Mary V. Berry

Biographical Database of Black Woman Suffragists

Biography of Mary V. Berry, 1845-1923

By Chelsea Lundquist-Wentz, independent historian

Mary Virginia Ross was born in the District of Columbia around 1845 to John and Mary A. Ross. Her childhood years are not well documented, though by her mid-teens she met and married her husband Richard Lazenbury. Though they married in 1859, the ceremony was not official, possibly because of Richard's enslaved status or their young age, and the couple legalized their marriage by registering it with the Freedmen's Bureau a decade later. In late spring 1864, Mary's husband Richard enlisted in the 23rd Colored Infantry of the Union Army during the last gasps of the Civil War.

By 1867, the couple had reunited in Washington, D.C. and made plans to relocate to the newly formed Barry Farm subdivision, purchasing the lumber to build their own home. Mary and Richard each purchased lots in the southeast Washington, D.C. neighborhood, a planned settlement created by the Freedmen's Bureau to relieve a housing strain in the city. African Americans, including newly liberated people, were provided loans to purchase 1-acre lots, typically to be paid back in monthly $10 installments. The subdivision was known first as Barry Farm or Potomac City, though residents later changed the name to Hillsdale. Residents purchased lumber and constructed their homes, in addition to their day jobs, with work by lamplight often going late into the night. By the time they moved into their new home, Mary and Richard were using the last name Berry, a shortened version of Richard's surname that was likely an error made by a Bureau administrator.

In 1870, Richard and Mary V. Berry were living in Hillsdale with their young son James; Richard's mother, Delphia Lazinbury, and his sisters also moved into the neighborhood and lived several houses away. Richard worked as a carpenter and Mary worked in domestic services, making sufficient funds to accumulate $200 in savings. Richard deposited some of their savings into the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company in 1871. By the summer of 1874 the bank, in financial ruin, was closed by an Act of Congress; while depositors could petition to recoup their funds, only half received amounts less than the full value of their accounts, and the rest received nothing. There is no indication that the Berry family recovered any of their savings from the bank.

In 1877, some of Hillsdale's prominent black residents, both men and women, petitioned Congress in favor of women's right to vote. Mary V. Berry was one of the 15 black female citizens to sign their name on the document, along with her mother-in-law Mrs. Delphia Lazinbury. The petition, which included 33 like-minded community members, reflects the citizenry of Hillsdale, who regularly collaborated with each other in charitable efforts, fundraising, community building and benevolent and literature societies.

Mary V. Berry and her husband lived and worked in Hillsdale for the rest of their lives. They often cared for other family members in their home, including their grandchildren and Mary's mother. When Richard died in 1911, the couple had been married for nearly 50 years. Mary lived with family until her death on April 19, 1923 in the Stanton Avenue home she had purchased and built 55 years earlier. Her funeral was held at the St. John CME Church, which still stands on the same road today.