09/21/2025
A mystery that can’t seem to be cracked, who was J.L. Berry of Underhill, VT? A little under 10 years ago this maple syrup tin surfaced at a local auction. For years little insight into the individual, or the story of Shamrock A Farm was able to be gained. That was up until within the past few years when access to the Vermont State Newspaper Archive became available. With the archive access the first name was identified as James L. Berry. Also, discovered were two newspaper label advertisements from the Messenger-Sentinel Co of Morrisville, VT dating from 1932 & 1936. Who were the actual producers of the very label on the syrup tin! No obituaries where discovered to match this gentleman in the archive, his wife was always referred to as Mrs. James L. Berry, so we couldn’t find hers either to help gain answers. Looking through the database of buried graves across Vermont, shows one potential match with a James Lester Berry buried in Richmond. His obituary however doesn’t reference him as a farmer, or having had any association to maple sugaring, or the town of Underhill. So as of now the mystery still remains as to where exactly this farm was. When looking through the newspaper archives there was a minor mention of Irish Settlement and a mention in the land that is now the Ethan Allen Firing Range/Guard Base that took over the Town of Nashville, VT are potentially where this once was. My suspicion is that Mr.Berry potentially moved away from Vermont though, and perhaps passed away in a different state.
