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 Places

Averill, Vermont

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

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

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.

Earl Averill; Center Field. In Real Life, he Hit a Line Drive that Broke Dizzy Dean's Toe

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.