An Excerpt from "The First 300 Years..."
Unfortunately,at the time that I had access to this book, I only copied the first few pages.But they are very interesting, and every now and then there are requests for information from this book.All of Will F. Averitt's research should be double-checked, though, as there has been some argument as to its accuracy.
Here it is, as I copied it:
"According to tradition, the first knowlidge of our family was in France.The name "Averitt" or "Averett" would justify this assumption, anyway.The double "t" at the end of the name would indicate that it was of French extraction.Nothing is known of the family during the middle ages except that they were of Huguenot extraction, and tradition has it that in 1066 the family, or members of the family, came over to England with William, the Conqueror.
The Averitt family, that which we know anything about, seem to have been tillers of the soil or artisans.the first authentic record which we have in England is that of Christopher Averitt, who was born in Cornwall, England in 1590.He was a weaver by trade, and in 1630 decided to emigrate to America.He came over to Charles county, Virginia, on a boat captained by Captain Chelsman, and was bound for his passage for threeyears.This was a practice in vogue in those days, and the records in the libraries show that he later completed his contract with the captain of the boat for his passage, and was released from his debenture.Before he left England, he was known to have conceived two sons:Jacob, who was born in 1616, and James, born in 1622.
In 1638 James also emigrated to Charles County, Virginia, and there raised a family.Jacob also emigrated to Warrick County, Virginia, where he reared his family.Today, throughout all the boundaries of all the United States, we find descendants of these two Averitts.The family name was thus established in America only about ten years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.
It is possible that the family came to the United States to escape religious persecution, since they were of Huguenot extraction and fearless in expression.According to the historian Montgomery, "No better class of emigrants could have been desired.They represented, not only the best bone and sinew, but the best intellect and conscience of Europe."All of the Averitts/Averetts, which ever way they spell their names, came from these first immigrants in Virginia.
James Averitt (1622-1700), the son of Christopher Averitt, distinguished himself after he came to America, not only as a citizen in peaceful pursuits, but also in the military service.He was a captain of a company of Indians in the French and Indian War.It is recorded that in one fight, he and another man were the only ones of the entire company to come out alive.He later went up to Connecticut, where he was known as "Avery", and there is a monument to him today in Stanford, Connecticut, I think.
In this connection I would like to state that in many of the early records I find the name spelled "Avery."This is a corruption of the real name, originally spelled "Averitt", later changed to "Averett, Avritt and Averyt".
Perhaps the reason for this was that many of those who kept records in early days were people who were unlearned.However, I have checked in several libraries and find that "Averitt," or the pronunciation of it, is the correct one.
The First Generations In America
Now I shall give you the genealogy of the first few generations in America:
1.Christopher Averitt, born in Cornwall, England in 1590, emigrated to Charles County, Virginia in 1630.
2.His sons:James Averitt, born in Cornwall, England in 1622, emmigrated to America in 1638.Jacob Averitt, born in Cornwall, England in 1616, emmigrated to Warrick county, Virginia.
3.James Averitt had one son, Joshua Averitt, born in Surrey County, Virginia in 1655.
4.Joshua Averitt had two sons:Henry Averitt, born in Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1685.William Averitt, born in the same county in 1690.
5.Henry Averitt had four sons:Thomas Averitt, born in Brunswick County, Virginia in 1713.Henry Averitt, born in Brunswick County, Virginia in 1715.John Averitt, born in Amelia county in 1717.Joel Averitt, born in Amelia county in 1721.
Of this family, Henry Averitt was the progenitor of the Averitts in North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas.
Thomas Averitt was the progenitor of the Illinois Averitts.
John Averitt was the progenitor of the Averitts in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, and other western states.
Joel Averitt was the progenitor of the Averitts in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and some of the Texas Averitts.
The Family of Joel Averitt
Joel Averitt was the youngest son of Henry Averitt, and was born in Amelia County, Virginia, in 1721.In 1741, he married Wilmoth Rudd, the daughter of John Rudd, of the same county.They had the following children:Rudd, Jarrett, Thomas, Sam, Elisha, John, George Washington, and Peter Averitt.
John and his brother, George Washington Averitt, moved to central Kentucky about 1790, and they had some to do with the Washington County, Kentucky, and the Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas Averitts.Peter Averitt was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, in 1765.He later moved to Hartsville, Tennessee, where he died in February, 1842, and where he is buried.
Peter Averitt married Polly Crymes on September 7, 1795.William Ellis was the minister.Mary "Polly" Crymes was the daughter of the Rev.Thomas Crymes, a pioneer Baptist preacher in Lunenberg County, Virginia.He was the first pastor of the Tussakiah Baptist Church, located four miles out of Lunenberg Courthouse, the county seat of Lunenbarg County, Virginia.This once-famous church was founded in 1776.
Rev. Crymes was a cousin of Lucy Crymes, the grandmother of Robert E. Lee.Lucy Crymes was known as the lowland beauty and it is said that General George Washington sought her hand in marriage.England's Queen Elizabeth II also goes back to the same woman.
Peter Averitt was married four times; two of his wives were the daughters of Baptist preachers.There were no children from his first marriage in 1790 to Elizabeth Sims.She lived only about three years, after which he married the second time, to Mary "Polly" Crymes, and to this union were born five children--three boys and two girls.They were:
Thomas Crymes Averitt, born August 1796;
Henry Averitt, born 1798, married November 17, 1821 to Sarah Hardy;
Rudd Averitt, born 1802, married also in November 1821 to Sarah "Sally" Pamphlion;
Elizabeth Averitt, born i1800, married to John Mohorn;
Lucinda Averitt, born 1804, married in December 0f 1826 to a Mr. Hardy.
Some time after the first decade of the nineteenth century, "Polly" Averitt died.I know this because it is recorded that Peter Averitt married Elizabeth Bennett on March 9, 1820.To this union were born three children.They were:
Chappell Averitt, born 1821, married Mary C. Neal, April 10, 1843;
Richard Averitt, born 1823, later moved to Tennessee and married.He was a prominent cotton and tobacco broker at Nashville, Tennessee, in the years following the Civil War;
Christina Averitt, born in 1825, married a Mr. Haehl or Hale.
Some time after 1825, Peter Averitt moved to Tennessee.There is a record that when he died in 1842, he left a farm of something like 249 acred on the Cumberland River, not too far from Nashville, Tennessee.The story has been told to me by a person who vouched for its authenticity, that Peter Averitt was a slave holder, but that before he died, he set free fourteen slaves and gave ech of them $100.00.
Peter Averitt was buried in the cemetery at Hartsville, Tennessee, in February, 1842.Of the eight children born to Peter and the two wives, in Lunenberg County, Virginia, five lived, raised families, and died in that vicinity.They were Henry W. Averitt, Lucinda Averitt Hardy, Rudd Averitt, Elizabeth Averitt Mohorn, and Christina Averitt Haehl.
I do have a record of Rudd Averitt.He had three children:Sarah E. Averitt [b. 1840], Lewis C. Averitt [b. 1842], and Thomas Averitt [b. 1844].A daughter (Nancy) is also mentioned, but no date of her birth is given.It is assumed that Rudd Averitt died in about 1849, because there is a will made by him, dated September 24, 1849, and recorded at Lunenberg County, Virginia, court house on November 12, 1849.His son, Dr. Lewis C. Averitt, was a professor of agriculture at the University of Kentucky for a number of years.He passed away in May 1951, and left two children that I know of:Paul Averitt (in gov't service in Denver, CO); [Miss] Ruth Averitt (Lexington, Kentucky)."
I believe that the full title of the book is "History of the First 300 Years of the Averitt Family in America", and it was written by Will F. Averitt (of Indiana, I think).I hope that someone finds this useful someday!
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