thomas s. berry
Year of Birth:
1882
Immortal:
Yes
DriverTrainer:
Yes
Driver:
Yes
Elected as Immortal:
1964
Year of Death:
1962
Biography:
Born in London, England in 1882, Thomas Berry stowed away on a horse transport bound for Boston at age ten and began to work there in a livery stable. This led to driving horses at the New England fairs. Berry eventually opened his own public stable in Flemington, New Jersey. By 1926 he had become one of the nation's top drivers and was known as "The Jersey Skeeter." Berry signed with Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania and won the Hambletonian and the Kentucky Futurity with Hanover's Bertha in 1931. Berry drove in more Hambletonians than any other driver of his time and won ninety-seven major stakes. He drove until age seventy-nine and died in Lexington on July 21, 1962.
Published in the Harness Racing Museum's 1994 book, The Immortals