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Della May Berry, the sixth child of William and Caroline (Boone) Berry, was born on February 5, 1891. Della May never married or had children, and lived with her parents on their farm until her untimely death at age 26 on June 16, 1917. While her death certificate lists tuberculosis as the cause of death, the "Spanish flu" was probably also a factor, given the year of death and Berry family oral tradition: "That's a picture of William and Caroline's daughter and her name was Della Berry, she also died in the 1910s from the influenza epidemic" (Russell 2012).
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Della May Berry. Courtesy of the Ozarks Afro-American History Museum Online, accessed January 19, 2022, https://oaahm.omeka.net/items/show/108.
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Grave Marker: The grave marker for Della May Berry is a pulpit style marble monument on a marble upper base and limestone lower base. Excluding the two-part base, the monument is 34 x 16 x 8 inches in size. The two-part base is 20 x 26 x 18 inches in size. A footstone for Della May, engraved with the initials “D. M. B.”, is located just east of the headstone. By 2010, the upper portion of the monument had detached from the base. In 2017, the marker was repaired through a grant from the Phenix Marble Company and is now in relatively good condition.
West face of monument after repair
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Engraved imagery on the grave marker includes palm leaves, rope with tassel, a scroll (encompassing the text), and a cityscape. Drawing by Allison Tiller.
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Engraved images on the upper portion of the west face of the monument
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Bible on upward facing side of gravemarker
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Footstone
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