Averill Mystery Photos from New England

Probably the Oldest Photos in the Collection - no Labels on Any of Them

In the collection of photos that came by way of Ida Averill and then Eleanor Averill, there are many that are a mystery. Mostly because they didn't have any labels. These are summarized in this post. I would LOVE to hear suggestions about who the subjects might be.

First up, above at the beginning of this post, are a trio of really OLD tintype photos, probably from the period before the Civil War. I have no idea who these people are or where they lived. They were in the collection that was put together, first by Charles Henry Averill and his wife, Marial Louise (nee Elliott), and then passed to Ida Averill and Eleanor Averill, from whence Robert L Averill got them and now they appear here.

Painting of Frederick Averell
from Clara Avery book

Lewis Averill or?

Among Connecticut photos, the one at right is intriguing. It was shot at a studio in Putnam, Connecticut. Putnam. Putnam was named after the Revolutionary War General Israel Putnam and is about 10 miles east of Pomfret, where most of the Connecticut Averill family lived. Many of Maria Louise Averill's (nee Elliott) relatives lived there as well. Perhaps it is a photo of Lewis Averill (1798 to 1869). Perhaps it is a photo of Maria Louise's father, Ira Elliott (1805-1871). Perhaps it is a photo of someone else. Lewis was the son of Frederick Averill and the family of Charles Henry Averill. There is a painting of Frederick, painted around 1830 and shown at left, that was published in Clara Avery's excellent 1914 book on Averill family history. If the photo WAS of Lewis, it would have been taken after the Civil War and shortly before Lewis passed away. I don't have any known photos of Ira Elliott or his father. His son (Maria's brother), Thomas Elliott doesn't look much like the photo and I have a number of known photos of Thomas.

Putnam was incorporated in 1855. As an interesting historical note, both Frederick and Lewis lived for periods of their lives at Wolf Den Farm, and one of Frederick's brothers (Stephen), who died during the Revolution, is buried at the State Park there. That, however, is another post for another time.

Next are some photos that were all taken in Connecticut. Well, maybe they were taken in Connecticut, or maybe some were from Massacusetts or Rhode Island. Regardless, none of them have any labels on them whatsoever - front OR back. They were taken in mid 19th Century based on the clothing and type of photo. Perhaps, after I discover more about older Averill history, I'll learn who a few of these people were and our relationship to them. Certainly, they were worth keeping on the trip from Connecticut, and then on to Nebraska and Illinois.

No Labels on THESE New England Mystery Photos

The following group might be easier to identify people. You see, all three of these photos were shot by photo studios based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. I may make another post, later, about photo studios that took pictures of the Averill family, but again, that's another post for another time.

Mystery Photos from Pawtucket, Rhode Island - but WHO?

Anyway, the list of people connected to the Averills that lived in Rhode Island for at least PART of their adult lives include:

• Eliza Jenks Averill (1830-1905) who was the wife of Rufus Burton Averill and who is buried in Pawtucket
• Rufus Burton Averill (1826-1907) who lived most of his life around Pawtucket and who is buried with Eliza
• Susan Elizabeth Young (nee Elliott, 1838-1928) was a sister of Maria Louise Averill (nee Elliott) and lived most of her adult life in Rhode Island is buried in Pawtucket. She married George Young.
• Hundreds of Averills, Elliotts and related families that lived in Windham County, Connecticut, which is only 30 miles from Pawtucket. One of Charles Henry's daughters, Anna, was actually BORN in Rhode Island.

Perhaps the most intriguing mystery photo of all is the one below. It was taken in October or November of 1865 by the Black and Case Studio of Boston, Massacusetts. The studio is identified on the back of the photo and the Civil War-era tax stamp is dated November 15, 1865. The studio owner, James Wallace Black, was famous for taking the first-ever aerial photographs of Boston.

Photo Taken in Massachusetts in 1865

The list of Averill or Elliott men who lived in Massachusetts in 1865 is more limited. Candidates include:

• Joseph Warren Averill who would have been 40
• William Coe Collar (a brother-in Law of Charles Henry) who would have been 32
• Someone who went up to the Boston area for some reason

William Coe Collar Photo from Ancestry

I DO have a photo of William Coe Collar in later life. It is shown at the right. I ALSO have a photo of Joseph Warren Averill in later life. That photo is below. His photo is one of the two shown in my earlier post,  here.

Averill Farms in Nebraska. A Saga in Three Parts

The Averill family; led by Charles Henry Averill and Maria Louise (Elliott) moved from Connecticut to Nebraska around 1872. They lived near Wisner, which is in Cuming County. They left Nebraska sometime between 1885 and 1900, where they settled in McHenry County, Illinois. However, where people lived, and where they had farms was then, as today, not one and the same. In the move from Nebraska to Illinois, two of the oldest children stayed in Nebraska with their families, but that's another story.

There were three main farms. Actually, there were multiple farms in each farm. There's a post for each farm. They are:

Part 1 - Averill Farm(s) in Sheridan County, Nebraska

Part 2 - Averill Farm(s) in Pierce County, Nebraska

Part 3 - Averill Farm(s) in Cuming County, Nebraska

Part 1 - Averill Farms in Sheridan County, Nebraska

Averill Family in 1885
Sheridan County, Nebraska

My loyal reader might never had heard of Sheridan County, Nebraska, much less what the Averill family might have had to do with it. However, unlike the farms described in Part 2 and 3, the Sheridan County farmland was the only Nebraska land that was actually homesteaded by the Averill family. The homestead was granted in 1890 by the United States Land Office in Chadron, Nebraska. Chadron is in Dawes County, which is immediately west of Sheridan County. The farm is in the area roughly bounded by Hay Springs and Rushville. Sheridan County, Nebraska is immediately south of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where the Wounded Knee Massacre took place.

In 1890, when the Homestead Patent was granted, Sheridan County contained about 8700 people. Today, around 5300 people remain. An image of one of the three Homestead grant letters may be seen below

In addition, a "Timber Culture" receipt was included in the packet, along with a map of the granted land, that mostly told where the land was. That is shown below for one of the three grants.

One grant was made to Charles Henry, one was made to Ida, and one was made to Edward. The locations of the three grants may be seen below, thanks to the "historygeo" website.

You can even get satellite views of the area, such as that shown below for the land grant map shown on the "pinkish" paper. THAT is shown below from the "acrevalue" website. Remember that it is 32N 45W 6 that we are interested in. Land around that area is valued at about $2300 per acre

To wrap all this up, I'll show a Google Maps 3D view of the local, at least the part where there are any buildings to look at. As you can imagine, not long after 1890, the land was sold and the Averills (except Edward and Anna) moved on to Illinois. Edward later more or less came back in 1911 and farmed in Lincoln Township, which is in McPherson County at the north edge of South Dakota. The biggest town in Lincoln Township is Wetonka, which has a population of 8. Still, that's a long way from Sheridan County.

And, before anyone asks, I have no plans to visit these farms in the immediate future.

Back to Series Index
Part 2 - Pierce County
Part 3 - Cuming County

Part 2 - Averill Farm in Pierce County Near Hadar

The second Averill farm in this series is located in Pierce County, between Hadar and the County Seat; Pierce. This farm, as far as I can tell, was never farmed by any Averills It was purchased later and then passed down through time. According to historygeo, the farm was homesteaded in 1870 by Martin Raasch. In 2019, the land is farmed for the Averills by Robert Seegebarth. You can also see nearby parcels homesteaded by Seegebarth's Great Grandfather, Ferdinand Seegebarth . Ferdinand is buried in Hadar, as are his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Original Pierce County Homesteads

By 1920, many of the original owners had either passed away or sold their farms to move elsewhere, though a significant fraction remained; even through their descendants to the present day. Since Raasch isn't buried in Nebraska, I can only guess that perhaps he moved on north to Wisconsin. In 1920, the farm was owned by Klaus Winter. There is a good story about his tenure, along with his son Herbert, to be found on findagrave. Klaus is buried in nearby Pierce (the story is there), as is his wife, Emma. His son, Herbert, is buried in Norfolk, which is a bit further south down the highway.

Averill Farm (Circled) Around 1920 - Klaus Winter Farmed it at that Time

Click for Larger Image

Sometime after Klaus gave up the farm, Bruce and Hazel Emley acquired the farm. I don't know if they bought it directly, or inherited it from Bruce's mother, Anna Waldo Emley (Averill), who was the daughter of Charles Henry Averill and Maria Louise. In any event, Anna outlived her younger son, and Bruce was childless. To make a long story short, Bruce passed away in 1960 and his wife, Hazel inherited the farm as shown in 1961 below. Hazel, when she passed in 1979 with no children, left the farm to Eleanor Averill, her cousin. Eleanor never married nor had children either, but she outlived Hazel by ten years.

Hazel Emley Owned the Averill (Circled) Pierce County Farm in 1961

Eleanor also outlived all of her own cousins.

Eleanor Averill Owned the Farm from 1979 to 1989

When Eleanor died, in 1989, she left it to Robert and Eddie Averill. Eddie was a cousin's son and Robert was another cousin's son. A third cousin's son passed away before Eleanor. Accordingly, in 1990, the farm became "Eddie Averill et al." Apparently she felt it appropriate to split the farm evenly between Edward Averill Jr's eldest son and Arthur Averill's eldest son. In any event, that's how things worked out.

Eleanor Averill Left the Farm to Eddie and Robert Averill in 1979

Steve purchased Eddie's share so half wouldn't get sold off outside the family, as had happened in Cuming County, and it became divided into a portion owned by Robert and another owned by Steve. Robert wanted the old homestead, though there was little left of it other than the trees that once surrounded the farmhouse and barn. As you can also see, the Seegebarth family picked up other land in between 1990 and 2009, which is shown below. The land on the other side of the highway from the Averill farm was part of Ferdinand's original homestead, and some of the nearby Mittelstad pieces have been owned by that family since they were homesteaded. Compare with the original homesteads.

Averill Pierce County Farm in 2009

As you can see from the last photo, the farm is still around. Nancy is talking corn talk with farm managers Marlin Krohn and Sam Zach. Steve would be in the photo, but someone had to hold the camera!

Nancy holding Corn for Inspection by Marlin Krohn and Sam Zach

Back to Series Index
Part 1 - Sheridan County
Part 3 - Cuming County

Which Averill is Which?

Pomfret News Clipping about Hannah and Her Children

Here's a puzzle for anybody that cares to solve it. I have a photo that contains (among other people) Joseph Warren Averill and Rufus Burton Averill. I believe the photo was taken on Thanksgiving in 1879, in Pomfret, Connecticut. I also believe that the photo contains all NINE of Lewis and Hannah Averill's children that lived past childhood. The news clipping at the top is why I harbor this belief. The photo has Charles Henry Averill identified, and it also has one of the other younger brothers misidentified. The puzzle is to determine which photo below belongs to which brother. Clicking on any photo will bring up a much larger version. Right clicking on one of the Brother photos will allow you to open it in a new tab and view it full sized.

Brother Number 1

Brother Number 1

Brother Number 1 is seated in the front row, on the right side of the photo (his right hand is at the left of this photo). There is a woman seated to his right. The woman is seated next to Hannah Averill (Burton).

Brother Number 2

Brother Number 2

Brother Number 2 is seated in the front row, on the left side of the photo (his right hand is mostly covered up by his left arm). Hannah Averill (Burton) is seated to his left.

From Clara Avery's excellent book on the Averill family, following are the synopses she had on Joseph and on Rufus. So I put it to my loyal reader, which one is Joseph and which one is Rufus?

Clara Avery Synopsis on Joseph Averill

Clara Avery Synopsis on Rufus Averill

Charles Henry Averill and Maria Louise Elliott in Nebraska and on to Illinois

Charles Henry and Maria Louise Averill in Front of the Marengo House Sometime Between 1900 and 1911

Charles Henry Averill represented a major shift in the Connecticut wing of the Averill family. Around 1870, he took his family and they all moved to Nebraska in order to homestead farmland around Wisner. His son, Edward and his daughter, Anna (Annie) stayed in Nebraska. The rest of them moved on with Charles Henry and Maria Louise when they left Nebraska around 1890 in order to go to Marengo, Illinois.

Charles and Maria Enlargement From the Previous Photo

There, they built a house that still stands and is clearly recognizable, though they've added a garage, changed the porch, and made a few other nips and tucks over the last century. I will let the photos and news clippings that accompany this post to tell some of the rest of the story. Click on any graphic for a larger version. This is particularly useful for the newspaper clippings.

Obituary of C H Averill

Obituary of M L Elliott

Google Maps Streetview of CH and ML Averill's House in Marengo

Five Averill Brothers

From Left: Edward, Charles, William, Frederick, and Howard

In the early 19th Century, our wing of the Averill Family lived in Connecticut. Specifically, they lived in and around Pomfret. However, after the middle of the Century, things were on the move. Charles Henry Averill had married Maria Louise Elliott. Their first three children (Ida, Edward, and Anna) were all born in Connecticut or Rhode Island. the rest were born in Nebraska. Some moved on to Illinois, and some stayed in Nebraska. The photo at top shows the five brothers born to Charles Henry and Maria Louise. I believe the photo shows them in order from oldest to youngest. If that is so, then from left, we have:

• Edward
• Charles
• William
• Frederick
• Howard

Fred is Robert Louis Averill's grandfather and he fought in the Spanish War.
Charles died at a fairly young age, but his one son was later taken under William's wing.
William is Eleanor Averill's father. His other two children each died before the age of four.
Edward is Eddie Averill's grandfather. Eddie was the one that shared the Nebraska farm with Robert. Howard finished WW1 as an aviator.

None of the Averill sisters are in this photo. Perhaps they have a separate photo of their own that I haven't found yet. However, Anna Waldo Emley (Averill) was notable among them. She was prominent in the DAR. Her DAR ancestry is shown here. One of her sons (Arthur Averill Emley) fought in Mexico with Black Jack Pershing, and later as a Captain in WW1. I do know that Ida, Anna, and Maude all lived to a ripe old age. However, that's another post entirely.