Ruth Dickinson Berry was born at Oakland Farm in Calhoun County, Arkansas, on February 8, 1880, and died in Fort Smith on February 1, 1973. She was the daughter of George Ware Dickinson (1843-1912) and Cordelia Barker Dickinson (1848-1943). The Dickinsons came to Arkansas from Mississippi and Georgia in 1844. G. W. (as he was known) was in Cabell's Brigade during the Civil War. He and Cordelia Barker were married in l869 and lived at the Dickinson home place, Oakland Farm, until l881 when they moved their family to Little Rock. Cordelia Barker's family came to Drew County from Tennessee in l855 and established an enslaved labor plantation, Barkada. Members of this family were active in the Confederate cause.

Children of George Ware Dickinson and Cordelia Barker Dickinson were: James Barker (1870-1947), Harvey Thompson (l871-1888), Thomas Tillar (1876-1963), Catherine Evelyn (1877-1893), Ruth Anne (1880-1973), and Georgia May (1882-1960). In the late 1890s, Mrs. G.W. Dickinson moved temporarily to Fayetteville. Her children, Thomas Tillar, Ruth Anne, and Georgia May, were enrolled at Arkansas Industrial University, soon to be the University of Arkansas. Ruth and Thomas graduated from the University in 1900. Mrs. Dickinson kept a rooming house, "The Dickinson Ranch," on Dickson Street where one of her boarders was Elliott Rosson Berry of Bentonville (1879-1953). He and Ruth were married in Little Rock in 1902. Their children were Ruth (1910-1988) and Mary Cordelia (1914-1997).

The branch of the Berry family represented in these papers was descended from James McFerrin Berry and Isabella Jane Orr, who came to Carroll County in 1847. Of their ten children, Mary Emeline (1835-1902) married Samuel West Peel (1831-1924). He is often referred to as Colonel Sam Peel. The branch of the Peel family represented here came to Independence County in the 1830s and moved to Carroll County by 1840.

Samuel W. Peel began a distinguished career when he was elected Carroll County Clerk in 1858. He became an officer in the Fourth Arkansas Infantry, CSA, during the Civil War. In 1867 he moved his family to Bentonville where he practiced law. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1882 and served for ten years. He remained influential in Arkansas business and politics throughout his life.

The fifth child of James F. and Jane O. Berry was James Henderson (1841-1913). He also had a long distinguished career in Arkansas politics. He served in Company E, Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry, CSA, during the Civil War. In l866 he was elected to the Arkansas state legislature from Carroll County. In l869 he moved to Bentonville and practiced law with his brother-in-law, Samuel W. Peel. In l872 Berry was elected to the Arkansas State Legislature from Benton County. He became Circuit Court Judge in l878. From l883 to l885 he served as Governor of Arkansas. From l885 to l907 he served as a U.S. Senator from Arkansas.

James Henderson Berry married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Quaile (1848-1932) in l865. He met her in her home town of Ozark while recuperating from battle wounds that resulted in the loss of his right leg. Their children were: Nell Frank (1876-1900), Albert Josephine (1870-?), Jennie Blackburn (1872-1918), Bessie Pittman (1872-1882), Elliott Rosson (1879-1953), and Fredrick Hugh (1884-1968). Nell married William Hyatt. Their children, Berry and William, were raised in the James H. Berry household after their mother died in 1900.

Ruth Dickinson Berry, while related to, and associated with, many well-known individuals, had an active life of her own as a wife, mother, grandmother, clubwoman, and newspaper correspondent. For over thirty years she wrote local interest pieces for the Arkansas Gazette and other regional papers. She was a national officer in Chi Omega and edited their national publication. She was active in the Red Cross, D.A.R., U.D.C., Benton County's Apple Blossom Festivals, the Pea Ridge Battlefield Association, and the Methodist Church. She remained in close contact with her mother in Little Rock, and her sister Mrs. Georgia Bunn, in Memphis. Her daughter (sometimes designated Ruth Strawn and sometimes Ruth, Jr.) married Paige Mulhollan and was the mother of Paige and Jimmy. Ruth D. Berry's daughter Mary Cordelia married William Preston. Their daughters were Ann and Polly.

Mary Berry Preston, one of the principals in the collection, graduated from Bentonville Public Schools in 1931. She attended Missouri Valley College and the University of Arkansas. In 1935 she was elected the University Campus Queen. She graduated in l936. In 1941, she married William Preston and moved with him to military bases in the United States. After the war they moved to Fort Smith. Mary's sister, Ruth Berry Mulhollan lived in Fort Smith at the time and the sisters saw each other frequently and made frequent trips back to Bentonville to visit their parents. In Fort Smith, Mary B. Preston was active with Sparks Hospital, the Free Ferry Garden Club, the Fort Smith Rose Society, the American Cancer Society, the Democratic Women's Club, the Arkansas Alumni Association, the Methodist Church, and, especially, Chi Omega. Mary Berry Preston continued in the tradition of her grandmother, Mrs. G.W. Dickinson, and her mother, Ruth Dickinson Berry, as family record keeper. The items in the Berry, Dickinson, Peel Family Papers were stored in her home at the time of her death in 1997.