Introduction

Biography

Joseph was the son of Fran­cis Ber­ry and Ann J. Law­son, and hus­band of Ol­ive J. John­son.

He be­gan preach­ing at age 17, joined the De­troit Con­fer­ence of the Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church in 1874, and be­came pas­tor of the First Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church in Mount Cle­mens, Mi­chi­gan, in 1879.

He served as as­so­ci­ate ed­it­or of the Mi­chi­gan Chris­tian Ad­vo­cate (1886–90), ed­it­or of the Ep­worth Her­ald (1890–1904), and a Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal bi­shop (1904–28).

Berry led the drive to es­tab­lish Ep­worth Leagues (the youth fel­low­ship of the Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church) across Am­er­ica, and his in­ter­est in Gos­pel mu­sic de­vel­oped from a de­sire to pro­vide suit­able songs for Ep­worth League meet­ings.

Works

• Epworth Songs, with Charles Ga­bri­el, 1893
• Songs of the Soul, with James Black (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Cran­ston & Curts, 1894)
• Songs of the Heart, with Charles Ga­bri­el (New York: Me­tho­dist Book Con­cern, 1914)
• Songs of Con­quest (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Jen­nings & Gra­ham, cir­ca 1912)
• Songs of Con­quest, for Use in Pub­lic Wor­ship, Pray­er Ser­vic­es, etc. (New York & Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Ab­ing­don Press, 1923)