Sounds like a member of the Crataegus (Hawthorn) genus. Probably not a "common hawthorn", but one other of the many cultivars that are now established in North America.
Google Crataegus and see if it matches the tree that you are inquiring about.

Ian

Yes, pictures would help, even describing the leaves would help.

You can open a free account at a photohosting site (like photobucket.com). Upload your pictures. There will be several links given to you to use for each picture. Click on the one called HTML tag and it will say "copied". Come back here and paste that into this message. When you click "preview" you should see your picture displayed. Then we can see it. But even if you just give us the URL, we can copy and paste it ourselves.

You can also upload a 60K picture in the Shrubs Gallery here, but that can be a very small picture.

Aside from the thorns, it sounds like Amur or Tatarian honeysuckle. It's a very invasive exotic that spreads by seeds.

I agree, mad gallica....if it doesn't have thorns, it could also be a Serviceberry...they seed themselves and tend to spread quite readily.

Ian

Thanks for the ideas so far. My son has shown me how to post the pictures, so here are three. I hope they will help in identifying. Thanks so much! Tricia

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In this picture, it's the silvery bush on the right hand side.

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An overview of the way this shrub grows.

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Up close of leaves and berries.

Could be Elaeagnus multiflora, not a native shrub. Are the back of the leaves silvery?

At first glance, I thought it maybe a viburnum cultivar, but I think that esh ga is right....

I looked up Elaeagnus multiflora, but noticed the berries hang as a single berry on a fairly long stem and the ones on the mystery shrub hang in clusters. Our local nursery suggested choke berry, but doesn't look right to me either. I will attempt to get a leaf sample to photograph both sides, and also a description of the flowers.

Definitely an elaeagnus. "Multiflora" would seem to suggest clusters of fruits to follow the multiple flowers.

Well, I went back to search the internet for pictures and elaeagnus umbellata seemed to be the right variety. Oddly enough, before I ever posted I thought Autumn Olive looked close. As I'm sure you probably already know, autumn olive is the common name for elaeagnus umbulata!! UConn's web site has a good description and some nice pictures. I guess the mystery is solved. Thanks so much for all the help!
Tricia

Good detective work, kazoonative! Uconn is a great website. Autumn Olive is indeed classified as invasive in many states in the mid-west. People don't always see the effects of a plant's invasiveness around them. Some plants invade by runners, some by windblown seed - these types of invasion are more noticeable locally. Plants with berries (like this one) are usually spread by birds and the seeds can be dropped far from the immediate area.

My neighbor has elaeagnus (not this one) and the birds deposit the berries in my yard - I pull out 5-6 seedlings a year. If I didn't, I'd have quite a few of these bushes already myself.

Here is a link that might be useful: elaeagnus umbullata invasive information