Averill, Vermont
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| Averill, VT - Wikipedia |
Averill in Vermont is a tiny hamlet that,
according to Wikipedia, has 24 people. Virtual Vermont also has a blurb on it,
here. Nearby are Big Averill Lake, and Little Averill Lake. Averill was named after Samuel Averill, who got a land grant in the area way back in 1762. This was before Vermont declared its independence from New Hampshire in 1777. Samuel Averill was described in some detail in the Clara Avery book "The Averell-Averill-Avery Family, Volume 1," starting on page 242. He was one of the Averills of Washington, Connecticut. His original farm still exists and has its own web site. It is called "Averill Farm, but I include it with the Vermont Averill locales since Samuel was involved in both. More on the Averill Farm can be found
here. Samuel was buried in the Averill Cemetery, not far from the Averill Farm His findagrave memorial may be found
here.
Averill Park, New York State
Averill Park in New York is a small town in Rensselaer County. About 1600 people live there. Averill Park is a part of the larger town of Sand Lake. Wikipedia does, however, have an article on Averill Park,
here. There is also some added detail about Averill Park in the Clara Avery book, starting on page 549. Read all about "Major" James Gill Averill. His findagrave memorial may be found
here. As you might expect, he's buried in Sand Lake Union Cemetery
Averill, Minnesota
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| John Averill - Clara Avery |
Averill in Minnesota is named after General John T Averill, who fought in the War of the Rebellion for his adopted State of Minnesota as part of the 6th Minnesota Infantry Regiment. Mostly, the 6th fought Indians along the frontier, though they did storm Fort Blakely, Alabama, in one of the last actions of the war. Anyway, there's a brief story about the town on Wikipedia,
here. There's also one on General John Averill himself,
here, and starting on page 638 of Volume 2 of the Clara Avery book. John Averill is buried in Minnesota. His findagrave memorial may be found
here.
Averill Park, Los Angeles, California
Not all of the "Averill" places are in the northeast. In Los Angeles, in the San Pedro area, is a place called "Averill Park." The LA summary is
here, but it tells nothing about the park history or how its name came to be. We are, however, fortunate that some newspapers have started blogs of their own and they post about things like this. The Daily Breeze made an excellent post,
here, on the history and features of Averill Park. Horace and his brothers are too young to find more than a minor place in the Clara Avery book but they were sons of David Averill, of Lincoln, Maine. What Clara wrote starts in Volume 2, page 614. Horace and Herbert were both buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood (home of the new LA Rams stadium). Their findagrave memorial may be found
here. The third brother, Dr George, was buried back in Maine. While these Averills were from Maine, they are not closely related to
Earl Averill. Which brings us to the last entry for today.
Averill Field, Snohomish, Washington
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| Earl Averill in Long Beach, WA |
When we were all much younger than today, and PARTICULARLY when in Snohomish County, I was often asked if we were related to Earl Averill and his family. Well, that's a whole 'nother story. In truth I believe I am his eighth cousin, once or twice removed. Back before the American Revolution, some Averills moved north into what is now Maine, while OUR branch of the Averills moved south into Connecticut. Anyway, Averill Field was named not long after Earl Averill left Snohomish for fame with the Cleveland Indians (he's in both the
Major League and
Snohomish HS Halls of Fame). There's a good blog story on it,
here. As you can tell from the article, Snohomish tore down the field over the objections of the Averill family. However, sometimes things come BACK. After much delay (and possible some
illegalities by the City of Snohomish, Averill Field is being rebuilt. The latest Facebook story on it can be found
here. Even more recently, it appears that Snohomish has caved in early in January and is renaming the place Averill Field. THAT story is
here. Speaking of which, if you are ever in Long Beach, Washington, stop by
Marsh's Free Museum. There's an arcade game that features Earl Averill. THAT is shown at left and below. Earl is buried at the GAR Cemetery in Snohomish. His findagrave memorial may be found
here. His son, sometimes known as "Earl Jr," recently passed away in Tacoma. Earl Jr also played baseball for Snohomish HS, as well as for a number of MLB teams.
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| Earl Averill; Center Field. In Real Life, he Hit a Line Drive that Broke Dizzy Dean's Toe |
