William Waightstill Avery (May 25, 1816 – July 3, 1864) was a

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

politician and lawyer. He served in the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

and

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

prior to the U.S. Civil War. He represented North Carolina in the

Provisional Confederate Congress The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing ...

. He was an outspoken advocate of higher education, graduate of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

and member of the Board of Trustees of the university. Avery owned a number of slaves, including 22 whom he inherited from his father.

Early life

Born at

Swan Ponds Swan Ponds is a historic Plantation house in the Southern United States, plantation house located near Morganton, North Carolina, Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built in 1848, and is a two-story, three-bay, brick mansion with a ...

Burke County, North Carolina Burke County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is part of the state's western mountain region, containing sections of the Blue Ridge Mountains including the Linville Gorge and South Mountains. As of the 2020 census, its po ...

, he was the brother of Isaac E. Avery, the son of Isaac Thomas Avery, and the grandson of

Waightstill Avery Waightstill Avery (10 May 1741 – 15 March 1821) was an early American lawyer and officer in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. He is noted for fighting a duel with future U.S. president Andrew Jackson in 1788. Famil ...

. In 1837, Avery graduated from the University of North Carolina and delivered the valedictory address at the

graduation ceremony A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ...

. In 1846 Avery married Mary Corinna Morehead, the daughter of Gov.

John Motley Morehead John Motley Morehead (July 4, 1796 – August 27, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician who became the 29th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina (1841 to 1845). He became known as "the Father of Modern North Carolina." Early and ...

. At Marion, N.C. in the fall of 1851, Avery was beaten with a cowhide whip by Samuel Fleming, a merchant from Burnsville, who was a participant in a lawsuit in which Avery appeared as legal counsel for Ephraim Greenlee. Avery was unarmed and a smaller man than Fleming. He could not defend himself. Several weeks later Fleming came to Morganton bragging of his courage and making unpleasant comments about Avery. When Fleming appeared in the courtroom and stood five feet from Avery and near the presiding judge, Avery shot Fleming dead where he stood. Avery was brought to trial for murder but was acquitted on the grounds of extreme provocation leading to temporary insanity.

Political career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Avery served in the

and later in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

to which he was elected

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

in 1856. He ran for

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in 1858, but a split among the Democrats led to a victory by Zebulon B. Vance. In 1860 Avery was a representative to the Democratic Party Convention in Charleston. He had a prominent role on the committee which wrote the party platform, which divided the party over how to address the issue of slavery, particularly the Fugitive Slave Act. Due to this, there was a later convention held in Baltimore which did not include delegates from several slave states and divided the Democratic party into Northern and Southern factions leading up to the election of 1860. After North Carolina seceded from the union in 1861, Avery was chosen to represent the state in the Provisional Confederate Congress. Then, he returned to Burke County to raise a regiment for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. Several of Avery's brothers had prominent roles in the Confederate Army, most notably

Isaac Avery Isaac Erwin Avery (December 20, 1828 – July 3, 1863) was a planter and an officer in the Confederate States Army. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Avery is most remembered for a poignant blood-stained note ...

who was killed while leading his regiment at Gettysburg, but William Waightstill Avery spent most of the Civil War in Morganton attending to family business. He died in Morganton from wounds received in a skirmish with a party of Tennessee Unionists in 1864 after a raid on Camp Vance by the Union's 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry, one year to the day after the death of his brother Isaac.Rob Neufeld
Visiting Our Past: Waightstill Avery top patrician in 18th century
''Citizen Times'', February 11, 2018

Namesakes

Avery Hall at the

was named in his honor.

References

External links

Courtroom Slaying in Morganton, 1851
''North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, William W. Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Party North Carolina state senators 1816 births 1864 deaths People of North Carolina in the American Civil War Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Politicians killed in the American Civil War University of North Carolina alumni Civilians killed in the American Civil War 19th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly Slave owners killed in the American Civil War

Early life

Political career

Namesakes

References

Further reading

External links