Edward Avery (February 20, 1790 – June 27, 1866) was a lawyer from Wooster, Ohio, United States, who was an

Ohio State Senator The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such tha ...

and served on the Ohio Supreme Court from 1847 to 1851. He later helped found the College of Wooster and the Wooster Cemetery.

Biography

Edward Avery was born February 20, 1790, in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1810 from Yale University. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Connecticut in 1813. He traveled to Europe in 1816. In 1817, he became the second lawyer to locate in Wooster, Ohio. In 1819, Avery was appointed prosecuting attorney of Wayne County, Ohio, and served until 1825. He was elected to the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

in 1824 and served one two-year term. His re-election in 1826 was contested in the Senate, and his seat given to his opponent. After he complete his service in the Senate, Avery returned to his practice in Wooster. In 1832 he was one of four trustees of the town, and was a school examiner. He also mentored law students. On January 15, 1847, the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

elected Avery to a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court to a seven-year term that began February 6, 1847. The judges traveled to each county in the state in those days. The job was arduous, and Avery's health gave out. He submitted his resignation March 1, 1851, and was replaced by the legislature on March 17, 1851. After returning to Wooster, Avery retired from law practice. He helped establish the College of Wooster and was generous in giving to it. He guarantee the notes to establish the non-denominational Wooster Cemetery. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church. Avery married Jane Galbreath of Steubenville, Ohio November 25, 1823 or December 28, 1823. She died in 1824, and Avery married Gennette Marie Sherwood on February 3, 1834. Gennette had no children. Avery died June 27, 1866, at Wooster. He was buried at Wooster Cemetery next to his two wives and daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Edward 1790 births 1866 deaths County district attorneys in Ohio Ohio Whigs 19th-century American politicians Ohio state senators Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut People from Wooster, Ohio Yale University alumni 19th-century American judges