AVERY BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri
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AVERY, Angus Clark - b: 1836 Henry Co, MO
source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 494
residence: Clinton

Angus Clark Avery. One of the leading citizens of Henry County, and one who has 
attained a well merited prominence, is he whose name heads this sketch. He was 
born in Henry County (then Rives), January 26, 1836, and with probably one or 
two exceptions, is the oldest man now living, born within the limits of the 
county. His father, Henry Avery, whose biography appears elsewhere, was born in 
Roane County, Tennessee. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Green, a native 
of White County, Tennessee. The Avery family are of English origin and the 
earliest known progenitor, Christopher Avery, emigrated from Great Britain and 
settled in Connecticut in early colonial days, and their descendants took an 
active part in the war for independence, no less than nine of that name being 
killed and five wounded at the battle of Fort Griswold, on Groton Heights, 
September 6, 1781. Four of this number were commissioned officers. Groton 
Monument, commemorating this conflict, stands on ground once a part of the 
Avery estate. The maternal ancestry were also of English descent and settled in 
Virginia at an early day, and were related to General Nathaniel Green, of 
Revolutionary fame. John Green, the grandfather, moved to White County, 
Tennessee, and became a Baptist minister and died at an advanced age in 1850. 
Angus C. Avery was reared on a farm and received his primary education in the 
schools of the neighborhood in which he lived. He then entered Union Hill 
Academy, White County, Tennessee, and after preparing himself for one year, 
became a student of Burritt College, Tennessee, where he remained two years. He 
then returned to Missouri and attended the State University at Columbia for one 
year but subsequently returned to Burritt College, where he was graduated July 
3, 1858, and was honored by being appointed valedictorian of the class. The same 
year he entered the law department of Cumberland University, Tennessee, and 
was graduated in the spring of 1860, and admitted to the bar by Judge Caruthers 
of the supreme court. Returning to Clinton, he engaged in the practice of his 
profession until the courts were suspended in consequence of the war. He then 
turned his attention to the real estate business in which he has since been 
actively engaged, and at the present time he is one of the largest land owners as 
well as tax payers of the county. He has always shown a worthy public 
spiritedness and every good cause, calculated to be of lasting benefit to the city 
or county, receives his hearty support. In railroad matters he has been specially 
active with others in reviving the enterprise of building the Tebo & Neosho 
Railroad, a charter for which was granted prior to 1860 but abandoned on account 
of the war. This road, after many difficulties, was completed and is now known 
as the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. He was one of the largest contributors 
and the watch word of the company was "economy." The company records will 
show that though entitled to a salary, he served without compensation, even for 
expenses, for several years as a director, traveling by his own private 
conveyance from Sedalia on the east to Fort Scott on the west, attending 
meetings of the board and using his influence for the undertaking until it was 
completed. The first mile of the road was graded on his laid through which he 
gave the right of way. He was one of the originators of the First National Bank of 
Clinton and has served its interest as president and director. In educational 
matters he has always taken a deep interest. In his religious preference he is a 
Baptist and holds the position of deacon, and has served as superintendent of the 
Sabbath School for seven years. he is one of the trustees of William Jewell 
College at Liberty, Missouri, and contributed largely to its endowment. He is also 
on the board of trustees of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, located at 
Louisville, Kentucky. The Baptist Church edifice in Clinton is due largely to his 
munificence, as is also the usefulness of its church organization. For the past 
twenty years he has taken the most advanced position in favor of temperance and 
prohibition. No one in the past has so thoroughly canvassed against saloons in 
Clinton. In all places and under all circumstances he is loyal to truth, honor and 
right, and richly merits the esteem in which he is held. He was married July 3, 
1860, to Miss Rhoda Dodge, daughter of William H. and Catherine Dodge, of 
Cumberland County, Tennessee, originally from New York. Their family consists 
of eight children: August D., William H., Howard G. and Herbert D. (twins), Angus 
B.,. Clara B., Rhoda E. and Walter W. Lost one daughter in infancy, Elizabeth K.

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AVERY, C. E. & R. W. - b: 1849 Henry Co, MO
source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 629
residence: Tebo

C. E. & R. W. Avery are the owners and managers of a fine 460 acre farm, and are 
sons of the late Hon. William L. Avery, who was born November 14, 1822, in White 
County, Tennessee, and who married January 17, 1843, Miss Saphronia C., 
daughter of Major John W. and Nancy A. Williams, of Henry County. She was born 
December 8, 1826, in Simpson County, Kentucky. They had nine children, seven of 
whom are living: Nancy Elizabeth was born May 10, 1845, and married Mark F. 
Finks, October 20, 1864; Leonora A. was born August 2, 1847, and married John 
W. Coppage, October 23, 1867. Charles E. was born July 4, 1849, and married Miss 
Lelia Theressa, daughter of Judge M. B. and Susan A. Merritt, of this county; 
Robert W. was born June 15, 1851; Emma O., was born September 9, 1853, and 
married J. W. Wall in August, 1873 (she died January 7, 1876); Idora F., who was 
born February 4, 1855, married Nicholas Mars, December 19, 1870, and died 
September 18, 1874; Mary H. was born January 28, 1857, married Peter B. Mars, 
October, 1874; Lillian M. was born May 1, 1861, married Nicholas Mars, and now 
residing in Cedar County Missouri; John H. was born September 3, 1863. C. E. 
Avery, after attending the Calhoun and Clinton High Schools, took a course at the 
Missouri State University. He is a gentleman of good education and well cultured, 
yet altogether unassuming in manner. Robert W., his brother is assisting in the 
farm management. They are capable energetic young men, and rank high as 
farmers and raisers of fine graded stock. They have an excellent farm upon which 
are good buildings, etc. This farm was settled in 1845, by their father, who 
although he served the county with honor to himself, and satisfaction to her 
people, found time aside from legal hours, to train his sons for success in future 
life. He was a prominent public man, his first office being that of county 
assessor, which position he filled for two years, in 1850-1. he was next elected 
judge of the county court in 1852, and served for twelve years, or until the 
general ousting ordinance in 1864. He was again elected in 1870, as judge of the 
court of common pleas, and held the office for four years. In 1874 he became 
judge of the probate court, holding his seat until the time of his death, March 2, 
1875. Politically these brothers are Democratic.

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AVERY, Henry - b: 1793 Roane Co, TN
source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 492
residence: Clinton

Rev. Henry Avery. Among the early pioneers of this county there are none who 
were better known or whose memory is more favorably cherished than the 
subject of this sketch. He was born in Roane County, Tennessee, October 18, 
1793, and was the son of Peter Avery, who emigrated to Tennessee at an early 
day. The youth of Henry was spent on a farm until the war of 1812, when he 
enlisted and served as a private; he also served in the war against the Seminole 
Indians under General Jackson, and was promoted for meritorious conduct. He was 
married on the 25th of November, 1819, to Miss Elizabeth Green, of White County, 
Tennessee. In 1830 he emigrated to Missouri, and after spending a season in St. 
Louis County continued his course westward and raised a crop in Morgan County, 
and thence moved to what is now Henry County, in July, 1831, and was one of the 
first to identify himself with the interests of the county. He made his permanent 
settlement in Tebo Township March 18, 1832, and engaged successfully in 
agricultural pursuits. He was probably the first man in the county who broke 
prairie and put in a crop, and he erected the first hewn log house in the county, 
which is still standing, and a cut of which is to be seen elsewhere. In this house 
the first white child of the county, Susan Jane Avery, (now Mrs. William H. 
Roberts, of Clinton,) was born. He was the first justice of the peace of the 
county, and the first term of the county court was held in his house on May 4 and 
5, 1835, when the county first had a separate organization. The pioneer store in 
the county was erected and opened on his premises by Stephen Clark. In his 
religious preferences he was an old school Baptist, and in 1826 united with the 
Big Fork Church in Tennessee. After his removal to this county he became a 
constituent member of High Point Church, Johnson County, in 1832, and in the 
following spring he was ordained a preacher by a Presbytery consisting of Elders 
J. Warder, J. White, Thomas Ricketts and William Simpson. From this time until 
his death, though called an Old School Baptist, he was a great missionary, 
working hard on his farm most of the time and spending often from Friday until 
Monday preaching the Gospel in all the surrounding country without fee or 
reward; going east at times as far as St. Louis, and west beyond the state limits, 
preaching to the Indians. Through industry and strict economy he gained a 
competency. His house was the home of many a weary traveler, and in it 
elections, courts and preaching were held. He held a public debate with Elder 
Joshua Page, a Campbellite in Henry County, the first, perhaps, held as far west, 
in 1842. He had a good English education and his preaching was plain, faithful and 
earnest, at the same time pathetic and persuasive, and he might in truth be 
styled one of the old fashioned preachers and teachers, laboring as Paul did, with 
his own hands for a support, and the local poet might have said of him as it did of 
one who labored with him in the early days of his ministry: (Omitted poem) Mr. 
Avery died September 26, 1845, surrounded by his family to whom he spoke 
loving words, and after sending affecting messages to his ministerial brethren 
and others with whom he had been intimate as a co-laborer. The last words he 
was heard to utter were, "I have fought a good fight," and peacefully fell asleep. 
Three sons, R. L. Avery, now residing on the old homestead, A. C. Avery and J. M. 
Avery, of Clinton, and two daughters, Mrs. Nancy A. Fewell and Mrs. William H. 
Roberts, still survive him.

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AVERY, James M. - b: 1838 Henry Co, MO
source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 496
residence: Clinton

James M. Avery. Of the early settlers of Henry County, Missouri, no name is more 
familiar than that of Henry Avery, a brief sketch of whom appears elsewhere. 
James M.; his son, the president of the First National Bank of Clinton, was born in 
Henry County June 7th, 1838. His early life was spent on his father's farm, and 
from 1853 until 1856 he was a student in Murritt College, Spencer, Tennessee. 
After leaving college he returned home and resumed farming until the outbreak of 
the war, when he engaged in the horse and mule trade, and continued this 
business until 1865. He then embarked in the mercantile business in Clinton, in 
company with Mr. Doyle, the firm name being Avery & Doyle. He was one of the 
organizers of the Clinton Savings Bank in 1870. This bank was succeeded in 
February, 1872, by the First National Bank, and for nearly two years Mr. Avery 
was cashier. In 1875 he commenced the banking business in Moberly, Missouri, 
the firm being Avery & Woolfolk, and here he continued until 1879, when he 
returned to Clinton. In 1881 he was elected vice president of the First National 
Bank, and in 1882 became its president. He was married June 16th, 1865, to Miss 
Sallie M. Woolfolk, a native of Missouri. They have a family of four children: Ella 
C., Charles H., Mary B. and Frank M. Mr. and Mrs. Avery are members of the Baptist 
Church, and Mr. A. holds the office of deacon.

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AVERY, R. L. - b: 1824 White Co, TN
source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 628
residence: Tebo

R. L. Avery, farmer and stock raiser, was born December 12, 1824, in White 
County, Tennessee, where he also received his education. His parents, Rev. Henry 
Avery, born October 18, 1793, in Roane County, Tennessee, and Elizabeth (Green) 
Avery, born November 10, 1798, in Barren County, Kentucky, were married 
November 10, 1819. They had eight children, five of whom are still living, three 
sons and two daughters. Henry Avery at the age of nineteen enlisted under 
General Jackson as a private soldier, and served during the entire war of 1812. 
He was almost constantly with that general and on very intimate terms with him. 
He was engaged in general merchandising in Bibb County, Alabama, during the 
years 1818, 1819 and 1821, and then closing his business, was appointed 
secretary of state, which office he held for two years. He was for nine years 
occupied in farming in White County, Tennessee, and then removed to St. Louis, 
where he remained only a short time, when he went to Morgan County, Missouri. In 
1831 he came to Lafayette (now Henry) County, and at that time was the only 
man that took a paper here, it being the Missouri Republican, published at St. 
Louis. He pre-empted 160 acres of land in 1831 in Tebo Township, and in 1838 
purchased 1,000 acres of the government at $1.25 per acre, and in 1839, 340 
more. He was ordained a minister of the gospel in May of 1834 by Revs. Ricketts, 
Warder and White, and continued to preach as long as strength lasted. He died 
September 18, 1845. The subject of this sketch soon received 220 acres of the 
homestead, upon which he commenced farming at the age of twenty-one and he 
has since that time continued upon it. He was for several years employed in 
teaching during the winter season and can show the oldest teacher's certificate 
in the county. He married Miss Venezuela Palmer, daughter of Drury and Mary 
Palmer, (born January 8th, 1839) December 8th, 1857. By this union there have 
been six daughters and four sons, of whom three sons and two daughters survive. 
Mary C., born October 5th, 1858, married David Chipman, of Henry County, 
December 20th, 1882. Henry F., born January 18th, 1864. Serepta E., born August 
27th, 1868. James W., born September 15th, 1870. Robinson E., born November 
29th, 1875. Mr. Avery has remained upon the same farm fifty-one years, and was 
forty years an inmate of the first dwelling house erected in the county. This 
house, a double log structure, was raised July 18th, 1832, by Drury Palmer, Judge 
Thomas Arbuckle, Rev. Henry Avery, John Wade, Martin Wade, and Judge William 
Goff. Mr. Avery has a fine farm, well watered, and is one of the enterprising 
farmers of this district, dealing quite extensively in stock. He was a Union man 
during the war and did much to harmonize feeling during that period. Mrs. A. is 
connected with the Old School Presbyterian Church, and his views are 
Democratic.

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AVERY, Robert W. - b: 1851 Tebo Twp, Henry Co, MO
source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - 
page: 760
residence: Tebo Twp

Robert W. Avery - The Avery family is one of the oldest and best known of the 
pioneer families in Henry County, their coming to this county dating in the 
forties. The late Robert W. Avery of Tebo township was a sterling and worthy 
representative of this old and prominent family. He was born on the old Avery 
home place in Tebo township June 14, 1851, and was the son of Judge William L. 
and Sophronia Caroline (Williams) Avery, who were among the earliest of the 
pioneer families of Henry County. Mr. Avery was reared to young manhood on the 
parental farm and received a good education in the district school and was 
brought up to believe in the best principles of good citizenship. During his entire 
life he practiced the precepts of honesty and high morality taught him by his 
excellent parents. He always made his home upon the Avery home place and came 
into possession of this fine farm through inheritance and purchase. He was a 
successful live stock dealer as well as a splendid farmer, becoming the owner of 
three hundred and ninety-nine acres of good land in Tebo township. Mr. Avery 
departed this life April 27, 1907, sincerely mourned throughout the county as a 
splendid and upright and industrious citizen who left the community a better 
place in which to live through the example he set of industrious and right living. 
On December 10, 1884, Mr. Avery was united in marriage with Serena Merritt, and 
to this union were born five children, as follows: Walter C., Pine Bluff, Arkansas; 
Sidney R., at home; Lyman L., a soldier in the National Army, was in training at 
Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas, and is now in France; Susan C., at home. The first 
son of the family died in infancy, born May 1, 1887. Walter C. was born October 
28, 1888, married Miss Ethel Woodard, and has three children, Lucille, Louise, 
Irene; Sidney R. was born August 7, 1893; Lyman was born March 3, 1896; Susan 
C. was born February 7, 1902. The mother of the foregoing children was born in 
Henry County, March 28, 1861, the daughter of Judge Milton B. and Susan A. 
(Fewel) Merritt, who were parents of ten children. Judge Milton B. Merritt was 
born in Tennessee, April 27, 1819, and was an early pioneer of Henry County. He 
served as county judge for a number of years and was one of the best known men 
of his day in Henry County. He died March 24, 1906. His widow is now living on 
the old Merritt home place. She is one of the oldest pioneer women in Henry 
County, if not the oldest; she is well past ninety-three years of age, having been 
born June 18, 1825. Mrs. Avery was educated in the district schools and the 
Warrensburg Normal and is a capable and well-informed lady. Mr. Avery was a 
Democrat but took little active interest in political matters. He was contented to 
strive and create for his family and his home, his interests in life being mainly 
with his home and family to whom he was very devoted, no sacrifice being too 
great and no endeavors being too much for him to attempt in their behalf.

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