John Marshall Berry (1835-1883) was born in Maryville, Tennessee, to James Enfield Berry (1790-1857) and Rebecca Crawford McChesney (1794-1841). James Enfield Berry was the first mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. John Marshall Berry married twice, first to Tennessee J. Russell (1840-1860). They had one child, George Russell (1860-1922). John Marshall Berry moved to Rome, Georgia, before the Civil War. During the Civil War he fought with Company E, 8th Georgia regiment, as a volunteer soldier and was released on a medical discharge. After the Civil War he worked as a merchant in Rome until his death. John Marshall Berry married Mary Margaret Rawlins (1845-1931) in 1866 and had four children: Varina (1868-1955), Henry R. (1870-1941), John Marshall (1872-1956), and Mary McChesney (1874-1950). Varina Berry married Charles Scranton Pruden (1861-1917) in 1894. Pruden was a commercial agent for the Central Georgia Railway Company, patented the nut lock, and was First Commissioner of Rome in 1916. Henry R. married Mattie Dortch (1881-1970) in 1908; John Marshall (1872-1956) married Elizabeth Louise (1881-1961); Mary McChesney never married. John Marshall Berry's (1835-1883) brother, Thomas Berry (1820-1887), was also a merchant in Rome and married Francis Margaret Rhea (1838-1887). Their daughter, Martha McChesney Berry (1866-1942), was the founder of Berry College in Rome, Georgia.