The John Beery Home, built in 1804, is located at 4690 Harpine Highway, Rockingham, VA. Pioneer John Beery (1767–1834) came to Virginia as a young man prior to the coming of his father Abraham Beery (1736–1799), who settled near Cross Keys late in life. He married Barbara Kagey (1769–1835) sometime between 1792 and 1794, and for a few years lived at New Market, Virginia. About 1796 he purchased a large tract of land near Edom, in Rockingham County, Virginia, where he built the home in which he and Barbara raised eleven children. After his death the homestead passed to his son Henry Beery (1806–1887), and later to Henry’s son, Henry C. Beery (1847–1933).
The family of Pioneer John Beery was closely intertwined with the family of Pioneer Joseph Wenger (1747–1812). Three Beery siblings married three Wenger siblings. Barbara Beery (1795–1871) married Joseph Wenger II (1794–1865). John K. Beery (1801–1885) married Magdalena Wenger (1800–1876). Anna Beery (1807–1879) married Henry Wenger (1804–1888), who in 1825 built the current home at “Farmingreen.” These three families all have homes featured on the Anabaptist Heritage Trail.
The house, sitting on the west side of Linville Creek, can be difficult to view when driving by on Harpine Highway. It is best viewed in the fall and winter when not partially hidden by trees.
There are at least two distinct Beery homes documented on the trail — the John Beery House and the John K. Beery House — reflecting the family’s substantial presence and the multi-generational pattern of homes within a single lineage.