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.

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

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