William Waightstill Avery

William Waightstill Avery ( born May 25, 1816 in Burke County, North Carolina; † July 3, 1864 in Morganton, North Carolina ) is an American politician (Democratic Party) and lawyer from the U.S. state of North Carolina.

Avery first served in the House of Representatives and later the Senate of North Carolina, of which he was in 1856 elected Speaker. Two years later, in 1858, he ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress, however, resulted in a division among the Democrats to victory by Zebulon B. Vance.

After the secession of his home state in 1861 by the United States, he took this as a delegate to the Provisional Konföderiertenkongress. Then he returned to Burke County to establish there a regiment for the Confederate Army. He died in 1864 after a battle with a part of the Army of the Tennessee from his wounds.

Family

William had a brother named Isaac (1828-1863), who was a plantation owner and officer in the Confederate Army. They were the sons of Isaac Thomas Avery and Harriet Eloise Erwin and the grandson of Waightstill Avery (1741-1821), a lawyer and soldier, who in 1788 had a duel with the future U.S. President Andrew Jackson. William married in 1846 Mary Corinna Morehead, daughter of Governor John Motley Morehead.