For one who had been born a slave, and had still the scars of the overseer's whip on his back, he was very independent.

He cut everybody's hair as he wanted to cut it, trimmed each beard as he wished to trim it, regardless of its owner's wishes.

If there was dissent, then his customer need not come again, that was all.
There were other barbers in the place, but Berry was the master barber.
To have your head massaged by him was never to be forgotten, especially if you found your hat too small for your head in the morning.

Also he singed the hair with a skill and care, which had filled many a thinly covered scalp with luxuriant growth, and his hair-tonic, known as "Smilax," gave a pleasant odour to every meeting-house or church or public hall where the people gathered.

Berry was an institution even in this new Western town.