Lot 59 was drawn by Martin Beliles of Gwinnett County in the 1832 Georgia land lottery. Subsequent owners include James F. Cooper, Charles H. Smith, and William M. Phillips. Smith sold the 160 acre lot to Philip R. Depriest in 1857.
Depriest and his wife Eliza mortgaged 50 acres in 1871, with that portion later passing to R. Manning and then to white farmer John Allen, his wife Mary, and their descendants. This 50 acre portion became known as the Allen tract and was divided into three portions. Two of the three portions were sold by Clarence A. Todd to the Berry Schools in 1927.
Hardy Shelton bought the remaining 120 acres from J. R. Towers in 1874.
After Hardy Shelton's death in 1892, K. W. Berryhill applied to Floyd County Probate Judge John Peter Davis for the permanent letters of administration on the estate.
Instead of Berryhill, Judge Davis ordered that W.H. Ennis, the County Administrator, be issued Letters of Administration of Hardy Shelton's estate.
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Kerr Wallace Berryhill made at least two loans to Hardy Shelton, applied to administer Shelton's estate after his death, and was the "best and highest bidder" on the portion of lot 59 sold as a part of Shelton's estate. Who was K.W. Berryhill?
According to his 1915 obituary in the Atlanta Constitution, Kerr Wallace Berryhill was a confederate veteran, member of a prominent north Georgia family, and former tax collector for Floyd County.
At the age of 20, Berryhill enlisted as a private in the Confederate 29th Georgia Infantry in 1861, and was wounded and taken prisoner in 1864. He was released from Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, one of the largest Union Army prisoner-of-war camps after taking the Oath of Allegiance on June 18, 1865. His father, William Rufus Berryhill, a sergeant in the Confederate North Carolina Infantry, was also taken prisoner during the Civil War.
Kerr Berryhill's mother, Mary Spratt Reid Berryhill, claimed significant wealth in the 1870 census, including $2,000 in real estate. The 1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedules list three women, two men, and nine children that were enslaved by William Rufus Berryhill of the Flatwoods district of Floyd County.
Kerr Wallace Berryhill married Louisa Jane Sanders in 1883. In 1900 they lived in the North Carolina district with their three children. K.W. Berryhill's occupation is listed as landlord.
After taking possession of Hardy Shelton's portion of lot 59, K.W. Berryhill sold the property to farmer, railroad laborer, and mineral tonic purveyor Berry Calvin Autrey in 1910. Autrey was a descendant of John and Mary Allen and also owned a portion of the 50 acre tract carved out of lot 59 in 1871 by Philip Depriest. Berry Autrey sold (or lost) his portion of lot 59 to W.T. Hundley in 1925. Hundley sold to Wright Willingham in 1925, Willingham to Thomas Berry in 1926, and Thomas Berry to the Berry Schools in 1932.