Avery, William

honorific(s): Esq.; Captain
Birth: November 25, 1724 in Groton, Connecticut
Death: May 4, 1787 in Groton, Connecticut
Faith

Christianity

Nationality

Anglo-American

Occupation

town clerk and treasurer

Residence(s)
  • Groton, Connecticut (from 1724-11-25 to 1787-05-04)
Marital status

Avery married Mary Dolbeare on Sep 16, 1761. They had five children together: George, Mary, Abigail, Hannah, and Samuel. After his first wife's death on October 4, 1774, Avery married Hannah Walsworth on March 16, 1775. They had one child together, a daughter named Sarah.

Biography

William Avery was born in 1724 to the prominent Avery family of Groton, Connecticut. From January 1768 until his death, Avery served as Groton's town clerk and treasurer. During the American Revolution, Avery served on several war committees. In 1779, he represented Groton at a general convention in Hartford, and then served on a committee to secure bounties for Revolutionary soldiers by selling Groton "public lands." From 1772 until 1810, North Groton did not have an official minister, and South Groton did not have one between 1798 and 1810; it appears that religious activity waned during this time. In his journal for 1785, however, Occom recalls an experience preaching in Groton, where Avery followed his sermon with an exhortation, an extemporaneous outpouring by a layperson that in New Light churches of the time often followed the more formal sermon. Occom notes that the audience was so rapt on this occasion that they did not want to leave, and begged Occom to preach to them again. Avery died at the age of 63 and was buried in the Starr Cemetery in Groton.

Sources

"The Groton Avery Clan." https://archive.org/stream/grotonaveryclan01aver/grotonaveryclan01aver_djvu.txt; "History of Montville, Connecticut." http://archive.org/stream/historyofmontvil00bake/historyofmontvil00bake_djvu.txt; Caulkins, Francis Manwaring. History of New London Connecticut: From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1860. New London, CT: H.D. Utley, 1895. Web.; Occom, Samson. The Collected Writings of Samson Occom, Mohegan. Ed. Joanna Brooks. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

Further reading

See http://archive.org/stream/historyofmontvil00bake/historyofmontvil00bake_djvu.txt. for Avery family history and genealogy.