Deacon Humphrey AVERY

1699 - 1778  (78 years)

• Name	Humphrey AVERY  [1, 2]
  	Humphrey Avery was a freeman of Groton. In deeds given and received, he called himself a carpenter. He was justice of the peace for New London County, 1733, 1737, 1740, 1742, and as such was ordered, with others, "To perambulate the dividend boundary line" between Connecticut and Rhode Island and to set up the monuments. He was deputy from Groton from 1733 to 1735 inclusive, 1738, 740, 1741, 1743 (Conn. Col. Rec., 7: 403, 4420, 424, 464, 482, 545 & 8:28, 81, 159, 188, 224, 551). He was deacon, 1730; tythingman, 1730; lister, 1732; selectman, 1736. February 12, 1738, he was appointed to defend Groton's rights at the ferry. May 5, 1741, he and Christopher Avery were members of a committee to collect money from the sale of western lands belonging to the town. In 1747, he was deputy from Preston, to which place he had moved about 1745. He called himself of Preston, FEb. 4, 1750, at which time he sold land in a new township north of Wendellstown, Mass., to Bartholomew Arthur; Feb. 13, 1751, he sold land in the same township to John Maclewean; also to Daniel Lothrop and to Obadiah Gore (Springfield Deeds, U:150, 337 & X:542, 544). He was one of the Susquehanna company, Wyoming Valley, n the Susquehanna River, was purchased by the Connecticut Susquehanna Company fro the Six Nations in 1754. In 1769, a body of forty connecticut pioneers came to this region, but found the Pennsylvanians on the ground, the Indians having sold them the same tract the year before. From that time until the Revolution the conflicts between the two parties were numerous and bitter. Humphrey Avery and all of his sons owned shares in this company. Humphrey Avery bought a large tract of land in Winthrop's Patent, Long Island, stretching four miles along South Bay and extending seven miles back into the interior. Becoming involved in debt by fire and sickness, he procured the passage of an act by the New York legislature in 1756, authorizing him to dispose of his lands by lottery to pay his debts. The estate was appraised at L6,900. There were in the lottery 1,616 prizes to 6,384 blanks, making 8,000 tickets sold at 30 shillings each. There were 1,580 cash prizes at L8 each; the land was cut into thirty-six parts, each of which was a land prize. The tract abounded in pine timber with a fine range for sheep and cattle; was divided by creeks into seven necks, Pine Neck, Swan Creek Neck, Pachoug Neck, Short Neck, Smith Neck, Tooker's Neck, and Blue Point Neck. It had on it four houses, a grist mill, and a saw mill. In 1762, Humphrey Avery bought of Col. John Henry Lydius one seventy-sixth part of township 16, at Otter Creek, where it empties itself into lake Champlain. The price was one shilling in hand, and annually, for twenty years, one pepper corn; the improvement of the land within the twenty years; and after that five shillings for each hundred acres of arable land to be paid to Lydius or his heirs or assigns annually forever. Humphrey Avery's wife died Sept 20, 1763, Groton. He married 2d, Martha Coit, dau. of the Rev. Joseph and Experience (Wheeler) Coit, b. about 1713. At the time of his second marriage he was living in Windham. he was one of the grantees of Chiswick, 1764 (new Hampshire State Papers, vol. 25:260). His wife became a member of the Separatist Church of Preston, April 13, 1777. [1]
  Prefix	Deacon
  Birth	04 Jul 1699	Groton, New London Co., Connecticut   [1, 2, 3]
  Christening	20 Aug 1699	First Church of New London, Connecticut   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Death	28 Mar 1778	Groton, New London Co., Connecticut   [2, 3]
  Person ID	I03034	Main Tree
  Last Modified	1 Sep 2020

  
  

  Father	Capt Samuel AVERY,   b. 14 Aug 1664, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut d. 01 May 1723, Ledyard, New London Co., Connecticut (Age 58 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Susannah PALMES,   b. 1665 or 1666, Ardfinan, co. Tipperary d. 02 Oct 1747, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut (Age 81 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Marriage	25 Oct 1686  [2]
  Family ID	F08035	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Jerusha MORGAN,   b. 14 Jan 1703/4, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut d. 20 Sep 1763, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut (Age 59 years)
  Marriage	01 Feb 1723/24	Groton, New London Co., Connecticut   [1, 2, 3]
  Children	+ 1. Humphrey AVERY,   b. 10 Mar 1725, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut d. Bef 29 Jan 1790, Smithtown, Suffolk Co., New York (Age 64 years)  [Birth]   2. Solomon AVERY,   b. 17 Jun 1729, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut d. 23 Dec 1798, tunkhannock, Wilkes-Barres, Luzerne, Pennsylvania (Age 69 years)  [Birth]   3. James AVERY,   b. 13 Aug 1733, Groton, New London County, Connecticut d. 22 Feb 1794, Poquetannock, Connecticut (Age 60 years)  [Birth] + 4. Jerusha AVERY,   b. 7 Jun 1735, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut d. 6 Mar 1810, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut (Age 74 years)  [Birth]
  Family ID	F02318	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Jul 2022

  
  

  Family 2	Martha COIT,   b. 1713
  Family ID	F29909	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Apr 2014

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 04 Jul 1699 - Groton, New London Co., Connecticut Marriage - 01 Feb 1723/24 - Groton, New London Co., Connecticut Death - 28 Mar 1778 - Groton, New London Co., Connecticut  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S5684] Elroy McKendree Avery and Catharine Hitchcock (Tilden) Avery, "The Groton Avery Clan". [S11979] Marston Watson, Royal Families Americans of Royal and Noble Ancestry Vol. IV Pelham-Avery-West. [S03412] The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records: Griswold and Groton.