Helena Dill Berryman
Cherokee County, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Helena Dill Berryman (September 8, 1804 -- March 13, 1888) first Anglo child born in Texas, according to tradition. Grew up in Nacogdoches when it was ruled by Spain. Married Lt. Henry Berryman in 1823. They moved later to the estate she inherited in present Cherokee County. Built log home in 1847, named it "Forest Hill." There entertained many noted Texans. Took active part in county development. Had 5 children; 3 lived to adulthood. After death of husband, reared 30 orphans.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in 1804 when Nacogdoches was still Spanish territory, Helena Dill Berryman was remembered by tradition as the first Anglo child born in Texas. She married Lieutenant Henry Berryman in 1823 and later built a log home she named "Forest Hill" on inherited land in Cherokee County, where she hosted noted Texans and took an active hand in the county's growth. After her husband's death she raised thirty orphaned children.
Why it matters
Her life spans Spanish Texas, the Republic, and statehood, and her care for thirty orphans exemplifies the outsized civic role frontier women played in building their communities.
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Related people
- · Helena Dill Berryman
- · Henry Berryman
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Helena Kimble Dill Nelson
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Born in Maryland in 1770, Helena Kimble married James Dill and moved in 1793 to Nacogdoches, then part of Spanish Texas, where her husband traded with Native peoples and served as alcalde. Her child is remembered as possibly the first Anglo-American born in Texas, in 1804, decades before the region became American. Widowed in 1825, she secured title to Dill's land grant and settled in present Cherokee County.
Candace Midkiff Bean
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William Preston and Rebecca Kate Conner House
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On land bought in 1852, W. P. "Press" and Rebecca Kate Conner built their home in 1891 from logs harvested on the property, a vernacular L-plan house later expanded with a second story and generations of additions. Press worked as a farmer and rancher while Kate served the surrounding community as its midwife. More than a century on, Conner descendants still own and care for the homestead.
Berryman Cemetery
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The land around Berryman Cemetery traces back to a 1802 Spanish grant sought by James Dill, who would become the first alcalde of Nacogdoches under Mexican rule. His daughter Helena and her husband, West Point graduate Capt. Henry Berryman, built the plantation home 'Forest Hill' and encouraged farmers to settle the area; after Henry's death in 1859, Helena stayed on and raised thirty orphans alongside her own children. The burial ground that grew here holds the family, former slaves Sally and Alex Berryman, a Civil War veteran and county commissioner, and even a former Cleveland Indians ballplayer.