David Avery Esq. (1728 - 1781)

Born 11 Feb 1728 in Groton, New London, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia (Lord) Perkins — married 29 Jun 1763 in Bozrah, Groton, New London, Connecticut Colony

Died 6 Sep 1781 at age 53 in Fort Griswold, Groton, New London, Connecticut, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John French [send private message]

Biography

Volunteer David Avery Esq. served with Col William Ledyard's Co at Fort Griswold, Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution.

David Avery Esq. performed Patriotic Service in Connecticut in the American Revolution.

David Avery Esq. was a Civil Servant in the American Revolution.

David Avery Esq. is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: 105725
Rank: Minuteman

David Avery Esq. was Killed in Action during American Revolution.

David Avery was born 11 Feb 1727/28 to parents James Avery and Elizabeth Smith. On 29 Jun 1763 at Bozrah, Connecticut ^[1], he married Lydia Lord who was baptized on 2 Dec 1733, and she was the daughter of Eleazar and Zerviah Lord. Probate documents, indicating that he was quite wealthy, also indicate that he and Lydia childless when he died in 1781 ^[2][3].

David Avery was a member of the first Groton committee of inspection, Dec. 12, 1774; also on the committee, 1776 and 1777. He was on the committee to care for the families of soldiers and to obtain clothing for those in the field, 1777, 1778 and 1780. Later during the Revolutionary War, David Avery was killed in action at the Battle of Groton Heights on 6 Sep 1781, while defending Fort Griswold against British forces ^[4][5]. David was one of the many local citizen volunteers who descended upon Fort Griswold upon hearing the alarm of British ships in New London Harbor. His remains were buried in Poquonnock burying-ground, today called the Avery-Morgan Burial Ground in Groton, New London County, Connecticut ^[6].

His memorial reads:

Sources

1. ↑ Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850
2. ↑ The battle of Groton Heights: a collection of narratives, official reports, records, etc., of the storming of Fort Griswold
3. ↑ The Groton Avery Clan (Avery & Avery, 1912)
4. ↑ Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park Foundation, Inc., The Defenders, Killed, Wounded and Captured: https://www.fortgriswold.org/defenders-2/
5. ↑ The battle of Groton Heights: a collection of narratives, official reports, records, etc., of the storming of Fort Griswold
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images

• "Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPSK-PRMT : Sat Mar 09 17:30:23 UTC 2024) SHOWS the marriage of David Avery and Lydia Lord on 29 June 1763 at Groton, New London, Connecticut. Additional Person's Name Benjamin Throop.
• Connecticut, U.S., Town Death Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), Groton Vital Records 1704-1853, Via Ancestry.com SHOWS David Avery Death Date 6 Sep 1781 Death Place Groton.
• The Groton Avery Clan (Avery & Avery, 1912), p. 159, 242, no. 262:
  • https://archive.org/details/grotonaveryclan01aver/page/159/mode/1up;
  • https://archive.org/details/grotonaveryclan01aver/page/242/mode/1up SHOWS: 262. David Avery (James, James, James, James, Christopher) was b. Feb. 11, 1728, at Groton; bap. March 24, 1728, First Church of Groton; m. June 29, 1763, at Bozrah, Lydia Lord, dau. of Eleazar and Zerviah Lord. She was bap. Dec. 2, 1733, First Church of Norwich. He was a member of the first Groton committee of inspection, Dec. 12, 1774 ; also on the committee, 1776 and 1777. He was on the committee to care for the families of soldiers and to obtain clothing for those in the field, 1777, 1778 and 1780. He was killed at Fort Griswold, Sept. 6, 1781, and was buried in Poquonnock burying-ground. He left no children. Widow Lydia (Lord) Avery m. 2d, April 25, 1786, Jabez Perkins, and d. without children, at Norwich, May 17, 1819 (Perkins' Genealogy, p. 42).
• Caulkins, Frances Manwaring. The Stone Records of Groton (Free Academy Press, Norwich, Conn., 1903) Page 79
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11558897/david-avery: accessed June 22, 2024), memorial page for David Avery (11 Feb 1728–6 Sep 1781), Find a Grave Memorial ID 11558897, citing Avery-Morgan Burial Ground, Groton, New London County, Connecticut, USA; Maintained by Kevin Avery (contributor 47024642).
• The battle of Groton Heights: a collection of narratives, official reports, records, etc., of the storming of Fort Griswold, the massacre of its garrison, and the burning of New London by British troops under the command of Brig.-Gen. Benedict Arnold, on the sixth of September, 1781 by Harris, William Wallace Publication date 1882.
  • Page 22 SHOWS David Avery, Esq., belonging to Groton, list of those killed on 6 Sep 1781 at the Battle of Groton Heights. The whole number of killed and those since died of their wounds is said to be 82.
  • Page 139 SHOWS LYDIA (LORD) AVERY, widow of David Avery.
  • Pages 253, 254 SHOWS DAVID AVERY, the son of the fourth James Avery, was the oldest of the name who participated in the battle, and was born in 1727. He is buried in the Old Ground at Poquonnoc, where his tombstone, elaborate for those times, gives evidence of his wealth and the estimation in which he was held. His brother John had a son Peter taken prisoner, and James had two sons carried away, but all returned.