Willoughby Francis Avery, born May 7, 1843 at Swan Ponds plantation, Burke County, North Carolina, was the sixteenth and final child of Harriet Eloise (Erwin) Avery (1795-1858) & Isaac Thomas Avery (1785-1864).
While attending the University of North Carolina, per the Avery genealogical records, He left college in 1861, joined a cavalry company of North Carolina troops; was later commissioned lieutenant in the regiment commanded by his brother, Col. Clarke Moulton Avery; was made captain of Company C ; was wounded at Sharpsburg in 1862 ; at Gettysburg in 1863; at Spottsylvania in 1864, and barely escaped death. After the war, he became an editor at Asheville, N. C. ; then he took charge of a daily paper at Charlotte, N. C. ; finally established a paper in Burke County, N. C. He was an able and brilliant writer and a man of great influence.[1]. According to the caption in his grave memorial, he served the confederacy with Co. I, 33rd NC Infantry Regiment [2].
Willoughby F. Avery married, first, on Nov 7, 1866 at Morganton, N. Carolina, Martha Caroline "Mattie" Jones. [She was born on Apr 18, 1843, a daughter of Gen. William Jones and Sarah (Lenoir) Jones. She died in Jul 1868 near Swan Ponds, N. Carolina]. They had one child:
He married, second, on Feb 4,1875 in Johnston County, North Carolina, Lora Atkinson. [She was born there on Nov 3, 1853, a daughter of Elijah Atkinson and Polly Ann (Peacock) Atkinson. Following Willoughby's death in 1876, Lora married Henry Pearce and resided at Selma, NC.] They had one child, born in Johnston County, N. Carolina:
Willoughby F. Avery was the publisher of a local (Asheville) newspaper called the Blue Ridge Blade.
Willoughby Francis Avery died 24 Nov 1876. His grave is in First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina.
When his father died W. F. Avery received a number of enslaved persons as an inheritance.[3]
This week's featured connections are Acadians: Willoughby is 13 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 17 degrees from Clara Bow, 22 degrees from Julia Gillard, 10 degrees from Nancy Hart, 12 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 15 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 16 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 17 degrees from Rose Leslie, 15 degrees from Damian Lewis, 12 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 22 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 32 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.