Waightstill Avery (10 May 1741 – 15 March 1821) was an early American lawyer and officer in the North Carolina militia during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. He is noted for fighting a duel with future U.S. president

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

in 1788.

Family

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 Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, perishing at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. Another grandson was

William Waightstill Avery William Waightstill Avery (1816–1864) was a North Carolina politician and lawyer. He served in the North Carolina House of Commons and State Senate prior to the U.S. Civil War. He represented North Carolina in the Provisional Confederate C ...

, speaker of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

and a member of the Confederate Congress.

Career

Avery enrolled at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1763. After two years, unhappy with the oppressive discipline of the college's unpopular president,

Thomas Clapp Thomas Clap or Thomas Clapp (June 26, 1703 – January 7, 1767) was an American academic and educator, a Congregational church, Congregational minister, and college administrator. He was both the fifth Rector (academia), rector and the earliest of ...

, he and his friend

Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, jurist, politician, and diplomat. Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution, United States senator from Connecticut ...

transferred to the College of New Jersey (today's

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

). Ellsworth would go on to become a congressman, a framer of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, 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 it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

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 Carlina's first college, in 1771. Queen's College, in Charlotte, was incorporated by the colonial legislature but disallowed by King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. 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 Congress The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government. There were five congresses. They ...

es and in that capacity helped draft the first

Constitution of North Carolina The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, one of the United States; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. All U.S. st ...

in 1776. He was the first

Attorney General of North Carolina The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...

(1777–1779) and a colonel in the state's

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

; 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 Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. His service record in the American Revolution includes: * Colonel over the

Jones County Regiment Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones *Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell' ...

of the North Carolina militia (1779-1780) * Captain in the Burke County Regiment of the North Carolina militia (1781) According to the ''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography'' (ed. Powell, Vol I. p. 70) "In 1780, while occupying

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

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

In 1788, Avery was challenged to a duel by

, 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 Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

—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.

Honoraria

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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973. No paintings or visual depictions of Avery are known to exist.

References

* *

External links

North Carolina Historical MarkerCheap land, slaves boosted Avery Family wealth - Visiting-our-past column by Rob Neufeld in 2/5/2018 Avl Cit-Times Pg3A
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Waightstill 1741 births 1821 deaths Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina state senators North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution People from Groton, Connecticut North Carolina Attorneys General People from Morganton, North Carolina People of colonial Connecticut American duellists American people of English descent Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses