25/05/2026
Hermann Trolley spent Memorial Day with an event in Chamois that had an amazing turnout!
What do you know about Jerry Berry, the last Union soldier in Osage County?”
That question launched months of research that eventually led to the discovery of Berry’s gravesite in the historic African American cemetery on the hill overlooking Chamois.
Berry was born into slavery in Callaway County in 1844. After the Emancipation Proclamation allowed enslaved men to enlist in the Union Army, he joined the military in December 1863 in Fulton and was mustered into service at Benton Barracks in St. Louis.
He served in the 56th United States Colored Troops, an infantry regiment made up of African American soldiers. The regiment spent much of its service in Arkansas guarding military supplies, plantations used to produce crops for the government, and wood fuel used by Union steamboats.
Although the regiment saw limited combat, soldiers endured harsh conditions and widespread disease. Berry’s unit lost many men during the war, particularly from illness. After the war ended, members of the regiment helped expand an orphanage for African American children near Helena, Ark., donating both money and labor.
Berry served for two years, nine months and 15 days before being discharged in September 1866.
After returning to Missouri, he eventually settled in Chamois. Historical records show that he worked along the Missouri River, likely performing labor on river improvement projects intended to maintain navigation channels for steamboat traffic.
Berry was also active in the local African American community. Records indicate he helped establish a Black Baptist church in Chamois and served as one of its trustees. He was also a member of the Prince Hall Masons, an African American Masonic organization that later oversaw his funeral when he died in 1939.
Berry lived to about age 95, making him the last surviving Union Civil War veteran from Osage County.
