Forces and imprisoned for two months at Johnson’s Island, Ohio. After being released, he returned to his legal practice in Newport. In 1867 he married Ann Shaler, daughter of Nathaniel Burger Shaler and Ann Southgate Shaler (daughter of Richard Southgate). The couple had five children. Berry served as mayor of Newport from 1870 to 1876 and then purchased the Newport and Cincinnati Ferry Company (see Ferries) in 1879. He was a state senator from 1878 to 1883 and was the Democratic candidate for Kentucky governor in 1887, but
to Newport to speak at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall at Sixth and York Sts., she stayed in the home of Anna Shaler Berry, at Third and York Sts. Albert Seaton Berry died of pneumonia on January 6, 1908, in his home. Grief over her husband’s death apparently contributed to Anna’s death, one month later. Both were interred in a vault at Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate. “Death Again Invades Berry Home,” KP, February 8, 1908, 5. “Funeral Ser vices at Berry Home,” KP, February 10, 1908, 5. Reis, Jim. “They Fought to Secure Equal Rights for Women,” KP, August 4, 2003, 4K. RootsWeb.com. “Albert Seaton Berry, 1836–1908.” www.rootsweb.com (accessed October 14, 2006). “To Perfect Deeds,” KP, April 23, 1907, 5.
Albert S. Berry.
he was defeated in the election. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1892 until 1902. Berry was appointed Campbell Co. Circuit Court judge in 1904, a position he held until his death in 1908. He died in Newport at age 70 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate. Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky. Cincinnati: J. M. Armstrong, 1878. “Hon. A.S. Berry,” DC, July 21, 1881, 1. RootsWeb.com. “Albert S. Berry,” Campbell County, Kentucky Biographies. www.rootsweb.com (accessed November 22, 2005).
Jack Wessling
BERRY, ANNA SHALER (b. 1845, Newport, Ky.; d. February 8, 1908, Newport, Ky.). Women’s rights activist Anna Shaler Berry was the daughter of Nathaniel Burger Shaler, a medical doctor and surgeon at the Newport Barracks. Her mother was the former Ann Southgate, daughter of Richard Southgate, a wealthy landholder and owner of the Southgate Mineral Wells health resort in Southgate, Ky. In 1867 Shaler married Albert Seaton Berry, son of James T. Berry, founder of Jamestown (Dayton, Ky.), and grandson of Washington Berry and Alice Taylor Berry, sister of James Taylor Jr., founder of Newport. Anna Shaler and Albert Seaton Berry became the parents of five children, Albert Seaton Jr., Alice, Anna, Robert, and Shaler. During the Civil War, Albert Seaton Berry Sr. fought with the Kentucky 5th Cavalry of the Confederate Army for more than four years. He later served as mayor of Newport, as state senator, as U.S. congressman, and as Campbell Co. Circuit Court judge. Albert is also credited with the founding of Bellevue, Ky. Anna Shaler Berry became a dedicated women’s rights activist. She was a close friend of Mary Barlow Trimble and Susan B. Anthony. The three women campaigned tirelessly for the legal rights of women, especially the right to vote (see Women’s Suff rage). In October 1879, when Anthony came
BERRY, JAMES T. (b. March 17, 1806, Dayton, Ky.; d. January 29, 1864, Dayton, Ky.). James Thomas Berry, the cofounder of Jamestown, was one of the 12 children born to Washington Berry and Alice Thornton Taylor, a sister of Gen. James Taylor Jr., founder of Newport. In 1792, on the advice of his brother-in-law, Washington Berry purchased the 1,000 acres where Dayton, Ky., now stands from Katie and Caroline Muse, daughters of George Muse. The following year, Washington Berry and his family moved onto their new land. He farmed the site and also operated a ferry ser vice across the Ohio River, to Fulton, Ohio. When he died in 1813, he left the western portion of the farm (known as Fairfield) to his wife; the eastern portion was divided among his nine surviving children. Over the next several years, James bought out the interests of his brothers and sisters and acquired sole ownership of the eastern portion of the farm. James Berry married Virginia Wise of Alexandria, Ky., on December 16, 1832, and the couple had two children, Albert Seaton Berry and Virginia Berry. Berry and his family continued to work the farm and operate the ferry ser vice begun by his father. In 1848 Berry entered into a partnership with James McArthur and Henry Walker to found the city of Jamestown (in Campbell Co.). Berry died in 1864 and was buried in the family plot in Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate, Ky. He was survived by his wife Virginia and their two children, Albert Seaton Berry and Virginia Berry Spence, who became the mother of well-known congressman Brent Spence. Several years after Berry’s death, Jamestown was merged with Brooklyn to form the present City of Dayton. James T. Berry is an important link between Newport’s founding Taylor family and its 20th-century descendants. “Berry Family,” vertical file, Kenton Co. Public Library. “The Late Major James T. Berry,” CDE, March 9, 1864, 3. Reis, Jim. “Union Gave Birth to Today’s Dayton,” KP, March 23, 1992, 4K.
BERRY, THEODORE MOODY (b. November 8, 1905, Maysville, Ky.; d. October 15, 2000, Cincinnati, Ohio). Ted Berry, the first African American