1754 - 1843

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• Birth	20 May 1754	Stonington,New London,Connecticut
  Gender	Male
  Died	Feb 1843	Earlville,Madison Co.,New York
  Person ID	I35923	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	27 May 2005 00:00:00
  Father	William AVERY, c. 19 Jun 1692, 1st Church of New London,New London,New London,Connecticut
  Mother	Sarah WALKER, b. Abt 1710
  Family ID	F14555	Group Sheet
  Family	Mary "Mercy" PACKER, b. 3 Jul 1761, Groton, New London, Connecticut
  Married	Abt 1780	Guilford,Windham Co.,Vermont
  Children	> 1. Elias Packer AVERY, b. 16 Aug 1781, Guilford,Windham Co.,Vermont > 2. Hubbard Burrows AVERY, b. 29 Dec 1784, Guilford,Windham Co.,Vermont > 3. Amos Walker AVERY, b. 24 May 1787, Colerain,Massachusetts   4. Ichabod Denison AVERY, b. Abt 1789, Colrain, Franklin County, Ma   5. Abigail AVERY, b. Abt 1792, Colrain, Franklin County, Ma   6. Esther AVERY, b. Abt 1793, Colerain,Massachusetts   7. Esther AVERY, b. Abt 1795, Colrain, Franklin County, Ma
  Family ID	F15725	Group Sheet

• Notes

  THE GROTON AVERY CLAN, Vol. I, by Elroy McKendree Avery and CatherineHitchcock (Tilden) Avery, Cleveland, 1912. Found in the DAR Library,Washington DC. Page 214. Abraham Avery was a blacksmith and armorer. July 1, 1775, heenlisted at Stonington, as a corporal in the company commanded by NathanHale, Washington's martyr spy, a part of the seventh Connecticutregiment, Col. Charles Webb. After a few weeks' service on the Sound,they marched to Boston, where they were assigned to General Sullivan'sbrigade on Winter Hill. He was discharged Dec. 18, at Cambridge. Jan. 1,1776, he enlisted at Stonington in the Continental line, Capt. JamesEldridge, Col. S. H. Parson's regiment. When he reached Boston, he wastransferred to a company of artificers under Capt. Bacon. After theBritish evacuated Boston, the artificers went to New London and tookshipping to New York. Here the armorers were reorganized under Capt. JohnHilliard. Soon after the lieutenants of this company were sent to theNorthern army and, thereafter, Abraham Avery, being orderly sergeant,acting as lieutenant. They were at King's Yards until the Americans leftLong Island, when they went to White Plains and afterwards to Peekskill,where Abraham Avery was discharged at the end of his term of service. Hereturned to Stonington and, Dec. 1778, went to Boston and enlisted asgunsmith on the brig "Eagle," a privateer under Capt. Elijah Luce,commissioned to Massachusetts. The brig sailed to Surinam, thence to theWest Indies, where, May 1, 1779, they captured a British sloop. The sameday they were, after a fight of an hour and a half, captured by thetender of a British 50-gun ship, commanded by Admiral Young. They weretaken to Antigna, where Abraham Avery and ten of his companions weretransferred to the "Renown," another British war-ship of fifty guns, andobliged to aid in working the vessel. They convoyed a sugar fleet to theBritish Channel and then sailed to New York, where Abraham Avery and hiscompanions petitioned to be placed on the prison ship, preferringconfinement to forced service against their country. After much sufferingin the fever-stricken hulk as it floated at its moorings in the NorthRiver (the Hudson), they were finally paroled. Abraham Avery reached homein a starving state and without hat or shoes or clothing sufficient tocover his nakedness. He soon moved to Guilford, Vermont. During the Revolutionary war, the territory now known as Vermont wasclaimed by the state of New York. In 1777, many of the settlers in thatregion were in favor of organizing a new state. A convention adopted adeclaration of the rights and independence of what had been called theNew Hampshire Grants, and proclaimed the commonwealth of "NewConnecticut, alias Vermont." Congress was petitioned that New Connecticutmight be ranked "among the free and independent American States anddelegates therefrom admitted to seats in the grand Continental Congress."New York took measures to bring the disaffected back to their allegianceand to secure congressional interference in her behalf. Meantime, therewere many in the "Grants" who were favorable to the government of NewYork. "In Brattleborough they were more numerous than the Vermontadherents, and were not afraid to act as their conventions dictated."Thus sprang up two factions, the "Vermonters" and the "Yorkers". By 1783,there was, especially in Windham County, a condition of mutual terror anddistrust. In Guilford, the Yorkers held the power and prevented the Vermontersfrom executing their laws and collecting taxes. The new government tookactive measures that tended only to unite the opposition in theirdetermination to withstand the execution of laws originating in anaughority that they did not acknowledge, and to follow such a course asseemed to them best fitted "to promote the interests of New York and ofthe United States." April 29, 1783, Abraham Avery was elected on of the assessors ofGilford. In 1784, he sold his ourse and balcksmith shop in Guilford toNathaniel Avery and moved to Colerain, Massachusetts. May 11, 1798, acommittee reported on the building of a bridge in Colerain, over theNorth River "Just below Abraham Avery's". The man who built the bridgewas to have the worth of 15 pounds, lawful money; one barrel of new rumby June 15, "bought as cheap as they can at Greenfield," and the rest ingrain or suitable neat stock. About 1800, Abraham Avery settled on the land given him by the stateof New York, two and a half miles from Preston, Chenango County, on theNorwich road. Here he lived for many years, an influential and well-to-dofarmer. He was ensign of the company of light infantry, Jeremiah Butts,capt, 1804. Oct. 16, 1818, he was placed on the pension roll for militaryservice, but was dropped May 1, 1820, under the act thaat debarred thosehaving more then three hundred dollars worth of property. He wasreinstated under the act of June 1, 1832. The accompanying facsimile ofhis autograph is copied from his application for the pension, now on filein the "Old War and Navy Office: of the Pension Bureau at Washington. Hemoved to Earlville, Madison County, about 1840, and died there in Feb.1843, about six months after the death of his wife. He was a tall man, with a large frame, grey eyes, and hair that hewore pompadour and that was thick even in his old age. He was wellinformed, a great student of the 'Bible, and a devoted Baptist. Hisdescendants honor and revere him.