Susan Harber, Daily News Journal, August 2, 2015
The Rev. John Berry McFerrin
Clergyman John Berry McFerrin was one of the most charitable and outstanding men to live in Rutherford County. His family was derived of politicians, soldiers and ministers.
He was born on June 15, 1807, to the Rev. James and Jane Campbell McFerrin. James, an Irishman, married at age 20 and settled in Rutherford County, where he was often in strong entanglements with Indians. James fought against Creek Indians under Gen. Andrew Jackson.
At age 36, James, formerly Presbyterian, joined the Methodist Church (1820) and was a circuit preacher with great success until his death in 1840.
John Berry’s grandfather William McFerrin was a farmer and soldier in the Revolutionary War in the Battle of King’s Mountain. William was a descendant of Scotch-Irish ancestors and came to America in 1740 to settle in Pennsylvania.
John Berry had seven siblings, including brothers Andrew and James, who were both ministers. His nephew, James Berry, was governor of Arkansas from 1883-1885 and a senator from 1885-1907.
John Berry’s uncle (Judge John Berry) was a judge and state senator in Arkansas (1850-1856).
John Berry received a common education in rural Rutherford schools and at home while working on his father’s farm. At age 16, he was appointed a class leader by the Methodist conference (1823) and licensed as exhorter in 1824.
He had great desire to devote his life to ministry in the path of his father. He received a degree from Randolph-Macon College and LaGrange (1847) followed by a doctoral degree in 1851.
He wed Almyra Avery of Nashville in 1833, and they had five children. In 1849, they lived on McFerrin Avenue in Nashville. Berry’s house was later utilized as a hospital during the Civil War and seized by the Federal government.
After Almyra’s death in 1854, he married second wife Cynthia Tennessee McGavock, daughter of John McGavock. Cynthia bore three daughters named Kitty, Mary and Elizabeth.
Through a land grant in the McGavock family, McFerrin Park (named for John Berry McFerrin) was formed in Nashville on farm land he once owned.
John Berry joined the Tennessee Conference in 1825 and became a preacher traveling circuits in Alabama and Tennessee for three years. He was ordained in 1829.
John Berry was a missionary to the Cherokee Indians from 1828-1830. He baptized Chief John Ross of Lookout Mountain and was persistent in his ministry to save the lost. Subsequently, he served as pastor and elder for nine years in districts of Florence, Alabama, and the Cumberland region of Tennessee.
In 1840, John Berry was editor of the Christian Advocate in Nashville in a role he carried for 18 years. In 1844, he was a member of the Louisville convention that organized the Methodist Episcopal Church.
When James K. Polk returned to Nashville at the end of his presidency, John Berry was preaching at McKendree Church and welcomed Polk’s membership. John Berry conducted Polk’s funeral in 1849.
He was made book agent of the M.E. Church South from 1858-1866. He was a secretary of the board of missions for the Methodist Church (1866-1878). John Berry led an exhaustive schedule; yet he pressed on to exemplify ultimate good for his fellow man.
With the Civil War looming near, he was 55 years old and willingly served as chaplain of the Confederate Army of Tennessee for the entirety of the war. He was forced to leave his beloved home in Nashville and spent this sojourn ministering to soldiers.
He wrote in his journal “At Chickamauga, the slaughter was tremendous on both sides, but Confederates held the field. I remained on the battlefield 11 days nursing the sick, ministering the wounded, and praying for those dying. The soldiers were shot in every possible manner.
“I also ministered to the Federal soldiers and prayed for them and wrote letters by flag of truce to their friends in the North.”
John Berry was ‘no respecter of persons’ and treated every individual equally and with great fairness and immense compassion.
In 1878, John Berry was again elected book agent and held this role for the remainder of his life. He was a premier author of a compendium of three volumes on the “History of Methodism in Tennessee” published in 1869. Today, one can still purchase these books on several websites, including Amazon.
From 1878-1887, he was the manager of the Methodist Publishing House in Nashville. At age 74, he traveled to London in 1881 for an ecumenical conference. John Berry was so proud to have preached in nearly every town in the Southwest. He was steadfast in his endeavor to establish the Methodist Church as minister and missionary to all in need.
John Berry McFerrin, a native of our county, died in Nashville on May 10, 1887 and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
His son, John, entered the Methodist clergy in 1854 and published three books on sermons and hymns in a continuance of his father’s legacy.
John Berry McFerrin was a legend in his time and remembered well to this day for his 60 years of contributions to the Methodist faith and to mankind.