William Waightstill Avery, born May 25, 1816 at Swan Ponds plantation, Burke County, North Carolina, was the oldest son of Isaac Thomas Avery (1785-1864) and Harriet Eloise (Erwin) Avery (1795-1858).
Per the Avery genealogy, He was graduated at the head of his class at the University of North Carolina ; was a successful lawyer ; a Calhoun Democrat; a member of the state legislature in 1842, 1850, and 1852 ; in 1856, he was chairman of the North Carolina delegation in the Democratic national convention that nominated James Buchanan ; in the same year he was elected to the state senate, of which body he was chosen speaker ; in 1860 he again was chairman of the North Carolina delegation in the Democratic national convention, and when that body was split, he went with the Southern wing that nominated John C. Breckenridge for the presidency and was chairman of its committee on platform. In 1861, he was a member of the Confederate provisional congress from North Carolina ; was chairman of the committee on military affairs and an earnest supporter of the Southern cause.
William W. Avery married 27 May 1846 at Greensboro, North Carolina, Corinna Mary Morehead [b. 14 Nov 1825 @ Greensboro, daughter of Gov. John Motley and Ann Elizabeth (Lindsay) Morehead; d. 1 May 1897 @ Morganton, North Carolina]. They had 6 children:
William Waightstill Avery died as a result of hostilities during the American Civil War. Again per the Avery genealogy, Being wounded while leading an attack on a Union force, he was removed to his home at Morganton, N. C, where he died July 3, 1864.
His grave is at First Presbyterian Church Cemetery; Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, USA [1].
When his father died in 1864 William W. Avery received a number of enslaved persons as an inheritance.[2]
See Swan Ponds, Burke County, North Carolina for more information.
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