Born in Atlanta, Terry made his professional baseball debut in 1915 at the age of 16. He began his career as a pitcher, playing for two separate minor league teams, the Newnan Cowetas of the Georgia–Alabama League and the Dothan club of the FLAG League. With Newnan, he had a win-loss record of 7–1, with an 0.60 earned run average (ERA) in eight games.\n', '

After starting 1916 with Newnan, by the end of the year he had moved up to the class-B Shreveport Gassers of the Texas League. He again compiled impressive statistics for his new team, putting up a record of 6–2 with a 1.07 ERA in 11 games with Shreveport. Terry spent all of 1917 with Shreveport, with a record of 14–11 and an ERA of 3.00. By this time, he was also beginning to play more in the field, pitching in 40 games and appearing in 55 other games.\n', '

After spending several years playing semi-professionally, Terry was picked up by the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association in 1922. He was now playing in double-A, the highest minor league level of the era. While he was still pitching, putting up a 9–9 record in 26 games, his hitting was also starting to pick up. In 88 games with Toledo, Terry batted .336 with 14 home runs.\n', '

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