American politician
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.
Family
[
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]
Avery married Leah Probart Francks (d. 13 January 1832) on 3 October 1778 in
New Bern, North Carolina
.
A grandson,
Isaac E. Avery
, served as a
colonel
in the
Confederate States Army
during the
American Civil War
, perishing at the
Battle of Gettysburg
. Another grandson was
William Waightstill Avery
, speaker of the
North Carolina Senate
and a member of the Confederate Congress.
[1]
Career
[
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]
Avery enrolled at
Yale
in 1763. After two years, unhappy with the oppressive discipline of the college's unpopular president,
Thomas Clapp
, he and his friend
Oliver Ellsworth
transferred to the College of New Jersey (today's
Princeton University
). Ellsworth would go on to become a congressman, a framer of the
Constitution
, and a Justice of the Supreme Court; the two remained fast friends, even after Avery moved to North Carolina following graduation.
Avery quickly became a successful attorney in the
Piedmont region
of the state. He took a leading role, along with other Princeton graduates like Joseph Alexander,
Hezekiah Balch
, and
David Caldwell
, in the unsuccessful attempt to win a Royal charter for what would have been North Carolina's first college, in 1771. Queen's College, in Charlotte, was incorporated by the colonial legislature but disallowed by King
George III
. It continued for several years as a preparatory school, with a library donated by Avery.
Avery was elected to the colonial assembly in 1772 and served as attorney-general for the Crown. In 1775 and 1776, Avery was elected to the
North Carolina Provincial Congresses
and in that capacity helped draft the first
Constitution of North Carolina
in 1776. He was the first
Attorney General of North Carolina
(1777?1779) and a colonel in the state's
militia
during the
American Revolutionary War
; he also served in the
North Carolina General Assembly
(the House of Commons in 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1793, and the Senate in 1796). He was among the early instigators clamoring for the colony's independence from
Great Britain
.
His service record in the American Revolution includes:
[2]
According to the
Dictionary of North Carolina Biography
(ed. Powell, Vol I. p. 70) "In 1780, while occupying
Charlotte
,
Cornwallis
ordered the burning of Avery's office; of his books and papers, only those stored at the home of his friend Hezekiah Alexander were saved. This evidence of displeasure was visited only upon those whom Cornwallis considered leading offenders."
Duel with Andrew Jackson
[
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]
In 1788, Avery was challenged to a duel by
Andrew Jackson
, then a young lawyer in the western territory that would become Tennessee. According to legend, Avery, already one of the state's most prominent lawyers by then, would often proclaim "I refer to
Bacon
"—meaning
The Elements of the Common Laws of England
, the noted legal text written by
Francis Bacon
—when making a point. One day, it is said that Jackson surreptitiously replaced the volume with an actual side of
bacon
in Avery's saddlebags. Embarrassed when Avery scolded him for levity in the courtroom, "Old Hickory" is supposed to have issued the challenge. Whatever the actual cause, the duel took place. The two men met on the field of honor, each intentionally missed the other while firing, and they left fast friends.
[3]
[4]
Honoraria
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]
Avery County, North Carolina
was named for him, as is the Waightstill Avery Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution
in
Brevard, North Carolina
.
The
Swan Ponds
plantation home built by his son Isaac Thomas Avery in 1848, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
in 1973.
[5]
No paintings or visual depictions of Avery are known to exist.
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Visit Burke County"
. Retrieved
April 3,
2019
.
- ^
Lewis, J.D.
"Waightstill Avery"
.
The American Revolution in North Carolina
. Retrieved
April 2,
2019
.
- ^
Robert V. Remini,
Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire
(New York: Harper and Row, 1976) 38-39.
- ^
Neufeld, Rob (February 11, 2018).
"Visiting Our Past: Avery a patrician in 18th century WNC"
.
Asheville Citizen-Times
. Retrieved
February 12,
2018
.
- ^
"National Register Information System"
.
National Register of Historic Places
.
National Park Service
. July 9, 2010.
- ^
"Gallery Needs More Pictures"
.
The Evening Telegram
. January 30, 1950. p. 12.
- Avery, Isaac Thomas Jr. (1979).
"Waightstill Avery"
.
NCPedia
.
- Ashe, Samuel A., ed. (1908).
Biographical History of North Carolina, vol. 7
.
External links
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