State

The Averys of Burke There were four brothers who served flie South, anil three of these were killed on the field of battle. Which may give you some idea off how Avery County received its name. THE MOST famous letter in American history was probably that written on November 21. 1864. by President Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby whose five sons had all fallen on the field of battle: ‘‘I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your grief and leave you . . . the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of free¬ dom.” President Jefferson Davis wrote no letter to the families of the three Averys from Burke County, all of whom were Confederate Col¬ onels, and all of whom were killed in action. If there is another in¬ stance of three brothers all of whom were Colonels, and all of whom were slain in service — North or South — bring it out. Until this has been done. I claim a record for the Averys. There was a fourth brother, of whom I will tell later on. Waightstill Avery was licensed to practice law in 1769 and settled in Charlotte, where he became a member of the convention which passed the famous "Mecklenburg Resolves" of May 20. 1775. He served in the Provincial Congress, and he was a member of the Hali¬ fax Convention which adopted the State Constitution. He was the first Attorney General of Carolina. When he died in 1821 he was the "Patriarch of the Carolina Bar.” The Sons of Isaac Avery A son of Waightstill Avery was Isaac T. Avery who was often in the legislature, and who married a daughter of Colonel W. W. Erwin. Four sons of this union served the South, and three of them wore the stars and wreath which designat¬ ed the Colonel in the armies of Lee. All three were killed upon the field of battle. Col. William W. Avery often rep¬ resented Burke County in the legis¬ lature, and he twice served as chairman of the North Carolina delegation at the national conven¬ tion of his political party. He also served in the Confederate Con¬ gress. He became a Colonel in the THE STATE. July 12. 1947 By R. C. LAWRENCE Confederate service, and in July 1864 when the notorious raider. Col. George W. Kirke (who later became so infamous in Carolina history), led a force into western Carolina, Col. Avery hastily gath¬ ered a force of militia to beat back the invaders. In the ensuing skir¬ mish, Col. Avery fell mortally wounded and died July 3, 1864. Col. Clark M. Avery was elected as a delegate to the Secession Con¬ vention of 1861. He entered the Confederate army as Captain in the First North Carolina regiment, and participated in the battle of Big Bethel, where Henry L. Wyatt, first Southern soldier, was killed. Col. Avery was made a Colonel in 1862, and was at Gettysburg where he commanded Lane’s Brigade during the third day's fighting. At Spott- sylvania, while trying to rally his men at the "bloody angle" where the Confederate lines had been broken by Hancock’s charge, he fell desperately wounded. Bullets splintered his left arm and right leg; and both had to be amputated. He did not survive his wounds, and died June 19, 1865. Col. Isaac E. Avery Col. Isaac E. Avery commanded the Sixth North Carolina regiment, but the second day's battle at Get¬ tysburg found him in temporary command of Hoke’s Brigade. As night fell. Major General Jubal A. Early was ordered to seize the heights of Cemetery Ridge which bristled with Federal artillery, sup¬ ported by strong lines of Federal infantry, with Federal cavalry ly- IJGHTNING PROTECTION FOR TRBCS We Install approved pure copper conduc¬ tors with equipment parts ol special design. Is recommended lor the protection of very valuable trees. Compiles with the require¬ ments of the Underwriters Laboratories. Inc.. U. S. Bureau of Standards, and leading tree authorities. Write for free literature. ERWIN TREE EXPERTS Roanoke Rapids, N. С. ing in immediate support. Early called upon the brigades of Hayes and Hoke to make the charge. The Confederate bugles blared and the line of battle moved for¬ ward. the officers encouraging their men: "Steady men. steady, keep your arms ready, God only knows whom we meet here.” In the gathering dusk Colonel Avery rode forward cheering Hoke’s brigade onward. The Fed¬ eral line was broken, cannon was captured, but reinforcements came thronging up, and desperate hand- to-hand fighting ensued, and the gallant Colonel Avery fell mortal¬ ly wounded. Shot through the throat and unable to speak, he scrawled this message on a piece of paper: "Major Tate: Tell my father that I died with my face to the enemy." "He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle. No sound can awake him to glory again." The Fourth Brother The fourth Avery brother was Alphonso C. Avery, Major and As¬ sistant Adjutant General, C.S.A., attached to the staff of Lieut. Gen¬ eral D. H. Hill. After the war he served in the State Senate and as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1868. In 1878 he was elected to the Superior Court bench and remained thereon for a decade and until his elevation as a Justice of the Supreme Court, on which bench he served with conspicuous ability until his death. His first wife was a sister of Mrs. Stonewall Jackson, and one of his sons was the brilliant Isaac E. Avery who passed such a distinguished career as city editor of the Charlotte Ob¬ server, and who. had he lived, would undoubtedly have ranked with Josiah Turner, Jr., and with Joseph P. Caldwell, as a premier Carolina editor. In 1911, when the youngest of Carolina counties was established, it was named Avery. Now you know why it was so named. ii