William Tecumsah Avery

William Tecumsah "Tom" Avery (November 11, 1819 – May 20, 1880) was an American slave owner,[1][2] politician, member of the United States House of Representatives for the 10th congressional district of Tennessee, and Confederate Army officer.

William Tecumsah Avery
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 10th district
In office
March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1861
Preceded byThomas Rivers
Succeeded byH. Casey Young
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
In office
1843
Personal details
Born(1819-11-11)November 11, 1819
Hardeman County, Tennessee
DiedMay 20, 1880(1880-05-20) (aged 60)
Crittenden County, Arkansas
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEmma Chastelette Jones Avery
ChildrenWilliam Thomas Avery II

Harry Edwin Avery

Emma Blythe Avery
Alma materJackson College
Professionlawyer politician

Biography

Avery was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee on November 11, 1819, the son of Nathan and Rebecca Jones Rivers Avery. He attended the common schools, graduated from old Jackson College near Columbia, Tennessee in Maury County. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1840 and engaged in the practice of law.[3] He married Emma Chastelette Jones in December 1852. They had three children, William Thomas, Harry Edwin, and Emma Blythe.[4]

Career

In 1843, Avery was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congress. He served from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1861,[5] but he was not a candidate for renomination in 1860.

During the Civil War, Avery served as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army. He was a clerk of the criminal court of Shelby County from 1870 to 1874. He resumed the practice of law in Memphis, Tennessee.[6]

Death

Avery accidentally drowned in Ten Mile Bayou in Crittenden County, Arkansas, opposite Memphis, on May 20, 1880 (age 60 years, 193 days). He is interred at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.[7]

References
  1. "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-01-23
  2. McGrady, Maddie (2015). "Battling Memory from Memphis: Elizabeth Avery Meriwether as Guardian of the Lost Cause" (PDF). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  3. "William Tecumsah Avery". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  4. "William Tecumsah Avery". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  5. "William Tecumsah Avery". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  6. Who Was Who in American History - the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1975. p. 20. ISBN 0837932017.
  7. "William Tecumsah Avery". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 28 March 2013.


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