CAPTAIN JOHN AVERY OF COLONIAL DELAWARE AND HIS WIFE SARAH BROWNE

A biographical and genealogical study of the colonist John Avery from his English origins to his settlement in Maryland and Delaware during the 17th century.

Introduction: The first biographical information concerning Captain John Avery of Delaware which needs to be clarified is the long-standing misconception that he was the well-known English pirate Captain John (Henry) Avery. A simple check of historical facts show that the pirate John Avery gained his fame in the mid 1690's, more than a decade after Captain John Avery's recorded death at Sussex Co., Delaware on Nov. 16, 1682. A study of the life and ancestry of the American colonist John Avery presents a most interesting and historical portrait of the 17th century. During his lifetime his activities and appointments would include court attorney; mariner; citizen of London; plantation owner; merchant ship master; justice of the peace; president judge of the court; lieutenant of militia; and captain of militia of foot. (This last Delaware militia appointment by Governor Edmund Andros was the source of John Avery's oft used title "Captain". It was not a nautical or naval rank as sometimes is assumed). Sarah Avery, his wife, was the first recorded school teacher in the Colony of Maryland, and her activities can also be found in a number of Maryland and Delaware court documents. The inventory of the estate of Captain John Avery was done June 16, 1683 in Sussex Co., Delaware. The value of his inventory when added to his known extensive land holdings show that he died quite a wealthy man. The information on John and Sarah Avery in the Delaware period, (post 1674), has been known mainly through the 1898 publication on John Avery by Edward J. Sellers. Far less has been known or researched on the Maryland years from 1665-1674, and nothing seems to have been either proposed or found on their earlier lives prior to 1665. The principal purpose of this biographical study has been to discover the English origins and earlier colonial records of Captain John Avery and his wife Sarah Browne, and to present their lives in a new and more complete ancestral and historical context.

Primary & Secondary Sources: Maryland Archives; Delaware Archives; Pennsylvania Archives; Early Settlers of Maryland, Skordas; Charlestown, Ma. Land Records 1638-1802; Charlestown, Ma. Vital Records to 1850; Records of the First Church in Charlestown, Ma. 1632-1789; Middlesex Co., Ma. Deeds Vol. 1-3, 1649-1670; Will of Matthew Avery, probated at London 1643; Will of Anna Roberts probated at London 1664; Ages from Court Records 1636-1700, Melinda Sandborn: Consistory Court of London Wills 1623-1662; Diocese of London Calendar of Wills 1585-1669; P.C.C. Wills 1637; The National Archives of England; Bromley (Kent) Church Records; Genealogy and Estates of Charlestown, Ma.; St. Mary Whitechapel Church Records; Wapping Chapel of Ease Church Records 1617-1665; St. Botolph Aldgate Church Records; St. Dunstan Stepney Church Records; Records of the Barber-Surgeons Company of London, 1600-1660; Captain John Avery President Judge at the Whorekill in Delaware Bay and his descendants, Edwin J.Sellers (1898); Genealogy of the Kollock family of Sussex Co. Delaware 1657-1897, Edwin J. Sellers 1897; History of Delaware Vols. I & II, Thomas Scharf; Some Records of Sussex Co. Delaware, C.H.B. Turner; 1693 Sussex Co., Delaware Tax List; Commissary Court of London Wills and Index; A Genealogical Dictionary of the first Settlers of New England, James Savage; American Given Names, George Stewart; English Origins of American Colonists; English Adventurers and Emigrants 1609-1660, Peter W. Coldham; Library Sources: Personal Library; University of Kentucky Library; Princeton University Library; University of Minnesota Library; Wake Forest University Library; Virginia State Library; and the Family History Libraries in Lexington, Ky. and Salt Lake, Utah.

Chapter 1: English Origins and Early Years (1632-1665) John Avery was born in August of 1632 as the only son of Mathew and Anna Avery who resided on Queen's Head Alley in the hamlet of Wapping, England. John Avery was baptized on August 12, 1632 at the Wapping Chapel of Ease in the parish of St. Mary Whitechapel. Mathew Avery was a professional mariner, and the Wapping docks were the hub of England's world-wide shipping and maritime trade. Wapping lay on the Thames near the Tower of London, and was just outside of the City of London walls. London's population in 1632 had already approached or exceeded 250,000. Wapping, then part of the larger east end suburban area called Stepney, was almost entirely populated by mariners or those engaged in maritime-related professions. Due to the rapid growth of Wapping in the early 17th century, a branch chapel of the parent parish church of St. Mary (Matfelon) Whitechapel was established at Wapping in 1617. By the end of the 17th century Wapping Chapel became a parish of it's own called St. John's Wapping. (Both St. Mary Whitechapel and St. John Wapping were destroyed during the London Blitz in 1940 and were never re-built). Queen's Head Alley, the residence of Mathew and Anna Avery in the early 1630's, existed until the early 20th century when it and the surrounding Wapping areas were razed and modernized. The earliest reference to Mathew Avery is found on January 25, 1630, when Mathew Avery of Wapping, mariner, makes a deposition to the High Court of the Admiralty. The same year, the Wapping Chapel burial records list a still-born child of Mathew Avery in Queen's Head Alley buried on August 17, 1630. The baptism of John Avery, son of Mathew and Anna Avery, is recorded as occuring at the Wapping Chapel on August 12, 1632. (John Avery will be the only living child of Mathew and Anna Avery). Another still-born child of Mathew and Anna Avery is recorded as buried April 14, 1635. In this 1635 Wapping Chapel entry Mathew Avery is titled as "Goodman" Avery. This was a title of respect similar to the term "Mr.", and was often favored by Puritans. Considering Mathew Avery's known move from London to Charlestown in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony circa 1637, it seems very likely that the family held Puritan beliefs. As it can be shown that the Averys always remained members of the Anglican Church, they would certainly have been in a less strict non-separatist sect of the Puritans. The marriage record of Mathew and Anna Avery has not been found to date in the Wapping, Whitechapel or other Stepney area church records, but it can be assumed that the marriage would have been about 1627/8. (Fortunately, from other records and evidence that will be discussed later, it has become possible to firmly establish that Anna Avery's maiden name was Smith). The first mention of Mathew Avery being in the Massachusetts Bay Colony is to be found in the 1638 land records of the town of Charlestown. These 1638 records show that Mathew Avery held over 165 acres of land including a dwelling house in the Charlestown environs. As it has been previously shown that the Avery family was still living in Wapping at least through 1635, it is likely their move to Charlestown was made in late 1637. As a master mariner, Mathew Avery would have transported himself along with his wife and child to New England. This was probably done as master of a merchant vessel, and thus the Avery family does not appear on conventional passenger lists. Charlestown was founded in 1630 by John Winthrop, who led the first large exodus of English Puritans to the American colonies in the Winthrop fleet the same year. Having an excellent harbor, Charlestown was the first capital of Winthrop's Massachusetts Bay Colony. (The capital was moved to the permanent site of Boston across the Charles River within two years, as it provided a better water supply than Charlestown). During the next ten years, Charlestown and other sites in the Massachusetts Colony grew rapidly. After 1640, a marked decline in Puritan immigrants would begin being due to better religious and more politically favorable conditions in England. During the 1630's, the Charlestown and Boston harbor areas were to become favored settlement locations in the Massachusetts Colony for ex-Londoners and many ocean-going mariners such as Mathew Avery, Edward Gibbons, Thomas Hawkins, John Cutting, and Nicholas Trerise. Estate of Mathew Avery as given in the 1638 Book of Land Records of Charlestown: Bought from John Crow on April 16, 1638: A dwelling house and 8 acres in Gibbon's Field bordered north by the common and south by the river; 5 acres in Mystic Marsh with 4 cow commons adjoining the land of George Bunker (The famous Revolutionary War Bunker Hill site was on his land); 5 additional acres in Mystic Marsh also adjoining lands of George Bunker. (This acreage would be sold by Anna Avery's 2nd husband William Roberts of Wapping in 1648); 25 acres of woodland in Mystic Field; 53 acres in Waterfield (present site of Winchester, Ma.) and one acre of meadow situated before the dwelling house; Also listed were 60 additional acres in Waterfield bought from Mrs. Ann Higginson. In July of 1638 Mathew Avery purchased these additional properties as listed in the Charlestown Land Records: Bought of the assignees of Mrs. Higginson 20 acres in Mystic Field adjoining the lands of John Harvard and others. (The Avery's neighbor John Harvard was one of the principal founders of nearby Harvard University in 1636). Also bought from the assignees of Mrs. Higginson was 45 acres in Waterfield bounded by the lands of Richard Kettle, John Palmer, Wm. Dade, Abraham Pratt, Issac Cole, Ben Hubbard, and Nicolas Davis. (The 20 acres in Mystic field may have been the only remaining portion of Mathew Avery's original estate when his son Mr. John Avery leaves London in 1657 to return to Charlestown). Note: The total acreage listed in the 1638 land records as belonging to Mathew Avery was about 165-170 acres. In his 1642 will, Mathew Avery stated that the Charlestown land he owns was 400 acres or more. In London during 1656, his widow Anna and son John Avery will jointly sell a large portion of the original Charlestown estate of Matthew Avery to Jonathan Wade. Although no specific purchase records can be found, Mathew Avery must have bought at least an additional 230 or more acres in the Charlestown area between 1639 and 1641. The residence of the Avery family in Charlestown and New England ended before early 1642 when they chose to return to London and Wapping. Mathew Avery would certainly have continued his mariner profession during the Charlestown time span, while also beginning to develop his plantation land acreage. Few ship records are available for the time period, but Mathew Avery (name badly misspelled) appears in one record as the master of a passenger ship during a 1640 Atlantic crossing. This was on the Hopewell, a 200 ton London owned ship carrying 120 passengers to New England. The Hopewell made a number of documented passenger voyages from London to New England. William Bundocke, a Wapping ship Captain and an in-law of Mathew Avery, had earlier been master of the same Hopewell on a 1635 London to Boston voyage. The birth and death records of Charlestown do not mention any children of Mathew and Anna Avery being born or dying during the 1638-1642 time span. Their only child John would have begun his schooling at the age of 6 or 7 in the customary educational process stressed in all of the Puritan Massachusetts communties. Anna Avery, after her return to Wapping, would continue to maintain contact with her earlier Charlestown area neighbors, and would also retain her estate holdings in Charlestown for 14 years. Why the Avery family would leave Massachusetts and return to London by 1642 remains unclear. Charlestown would appear to have been their choice for their future permanent plantation residence, as these extensive New England holdings are the only land or property possessions held by Mathew Avery as stated in his 1642 will. One possible political reason for the Averys return to England could have been the historic "long parliament" of 1640, which weakened the power of the disliked King Charles I. This event was most welcomed by all English Puritans, and began the period of their rising power in England, leading to the ultimate control of Great Britain by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell. As a result of these changes, the Puritan exodus to New England would slow dramatically after 1640. Death of Mathew Avery: The Wapping Chapel of Ease recorded the burial of Mathew Avery, mariner, on April 26, 1642. Mathew Avery had made his last will and testament four days earlier on April 22, 1642. In the preamble, Mathew Avery states his profession to be that of a mariner, and that he is of Wapping in the parish of St. Mary Matfelon called Whitechapel. He wished to be buried in the Chapel of Wapping at the will and disposing of his wife Anna Avery, whom he makes his sole executrix. Mathew Avery bequeaths to his wife Anna all his estate which consists of two tenements and 400 hundred acres more or less all in Charlestown, New England in the parts beyond the seas. In addition, Anna Avery was bequeathed all his goods, money, plate, and any other whatsoever of his estate which may pertain to him in the realm of England. In the event of Anna's decease, the remaining total estate was to pass to his son John Avery and his eventual legal heirs. If his son John should decease without heirs, what then remained of the estate would be divided two-thirds to his loving kinsman William Bundocke the younger, and one-third to his loving kinsman William Humphrey the younger. Signed by Mathew Avey and witnessed by William Bundocke the elder, Joseph Note, Thomas Bromfield, and Robert Watson, Publicant. (Note: William Bundocke the younger was born in Wapping on July 8, 1624. He was the only surviving son of William Bundocke Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Smith. The described kinship was derived through Mathew Avery's wife Anna Smith. William Bundocke the younger appears to be a nephew of Anna Smith, and William Bundocke Sr. and Elizabeth Smith were in-laws of Mathew Avery. William Bundocke Sr. was a prosperous ocean-going master mariner and owned a home in Wapping close to the Avery residence. Both William Bundocke Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Smith died in Wapping during the summer of 1654). *A link providing a complete transcription of Mathew Avery's original will (return included) is found below:

The Post 1642 Years of John Avery and his mother Anna: By a letter from London, later in the year of 1642, the widow Anna Avery settled some outstanding Charlestown land affairs of her deceased husband Mathew Avery. Anna gave power to William Hadlock to collect from Captain Edward Gibbons regarding land Hadlock had sold to Richard Russell in Charlestown. Russell agreed to sell the land back to Anna Avery if she wished. The document was witnessed by the mariner Thomas Hawkins. On April 13, 1643, Anna Avery, relict of Mathew Avery, appeared as the executrix at the London probate of her late husband's will. Certainly by 1646, Anna had married as her second husband William Roberts, who resided in Wapping and was a wine cooper by profession. Marriage records of the Wapping Chapel are very irregular in the mid 1640's, and the likely date of the marriage would have been as early as 1644. William Roberts was a widower with a young daughter named Alice who was born in 1638. The Charlestown land records contain a letter of attorney sent from London by William Roberts dated Nov. 18, 1646, concerning receipt of a payment earlier owed unto Matthew Avery or his assignees by William Kilcop, sive maker of Charlestown, for purchase of a house and land situated in Charlestown, New England. In the beginning of the letter, William Roberts states that he is a wine cooper of Wapping, in the county of Middlesex, in old England. This letter confirms that his wife Anna Roberts and her son John Avery would also be living in Wapping during this time period. A second entry appears in the Charlestown land records concerning William Roberts on April 28, 1648. In this entry, William Roberts sells two parcels of land to Rowland Langhorn of Charlestown. These parcels included 5 acres of meadow in Mystic Marshes, and 15 acres out of a total of 25 acres of aerable land on Mystic side. Both of these plots were earlier held by Mathew Avery, and can be found among his holdings in the 1638 Charlestown land records. A curious part of this entry is that it states that William Roberts is of Charlestown. Had the family including Anna and 15 year old John Avery returned to Charlestown from Wapping in 1647 or 1648? If so, the stay must have been brief, as the London Commissary Court records show that William Roberts died in Wapping during 1649. Only an estate inventory was done by the court in 1649, as William Roberts was listed as having died intestate. The twice widowed Anna Roberts would remain in London with her son John Avery and step-daughter Alice Roberts. Anna would never re-marry, and remained a widow until her death in 1664. During the London years from 1650 to 1655 no definitive records can be found concerning Anna Roberts or John Avery, although later evidence shows that they were still living at their Wapping residence during this interval. As this period would span the ages of 18 to 23 for John Avery, it would mark the completing of his education and the beginnings of his professional activites. These career activities would almost certainly have been in some way maritime related, given the mariner heritage of both his paternal and maternal families and his Wapping docklands residence. 17th century residents of Wapping were neary all engaged in maritime related professions, and included a vast number of mariners serving with the East India Company and Royal Navy. In the year 1656, the Avery family appear in two documents that need to be discussed in some depth in order to interpret the way they may relate to their then current lives and future decisions. In August of 1656, John Avery becomes a citizen of London by being made a freeman by the London Guild of Barber-Surgeons. This would have been achieved by one of three possible methods. The first and most common method would be through an apprenticeship with a Guild member. A careful examination of the apprentice records of the Barber-Surgeons Guild show that John Avery never served such an apprenticeship. The second method of being made a freeman by the Guild was by patrimony. As John Avery's father Mathew was never a member of the Guild, this method can also be ruled out. The third method was by purchase, and was the probable one utilized by the 24 year old John Avery. Although never practicing in the trade itself, purchase of London freeman status through a Guild was a common way for individuals to gain citizenship status. No record has been found that shows John Avery ever actually practiced or continued in this profession. The Barber-Surgeons were very common in the mariner community of Wapping. Nearly all ocean-going ships of any type including the Merchant Marine, East India Company, and Royal Navy carried at least one Barber-Surgeon as a crew member. This particular London Guild would have been one that John Avery would have been very well acquainted with during his earlier years. On October, 2, 1656, Anna Roberts, along with her son John Avery, sold the majority of their inheritance of Charlestown lands as bequeathed to them in Mathew Avery's 1642 will. Jonathan Wade, a merchant from Ipswich, Massachusetts and a former resident of Charlestown, was in London during 1656 and bought the Charlestown lands from Anna Roberts and her son John for the sum of £100. A copy of Mathew Avery's will was produced as proof of the right of inheritance of Anna Roberts and John Avery. Anna Roberts was stated as being of Wapping and a widow, and signed with her mark and seal ring. John Avery added his written signature and seal, and is referred to as a Citizen of London, a distinction which he had achieved a short time before in 1656. The sale documents of the Avery-Wade London transaction, including a full copy of Mathew Avery's 1642 will, were sent to New England and filed in the Middlesex Co., Massachusetts records. (Note: The Middlesex Co., Ma. Deeds (Volumes 1-3) are the source of the above information and the copy of Mathew Avery's 1642 will). The sale of a sizeable portion of the original Charlestown land to Jonathan Wade for the £100 cash amount appears to be a final settlement and division of the inheritance of Mathew Avery. The year 1656 marked the beginning of permanent changes for the members of the Avery household. Anna Roberts would elect to remain in London until her death in 1664. She will change residences after 1656, and lease a Stepney house owned by James Wallis where she resided with a widowed sister-in-law. Step-daughter Alice Roberts had married Edward Parham and left the Wapping residence of Anna Roberts in 1656 to live in Whitechapel. John Avery would leave London and return to New England shortly after 1656. Nearly 14 months after the Oct. 2, 1656 Avery-Wade land sale, "Mr." John Avery is listed as a Charlestown land neighbor of Job Lane, Richard Kettell, and Richard Sprague in Mystic side. The exact date of this Charlestown land document was November 27, 1657. The Mystic side land was one of the original properties called "Mystic Field" in earlier Charlestown land records. It was on the north bank of the Mystic River across from the village of Charlestown, and by 1656 had become part of the newly created Malden township. The 1657 land held by Mr. John Avery is very likely the 20 acres of meadow purchased by Mathew Avery from Mrs. Higginson's estate in July of 1638. (No further evidence of John Avery ever residing in London can be found after 1656 in any examined records including his mother's 1664 will). There is no recorded evidence that John ever retained any larger portions of the original Avery estate. John Avery's principal source of income over the next several Charlestown years does not appear to have been from plantation development, and must have been earned as a professional mariner from the major port and harbor of colonial Charlestown. The last will and testament of Anna Roberts, widow of Mathew Avery and William Roberts, was written in Stepney on March 18, 1664. Anna Roberts was buried four days later at the Wapping Chapel of Ease on March 22, 1664. Her widowed step-daughter Alice Parham was named co-executrix of her will along with her cousin Mary Brice. Significantly, her son John Avery does not appear in the London will as he was abroad in the New England colony and had married in Charlestown a few months before. As the will shows no possession of any actual wealth or property, Anna's neighboring Stepney relatives are bequeathed small items of her personal effects such as clothing, a ring, and various household furnishings. She leaves her black gown to her loving niece Sarah, the daughter of Thomas Smith. Thomas Smith was a Wapping resident and mariner who had died on May 18, 1644. She would also leave her signet ring to Sarah the young grand-daughter of the above mentioned Thomas Smith. In addition, Anna Roberts bequeathed feather and flock beds, bolsters, pillow cases, and a blue rug to her brother Richard Smith. Richard Smith, the brother of Anna, was also a Stepney mariner and appears to have died in 1669. The lease and upkeep of her now Stepney house was given to her widowed step-daughter Alice Parham. The yearly rent on the house which was owned by James Wallis Sr. amounted to 20 schillings. To her cousin Mary Brice she left one black scarf. The final relative mentioned in Anna's will was her in-law Samuel Roberts, who was left another feather bed and a pair of sheets. Any remaining household stuffs, chattels, plate, or monies, would go to Alice Parham and Mary Brice. They were also given the power to settle any of her outstanding debts. Anna Roberts signed the document with her mark. The will was witnessed by Joan Gurnet and Robert Osburne, a servant of James Wallis, Sr. The will would go to probate in July of 1664. The Great Plague of 1665 would strike the next year, and more deaths would be recorded in Stepney (6,585) than in any other parish in London. (Note: The earlier lineages of both Anna Smith and Mathew Avery are presently under study, and will be updated to this site as they become proven). The 1663 marriage of John Avery and Sarah Browne: John Avery married Sarah Browne in Charlestown, Massachusetts on August 21, 1663. The marriage ceremony was performed by the local magistrate Mr. Richard Russell. (Charlestown Ma. vital records). Richard Russell was a former mariner and ship owner who had settled in Charlestown during 1640. Shortly after his arrival he had purchased a portion of Charlestown land from John's parents Mathew and Anna Avery. Sarah Browne was one of the new 2nd generation of New England Puritans whose parents had settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the great migration of the 1630's. Although it is likely she was born in Charlestown, an actual record of her birth cannot be found. The First Church of Charlestown records are completely missing during the mid-decade of the 1640's during the probable time of Sarah's birth. Charlestown residents James and Elizabeth Browne were members of the 1st Church of Charlestown, where they recorded the baptisms of a son John in January of 1639 and a daughter Mary in March of 1640. Due to the cessation of the church records, no further children born to this couple can be found. This James Browne was admitted as a member of the 1st Church in 1634. He had come to Charlestown in 1633, and is shown as a neighbor of Mathew Avery in 1638. Two other Browne families resided in Charlestown during the 1640's time period, and by coincidence both of these were also headed by a James Browne. (Earlier New England genealogies are very confused and contradictory over the separation and identity of these men). Two of them, a James Browne with wife Judith and James Browne with wife Sarah Cutting, can be ruled out as being Sarah's father for various evidential reasons. This leaves the afore-mentioned James and Elizabeth Browne as being the most probable of the original Puritan settlers to be the parents of Sarah Browne. After the marriage of John Avery and Sarah Browne on Aug. 21, 1663, no further record or evidence of them remaining in New England can be found in any source. John and Sarah Avery would leave New England in the late spring of 1665 and settle on the lands newly granted to them in the colony of Maryland.

Chapter 2: The Maryland Years (1665-1674) On June 6, 1665, John Avery transported himself and his wife Sarah, along with Francis Raines and Edward Perkins to the colony of Maryland. At this time he was warranted 200 acres for a plantation on the Manokin River in Somerset County. This land was on the eastern shore portion of Maryland along the Chesapeake Bay. An additional 300 acres of land in Somerset Co. were granted to John and Sarah Avery in 1666. ( Note: There was a second John Avery in Maryland at this time who lived in Dorcester County. An earlier study often confused the two not knowing their actual counties of residence. John and Sarah Avery always resided on the Manokin in Somerset County during their Maryland years as is easily determined by examining the specific county records. The John Avery living in Dorchester Co. had no connection to the John Avery of our study). Of additional interest to note is the Francis Raines that John Avery transports to Maryland along with his wife and Edward Perkins. Raines seems almost certain to be the Francis Raines recorded as born in Wapping the same year as John Avery. His christening was recorded on July 9, 1632 as the son of Robert & Grace Raines who resided on the New Stairs of the Wapping docks. As he appears to be a fellow mariner born in Wapping, it is likely he was employed as a seaman for John Avery. (To date nothing has been found on the possible relationship of Edward Perkins to John Avery). The material cited in this chapter on the Avery years between 1665 and 1674 was extensively drawn from the Maryland Archives which contain over seventy references to John and Sarah Avery. Of particular value to this study were the specific references found to Sarah Browne Avery. Maryland had been establised as a Catholic Colony by Lord Baltimore and the Calvert family in the 1630's, but early on the colony began an effort to attract Anglicans, Puritans, and Quakers from other colonies to settle in Maryland. The mariner Captain Edward Gibbons, a neighbor and close friend of Matthew and Anna Avery in Charlestown, received a letter from the Calvert family in 1643. The letter gave him a commission to make tender to any of those of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who would transport themselves to Maryland. In 1651, Edward Gibbons held land in Maryland and was commissioned to sit on the Maryland Council, was made a Justice of the Peace in Maryland, and was given a commission as Admiral of the Province of Maryland. Mariners of Charlestown and Boston engaged in active inter-colonial trade between Maryland and it's Chesapeake Bay ports throughout the 17th century period. It seems likely that the now-recently married John Avery's familiarity with Maryland, and his interest in establishing a home and plantation in the Chesapeake Bay area were influenced by his earlier travels as a mariner. Manokin Hundred in Somerset County, the destination of John Avery, was settled by Anglicans receiving extensive land grants from the Calverts for transporting themselves from other colonies. Further evidence of the desired religious diversity of Maryland can be found in the neighboring Annamessex Hundred which was principally settled by Quakers. Somerset County, Maryland was formed on Aug. 22, 1666 by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, being named for his sister-in-law Lady Somerset. Settlement of the Somerset area had begun in 1660. References to both John and Sarah Avery are found to begin in the newly created Somerset County Court in September of 1666. (all document sources: Maryland Archives). On Sept. 20, 1666 Lord Baltimore grants John and Sarah Avery 300 additional acres of land called Avery's Policy. In this document John Avery titles himself as a mariner, and that he and his wife Sarah are residents of Somerset County. This land was sold by the Averys to William Groome of Calvert County in November of 1667. The sale document is jointly signed and sealed by both John and Sarah Avery. On November 13, 1666 a court case of James Came, who was the plantiff, called Sarah the wife of John Avery as a witness for his case. James Came was a constable for Manokin and died in 1668. On Sept. 4th, 1666, John Avery was appointed as the attorney for Charles Ballard who was the plantiff in the court case. This would have been among the earliest cases heard in the Somerset Court. It is the first of a multitude of court appearances for John Avery as an attorney, juryman, jury foreman, judge, plantiff, and defendant. The court appointments and legal activites of John Avery will continue to grow until his death in 1682. On January 17, 1667, John Avery registered his cattle mark with the court, which gives evidence he was developing his Manokin plantation although still pursuing some duties as a mariner. (Earlier references to the Averys are not found during their first year in Maryland due to the fact that Somerset County records began in August of 1666). Sarah (Browne) Avery: The New England Puritan background of Sarah Avery becomes apparant in the Maryland years in a number of ways. Her degrees of literacy, status, and education for a middle-class woman were quite unusual for the period in most of the colonies and England, and strongly suggest a New England Puritan background. Literacy of women in New England and Massachusetts was far higher than the other colonies and Britain in the mid 17th century. (62% of Puritan New England women were literate as opposed to only 10% in England). The value placed on literacy and education of both girls and boys was particularly high in the areas of Charlestown and Boston. Schools are found in every area community including the early founding of Harvard University in 1636. Sarah Avery was the first known and documented school teacher in Maryland. She taught in the Puritan "Dame School" tradition which involved both male and female students beginning at the age of 6 or 7, the "Dame School" alway taught by a married woman or widow. They would meet in the home and the teacher would receive a form of fee or payment from the parents for the teaching. A Somerset Court document of Aug. 18,1671, filed by John Avery for the over-due payment of one heifer, argued that "My wife Mrs. Avery had made a bargain with Mary Barnabe to school her children one summer and for consideration was to have one two year old heifer." The Barnabe children were named Rebecca, Elizabeth, and James. They seemed to have been about the ages of 7 through 11 at the time of schooling. This would appear to be a classic example of the unique New England Dame School tradition. The midde colonies including Maryland had no equivalent to this system. The naming of Sarah Avery's children may provide another clue to a New England Puritan background. Her four known daughters were Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Jemimah. (The birth dates of Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah are given in the Maryland records. They also were the three most commonly used of Puritan female names). The name of Jemimah, the youngest daughter, provides the strongest evidence of a Puritan heritage. Jemimah was a rather rarely used name in the 17th century period, and was almost exclusively found in use by Puritan families. Jemimah was a very obscure biblical female name, being just one among a number of other very unique female biblical names favored by Puritans. In drawing any final conclusions from the names or order of the Avery children, it must be considered that a first child may have been born c. 1665. (Maryland records do not contain any births prior to 1667). Mary Avery, born Apr. 5, 1667, is the eldest living child as is determined in the Avery children's cattle marks registered in 1673. But as death records are not recorded in this period, a first child dying between 1665 and 1673 would remain unknown. The Delaware years of the Avery family from 1674 to 1682 may also have contained more than the two known children born in that period.

John Avery's activities as a mariner during the Maryland years are only found in two related archive documents. In both of these entries he is referred to as the master of the vessel. The term "master" not "captain" was used for the person in command of a merchant ship. The most detailed of the entries pertained to a voyage of John Avery begun on Feb. 12, 1673. It provides the information that Mr. John Avery was master of the Sloop "Prosperous", a Somerset County ship sailing from Maryland to the island of Barbados. The information describing this voyage comes from a court suit filed by Alexander Draper against John Avery a year later in 1674. Alexander Draper, another Somerset Co. resident, had shipped a barrel of flour and a chest of candles on the Prosperous to be delivered to Barbados. John Avery, master of the Prosperous, had not delivered the barrel in Barbados, but instead had used the flour for the ship's provisions during the voyage. (The case was declared by the Somerset Court to be a non-suit). From the length of this voyage through pirate infested waters, we can certainly deduce that John Avery was a qualified and experienced "deep water" master mariner. The other mention of John Avery as a mariner concerns the same voyage. While the Sloop was docked at Ambrose Dixon's plantation loading tobacco on Feb. 3, 1673, the master of the Sloop, who was John Avery, discovered that one of the hog's heads of tobacco being loaded was wet and damaged and had it carried back to the plantation dock to be uncased. John Kibble, the apparent owner of the Prosperous, used the statement of John Avery to recover the value of the tobacco. Francis Jenkins can be positively identified as a seaman employed by John Avery in early 1673, and was probably a crew member on the Barbados voyage. Jenkins was in his early 20's, and would survey the land called "Avery's Choice" on Rehoboth Bay, Delaware for John Avery later in 1673. Walter Lane was also on the same voyage of the Sloop Prosperous to Barbados in early 1673, but in a yet to be identified capacity. There is no evidence that John Avery either owned a ship during his years in Maryland, or was a full-time mariner. It is likely that his abilities as a master mariner were being used as a part-time source of additional revenue while he developed his Manokin plantation and acquired further land holdings. In the early 1670's John Avery transports at least four other individuals to Maryland. Ann Lockman is transported in 1671 to be a servant (not indentured) in the Avery's Manokin residence. In April of 1671 John Avery appeared at the court to have the age of his servant Ann Lockman determined. The court's board judged that she was 8 years old! (No other information on the young Ann Lockman can been found). William Gosse was transported by Avery to be a three year indentured servant for Benjamin Cottman. In a lawsuit of April 4, 1672, Cottman sued John Avery for the return of his servant William Gosse who he claimed had been illegally living at the house of John Avery. John Kipshaven and his wife and daughter were transported by John Avery to Maryland in 1673. John Kipshaven assigned head rights in the Province of Maryland to John Avery, mariner, on July 30, 1673 for the transportation. (The Kipshaven family located in the Lewes, Delaware area shortly after, as would the Averys. In the future, a younger John Kipshaven of Delaware would marry John Avery's daughter Sarah). One other individual known to be transported by John Avery was John Wright. No further data regarding John Wright has been located. For the transporting of Wright, Lockman, and Gosse to Maryland, John Avery was warranted an additional 150 acres of land. The births of John and Sarah Avery's three daughters at Manokin are recorded in the Maryland records. Mary was born April 5, 1667; Elizabeth was born March 21, 1669; and Sarah was born October 31, 1672. (Jemimah and John, the last two children of John and Sarah were born after their move to Delaware in 1674). On April 3, 1673, John Avery registered individual cattle ear marks for his three young daughters, giving each of them ownership of a portion of his plantation cattle. Tobacco and livestock would have been the principal products of his Manokin plantation home. On March 10, 1674, near the time of the Avery family's move to Delaware, a Somerset County Judicial Record lists their young daughter Mary's nine cattle in detail. The court assigns Mary Avery and her eventual heirs rights forever to the nine head of cattle being at that time under the care of another Somerset plantation owner named Phillip Berre. The document is shown below: Cattle belonging to Mary Avery this 10th day of March 1673/74 being great and small nine head as ffolloweth: marked thre Slitts in both ears except one browne Cowe--one black Cowe by name Nanny with a red Calfe--one Pide Cowe all over by name Pritty with a red Calfe--one brown Cowe underhalfed of both ears--one Cowe pide in the forehead and under the belly by name Penny--one heifer of three years olld all pied by the name Domasell--one red bull Two year old-- one pied yeareling Bull----Being in All foure Cowes two Calves one heifer and Two bulls-----Signed by Phillip Berre A rather amusing suit was filed by John and Sarah Avery at the Somerset County Court in May of 1671. John and Sarah state that as long as they have lived in Maryland they have lived in good fashion and never have been charged with uncivil language by any man. The Averys then charged that they have been several times abused by Anne Cunbarbe, late maid servant to the deceased Mary Barnabe, who in a most base manner had called John Avery a "rogue" and his wife a "whore" in such a manner they are not able to bear it. The Averys called as witnesses their neighbors Elizabeth Wingood and Elizabeth Lee, who had also been abused in the same base manner by Anne Cunbarbe. (The matter was declared a non-suit by the court). However Anne's troubles were not over, for on the same day Anne Cunbarbe was called to court and charged with having a bastard child, and then was charged with verbally abusing the court itself. Anne Cunbarbe was given the choice of being whipped or paying a fine of 500 pounds of tobacco. Anne chose the latter. Further land acqusitions of John Avery during the Maryland years included purchasing a portion of 300 acres of land in Somerset County from James Caine called "Caine's Choice". (Council of Maryland Dec. 13, 1671). Information of greater interest regarding John Avery's future goals and plans is found in a court case of Nov. 15, 1671 in Somerset County brought by John Walker. The plantiff John Walker charged that he had paid a horse, bridle, and saddle to the value of 2500 pounds of tobacco to John Avery to possess him of 300 acres on a neck of land at Rehoboth Bay in the Whorekill County, Delaware. John Avery had kept the horse, but had to date failed to fufill the bargain. (Interestingly, John Avery's inventory after his Delaware death in 1682 contained an item describing possession of one old horse with old bridle and old saddle). In a statement to the court, John Avery bound himself to find the 300 acres for Walker which settled the suit. Of particular significance in this case was the statement that John Avery already owned land of his own on Rehoboth Bay. This clearly shows that John Avery planned to begin his eventual move to Delaware as early as 1670/71. Avery will add to his land holdings around Rehoboth Bay, Delaware the next three years, as do a considerable number of other Somerset County residents. The Dutch would retake this area from the English in 1673 during the 3rd Anglo-Dutch war, which led to an armed group of Somerset Co. Marylanders raiding and burning the Dutch holdings at the Whorekill the same year. John Avery would have almost certainly been one of the Maryland raiding party, if not one of it's actual leaders. (This will be discussed at some greater length in the next chapter). By treaty, the English regained permanent control of Delaware in 1674. In the spring of 1674, John and Sarah Avery would make their over-due move from Maryland to Delaware. A final note of comparison to consider regarding John Avery in Charlestown, Maryland, and later in Delaware concerns his form of title or address. The title "Mister" in the 17th century was an honorific and only used for men of status. A small percentage of men received this title of respect during the period. "Mrs." was the female equivilant of "Mr." and did not reflect marital status. John Avery is first found to have been given the title "Mr." at the age of 25 in the 1657 land reference to him in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The title "Mr." is then again used for John Avery after his arrival in Maryland, and continues through his later years in Delaware. Becoming a Citizen of London in 1656 was likely the origin of this honorific title which was used in the subsequent periods and places during his lifetime.

Chapter 3: The Delaware Years (1674-1682) The time of John Avery's move from Maryland to his land called "Avery's Choice" on Rehoboth Bay in Sussex (Whorekill) Co., Delaware can be fixed very close to the late spring of 1674. This land, a 300 acre grant on the eastern side of Rehoboth Bay, had been surveyed and warranted to John Avery in the summer of 1673. A further land record document states that "Avery's Choice" had been officially laid out by surveyor Francis Jenkins in a final form by the summer of 1674. (As mentioned in the Maryland chapter, John Avery appears to have made connections and land dealings in the Whorekill area as early as 1671). Court documents also give a close time frame for the move: John Avery is recorded to have served on a Somerset Court grand jury on March 10, 1674, but is stated as being "late" of Somerset Co. in documents after that point such as the January 13, 1675 court action being brought against John Avery by Randall Revell. (Somerset County Judicial Records, Vol. 87 page 466). John and Sarah Avery would have been accompanied on the move by their three young daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, and Sarah. Jemimah, their fourth daughter, must have been born after their arrival in Delaware. Birth and death records are not found in the decade of the 1670's in Sussex (Whorekill) Co., so the Delaware date of the birth of the Avery's youngest known child, a son named John, can only be best estimated as circa 1677. This only son John would die sometime after 1682 at a young age. The Anglican English under the Duke of York regained control of the Delaware Colony in 1674. (James, Duke of York, was the brother of King Charles II, and would become the ill fated King James II in 1685. He would be deposed in 1688). John Avery's settlement in Delaware was to provide him with the opportunity for rapid growth in the areas of wealth, land ownership, political power, and community status in the years ahead. Although I have been referring to John Avery's Delaware residence as being in Sussex Co., this is for modern map and historical reference only. It was known as the Whorekill (Hoornkill) County until 1680, then briefly called Deale Co., and was given it's permanent name of Sussex. Co. in 1682. The county court in the 1670's was termed the Whorekill Court, and had jurisdiction over the southern portion of Delaware including present day Lewes (site of the court), and the areas surrounding both Delaware Bay and Rehoboth Bay. The first two records of John Avery after his arrival in Delaware occur in 1675. On June 25, 1675 it is recorded that Mr. John Avery was appointed Lieutenant of Militia and President of the Whorekill Court. The next month, on July 1, 1675, another tract of land termed "Avery's Rest" was patented to John Avery by Governor Edmund Andros Esq., the colonial representative of the Duke of York. "Avery's Rest" was located on King's Creek coming out of Rehoboth Bay, yearly rent to be 8 bushels of winter wheat. ( It is also of interest to note that the original "Avery's Rest" on Rehoboth Bay was officially designated as a historic site a few years ago). The next year John Avery receives his commission as a Captain, a title that will remain a permanent form of address. On October 26, 1676, Sir Edmund Andros sends a letter from New York appointing John Avery to be the Captain of the Foot Company of Militia at the Whorekill. The commission to be in force for one full year or until further order. As earlier discussed in the introduction, this title led to the long standing ridiculous assumption that John Avery of the Whorekill was Capt. John Avery the pirate. A simple check of well known historical facts show this to be completely impossible. The year 1676 also sees Captain John Avery's appointment as a magistrate of the Whorekill court. The court was largely inactive during the two year interval of this appointment (1676-1678). On October 8th of 1678, John Avery was in New York and met with Governor Sir Edmund Andros to receive his commission as a Justice of the Peace for the Whorekill court. He took his oath of office as a Justice before Governor Andros in New York on October 12th, 1678. On his return to Delaware, John Avery was appointed by the Governor to administer the oath of office to the other Justices appointed in the Oct. 8th document. These named Justices were: Francis Whitwell; Alexander Molestine; John Kipshaven; Luke Watson; John Rhodes; and James Wells. Captain John Avery would serve as the President Judge of the Whorekill court Justices through 1680. The reason for the particularly close relationship of John Avery with Sir Edmund Andros remains unexplained. Avery once stated that he was under the personal protection of Andros, and the numerous appointments of public importance along with their personal meeting in New York certainly suggest a close relationship. Both were born in London, with Andros being four years the younger. Research to date has yet to find any connection of the two prior to the Delaware years beginning in 1674. Perhaps it may have begun during the Anglo-Dutch war involving the Dutch retaking of Delaware in 1673. As mentioned in the previous chapter, armed Marylanders raided the Dutch held Whorekill during 1673 and their number likely included John Avery. Edmund Andros was a major in the British army at that time and is known to have been involved in fighting the Dutch. He was appointed Governor by the Duke of York when New York and Delaware reverted to English rule in 1674. John Avery's early appointment by Governor Andros as Captain of Militia in the Whorekill suggests a possible military knowledge of Avery during the conflict of 1673. The last of the many Delaware public service appointments of Captain John Avery would occur in the fall of 1682 from the new Governor William Penn. (William Penn had been granted the rights to Delaware from the Duke of York in August of 1682). Governor William Penn called a meeting to be held at the town of New Castle, Delaware on Nov. 2, 1682, in which he wished to meet with William Clarke, Luke Watson, John Roades, John Avery, Halmainas Wiltbank, and Alexander Moulston to hold a general court for the settling of jurisdictions. It was signed "Your loving friend, Wm. Penn". Five days later, on November 7th, 1682, William Penn appointed Luke Watson, Wiilam Clark, John Roades, John Avery, and Halmainas Wiltbank to be Justices of the peace and the court of Judicature for the county of Whorekill alias Deal. On the 14th of November, the five appointed justices swore their oath to fufill their duties and signed and sealed a document attesting to their oaths. This was to be John Avery's last known act, for two days later the court recorded that Captain John Avery had passed from this life on November 16th, 1682. The cause of his death remains unknown, he was recorded as being sick in Sept. of 1681 and unable to make a court appearance, but this seems unrelated to his final illness in November of 1682. Hercules Shepheard, who had contracted to marry John Avery's eldest daughter Mary, is known to have visited and spoke to him on his death bed. John Avery was 50 years old at the time of his death.

A Retrospective of the Final Delaware Years: In this section, a picture of the more personal side of the lives of the Avery family in Delaware can be drawn from various records including the inventory of John Avery's personal possessions, land records, letters, and various court documents. Although living on the waters of Rehoboth Bay, no evidence can be found to indicate John Avery pursued his earlier mariner activities during the Delaware period. It would seem that he devoted his principal non-public office efforts to plantation life and the accumulation of considerable land holdings. His grant (1673) of "Avery's Choice" on the east side of Rehoboth Bay amounted to 300 acres. John Avery did hold some land in the Whorekill as early as 1671 while still residing in Maryland, but the actual acreage amount is unknown. "Avery's Rest" on King's Creek out of Rehoboth Bay, granted in 1675, added an additional 800 acres. This tract appears to be where his principal residence was for much of the earlier Delaware years. This same 800 acres, including structures, was later inherited by his daughters Mary Shepheard and Jemima Morgan. It was valued during a division settlement by the Sussex Co. court at £880 in 1698. (This amount would equate to £98,000 converted to today's value index). Martin's Vineyard on the west side of Delaware Bay was purchased from Henry Stricher in 1678 and contained 600 acres. Another parcel of land at this time was granted to John Avery by William Futcher (no acre amount was stated). In 1679, 800 more acres were granted, but soon sold to John Shepheard the brother of Avery's future son-in-law Hercules Shepheard. In Feb. 1681, "Goulden Quarter" on the west side of Delaware Bay was laid out for John Avery consisting of 300 acres. The final land granted to John Avery was 325 acres consisting of Horse Island in Rehoboth Bay and surrounding island marshlands in 1682. The records state that this island was where John and Sarah Avery were making their final home and residence in 1682. The final total of known acreage granted to or bought by the Averys in the Whorekill was in excess of 3,135 acres. 800 to 1000 acres of this amount were likely sold, leaving an estimate of 2000 or more acres remaining at the time of John Avery's death in 1682. In 1683, the Sussex court ordered an inventory to be taken of the estate of John Avery, Esquire. Avery had died intestate, and his widow Sarah was the administratrix of his estate. The inventory was done and signed by Norton Claypoole, John Roades, William Futcher, and John Bellamy. (Norton Claypoole was appointed a Sussex Co. Justice in 1683, his son Jeremiah Claypoole would marry John and Sarah Avery's grand-daughter Sarah Shepheard in 1710. The full written inventory was done in the hand of Norton Claypoole). Note: The inventory was only of the personal possessions of John Avery, and excluded the value of land, houses, and structures. The total amount assessed was £974. (Today's value= £108,410). John Avery's plantation livestock: 48 cattle, including 15 cows, 18 heifers, 13 steers & 2 bulls; 65 hogs; 14 sheep; and 8 horses. Crops: 10 Hogsheads of tobacco (about 10,000 lbs.). Tobacco was the common currency of the day in 17th century Maryland and Delaware. Debts, fines, etc., were often paid in pounds of tobacco rather than hard currency which was scarce. Also stored at the plantation were 20 barrels of corn. Tobacco would have been the principal crop of the plantation, corn and wheat would have been also grown as secondary crops. Other items of interest found in the inventory: A personal library of 20 or more books. Books were expensive and rather scarce in this period, and again attest to the educational background and literacy of both John and Sarah Avery. Slaves: Two Negro slaves are listed valued at 6000 schillings, each of the slaves had one of the 8 horses listed. Other items listed included: fire arms, cutlasses, furniture, kitchen items, farm implements, clothing, traps, and one beer barrel. Outstanding debts owed by eight individuals to John Avery totaled £482. (The two largest bills owed were from Sussex Co. residents William Carter and John Vines). The bills owed by John Avery at the time of his death= £60. Considering the added unknown value of the large amounts of land, houses, etc., owned but not a part of the inventory, Captain John Avery must have died a very wealthy man. An insight into the personality of John Avery should not overlook two letters sent by court members concerning his activities as President Judge of the Whorekill. The first of these was sent to Governor Andros by court member Edward Southrin in 1678. In this rather humerous letter, he claimed that both Mr. John Avery and Mr. Henry Smith had verbally abused him. Southrin said that John Avery had called him a rogue and rascal and that he ought to be hanged if he made any warrants again. And furthermore, John Avery said it was beneath his dignity to serve on the court with such a pitiful rascal as Southrin. He also claimed that John Avery had verbally abused Mr. John Kipshaven for not drawing a bottle of rum for an Indian Kipshaven had hired on the Sabbath. (Edward Southrin was to be cited in a court document a few years later for speaking with the Devil). A more serious letter was sent in 1679 to Governor Andros by Justice Luke Watson. Luke Watson accused Captain John Avery, President of the Court, with gross abuses. He stated that when the other Justices did not agree with John Avery, he went out of the court in a great rage, cursing, swearing, and calling the rest of the court fools, knaves, and rogues. Avery also said that if he ever sat amongst us again, that the Devil come and fetch him away. He threatened and did strike one of the Magistrates with his cane, and if not prevented by the spectators, might have done much damage. Luke Watson also accused Captain John Avery of taking court matters upon himself, and that Avery was an upholder of drunkeness, cursing, swearing, theft, fighting, and of terrifying his peaceable subjects. (A few court cases in both Maryland and Delaware accuse John Avery of unauthorized or unethical business dealings, but none ever allege theft). The final summation of John Avery's life and personality traits show a very ambitious, intelligent, educated man who demanded absolute control and command in decision-making matters. He seems to have felt intellectually superior to his peers, but probably not socially superior. Quick to litigation, as can be seen in the numerous court suits he was involved in between 1666 and 1682, Avery often displayed the contentious side of his nature. A love of the sea ran throughout his life, and he always elected to live close to waters adjacent to the sea. In selecting Sarah Browne as his wife, a woman unusually well-educated and literate for the period, again displays his belief and respect of the importance of education and intelligence. Born the son of a Puritan London mariner who purchased a large plantation in the new Massachusetts Bay Colony; raised and educated in the thriving mercantile and maritime world of the Wapping docks in London; made a citizen of London at 24; coming to New England in his late 20's in his growing quest for wealth and land; developing the strong 17th century authority traits of a master of merchant ships; gaining the court skills of judge and attorney; learning the tough business practices of a large tobacco plantation owner; ----it would seem that all of these factors contributed to the formation of the strong, complex, intellectual, and dominating personality of Captain John Avery.

Inventory of Captain John Avery (1683)

Portion of John Avery's inventory and signatures of Norton Claypoole, John Roades, William Futcher (his mark), and John Bellamy.

Chapter 4: Epilogue and Descendants (Post 1682) Sarah Avery would out-live her husband John Avery by more than 21 years. During 1683 Sarah would make appearances in the Sussex Co. court records as the administratrix of her deceased husband's estate. In Feb. of 1683, she would bring suit against Richard Harvey for a case of trespass on the estate of her deceased husband. The case was resolved as a non-suit when Sarah did not appear in court to present her suit. Also in Feb. of 1683, Sarah sucessfully petitions the court to remit a fine against her deceased husband John Avery. Later in the fall of 1683, Sarah Avery would present a bill for 3785 lb. of pork to the Provincial Council. The widow Sarah Avery would marry Robert Clifton as her second husband in early 1684. A Sussex Co. court document of March 1684 states "Robert Clifton as marrying Sarah the relict and administratrix of Captain John Avery". Robert Clifton was a prominent and wealthy resident of Sussex County. He held an appointment as a justice of the peace for Sussex Co. in 1686, and was appointed a member of the Governor's Council in 1695. The Sussex Co. tax list of 1693 shows he was one of the wealthiest of the county residents. On April 11, 1684, three cases are presented at the Sussex Co. Court. All three of these cases state that Robert Clifton had married Sarah, the relict and administratrix of Captain John Avery. Two are cases brought by Mathew Scarbrough (both ruled non-suits), and the third by William Rhodes regarding the estate of George Andrews in the custody of Robert Clifton. A curious entry appears in the court records of Sept. 12, 1684. Thomas Hodgkins petitions against the estate of Captain John Avery for a quantity of tobacco and pork owed to the estate of Hermanus Wiltbank. In the document Thomas Clifton is called the husband of Sarah, the relict of Captain John Avery. As Sarah was without question the wife of Robert Clifton by March of 1684, an obvious error in the entry must have been made. (This erroneous 1684 entry may be the original source of the mistaken belief that Sarah, 20 or more years later, had married a third time to a Thomas Clifton. Sarah is documented as being addressed as the widow of Robert Clifton as late as 1703, and no credible evidence exists that she could have married Thomas Clifton after that date. In addition, Thomas Clifton of Sussex Co. died in 1708, and his will states his wife as being named Dorcas. Whether Robert and Thomas Clifton were related is not known.) Sarah Clifton was listed as one of the witnesses to the marriage of George Riggs and Ann Thomas at Lewes town on June 19, 1687. Sarah next appears in the records as one of three witnesses to the will of the widow Elizabeth Rhodes on Feb. 14, 1694. Her husband Robert Clifton is made a trustee of the Rhodes will at the same time. An earlier connection of Robert Clifton to the Rhodes family would seem to be suggested by this and the William Rhodes court case of 1684. Sarah Clifton is again found as a witness to a marriage on June 30, 1697. This was for the marriage of John Coe and Elizabeth Rhodes at Rehoboth, Delaware. (This Elizabeth was the grand-daughter of the widow Elizabeth Rhodes mentioned above). Sarah's husband Robert Clifton is last found in any references or records in the year 1696, and his death will occur between this date and 1703. Sarah Browne, the widow of Captain John Avery and Robert Clifton, will make her last appearance in any official record on July 20, 1703. Sarah, now nearing the age of sixty, would purchase 140 acres of land in an area called Timber Neck from Edward Nixon. Sarah Clifton was listed as a widow of the town of Lewes in Sussex, County. Sarah said that after her decease this 140 acres was to descend to her "son" Robert Clifton as heir-in-law. (This Robert Clifton Jr. was certainly her step-son and not her birth son. Dating indicates he was born well before the 1684 marriage of Sarah Avery and Robert Clifton Sr. This can be proved from dating references derived from both the wills of Thomas Fenwick in 1708, and of Robert Clifton Jr. in 1720). The actual death date of Sarah remains a mystery, and no references to the remainder of her life after July of 1703 can be found. The Children and Descendants of John and Sarah Avery: With the early death of Captain John Avery's son John, the male Avery line would come to an end. All the future descendants of John and Sarah Avery will only come through the lines of their daughters. At the time of John Avery's death in 1682, all five of his children are known to have been living. John Avery Jr., his youngest child and only son, did not live long after 1682, and probably died under the age of 12. 2nd Daughter Elizabeth Avery was the age of 12 at the time of her father's death. No further trace of her seems to be found in marriage or other records after 1682. She likely received a share of her father's estate such as the known four way inheritance division made of the 800 acres of Avery's Rest. She certainly had died before 1720, as a sales deed of Henry Draper dated August 7, 1720 states that all the children of Captain John Avery were deceased by that date. (Henry Draper was married to a grand-daughter of John Avery). The lack of any available evidence on the adult years of Elizabeth Avery suggests she may have died un-married or at a relatively young age. 3rd daugher Sarah Avery, who was born at Manokin in 1672, would marry John Kipshaven circa 1690. Their daughter Sarah Kipshaven would marry Henry Draper of Sussex County. Henry Draper's 1720 land sale deed provided the information that his wife's mother, Sarah (Avery) Kipshaven, had inherited 200 acres of Avery's Rest on Rehoboth Bay from her father John Avery, and that she was deceased before 1720. (Henry Draper was intending to sell the 200 acres of Avery's Rest land to Richard Hinman, and was showing that his wife Sarah Draper was now in possession of the land through inheritance from her deceased mother). Sarah Draper, the grand-daughter of Captain John Avery, would die in 1743. 4th daughter Jemimah Avery married John Morgan about 1697. John and Jemimah Morgan first appear as plantiffs in a Sussex County land deed case in June of1698. The case involved a dispute over the partition of 800 acres of land and two plantations on Rehoboth Bay. The properties and land were stated in the case as being the inheritance of both Jemimah Morgan and her sister Mary Hinman from their deceased father Captain John Avery. Mary's claim was through a death-bed verbal promise made to her deceased first husband Hercules Shepheard by John Avery in 1682. (At the time of the 1698 case Mary had already married her 2nd husband Richard Hinman). The jury found in favor of John and Jemimah Morgan in June of 1698, and a division was made between the portion Hercules Shepheard had developed and the portion where Capt. John Avery had lived. The last mention of John and Jemimah Morgan is found in the quit rents of Sussex County in March of 1706. Jemimah Morgan would have died prior to 1720, and to date no descendants of Jemimah have been discovered. The eldest daughter Mary Avery: Mary Avery was born April 5, 1667 at Manokin in Somerset Co., Maryland. By far the largest number of descendants of Captain John Avery trace their descent from this daughter. Mary Avery married Hercules Shepheard shortly before the death of her father John Avery in November of 1682. Mary was between 15 and 16 years old at the time of the marriage, and Hercules Shepheard was about twice her age. Hercules had come to Sussex Co, Delaware from Accomack Co., Virginia around 1680. This Virginia Co. adjoins the southern border of Sussex Co., Delaware. He appears to have been born in Virginia, and from a land document of 1680 in which he gave his age as about 30, was born close to the year 1650. Hercules Shepheard was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Sussex Co. by William Penn in 1683, and served as a representative from the three lower counties in the Pennsylvania legislature in 1684. He was also appointed overseer of highways in 1687. The last record found of Hercules Shepheard appears in December of 1694, and he would die intestate not long after this date. His widow Mary (Avery) Shepheard would be the administratrix of his estate and would be married to her second husband Richard Hinman by 1698. Hercules Shepheard and Mary Avery would have three daughters named Sarah, Comfort, and Alice who would all live to adulthood, marry, and have descendants. Sarah Shepheard would marry Jeremiah Claypoole of Sussex Co. on March 10, 1710. Jeremiah Claypoole was the son of Norton and Rachel Claypoole. Both Jeremiah Claypoole and his father Norton served as Justices of Sussex County. (This daughter of Hercules and Mary (Avery) Shepheard is the direct connection to my own descent from Captain John Avery, and has constituted the major focus of my genealogical research on Avery descendants. A brief chart of this personal descent is found at the end of the page along with a more detailed web page link). Sarah Shepheard would have 8 children with Jeremiah Claypoole: (Comfort, Mary, Sarah, Rachel, Joseph, George, Elizabeth, and John). Sarah (Shepheard) Claypoole would die about the year 1732. Jeremiah Claypoole would marry a widow named Mary Davock Russell after Sarah's death, and he would die testate with an extensive will in 1744. Comfort and Alice Shepheard, the other two daughters of Hercules Shepheard and Mary Avery, would both marry members of the Kollock family. Comfort Shepheard married Simon Kollock. (A possible earlier 1st marriage of Comfort to Thomas Prettyman is now generally not accepted). The youngest daughter Alice Shepheard married Jacob Kollock on Sept. 7, 1718. (The Kollock family had been the only descendant line with any appreciable amount of earlier research. The first study of the Kollocks and their descendants was begun by the Kollock descendant Edwin J. Sellers. His 1897 publication "Genealogy of the Kollock family of Sussex Co., Delaware 1657-1897" was the first work on this family. Edwin J. Sellers would update the Kollock information with a supplement published in 1922. Subsequent studies have added additional information and corrected a number of earlier errors in the Kollock family history. For further details and information on the Kollock descendants, I would recommend consulting these available sources). The birth order of the Shepheard daughters can only be estimated. Alice was almost certainly the youngest daughter. Her marriage in 1718 suggests she was born shortly before the death of her father Hercules Shepheard. It is difficult to determine whether Sarah or Comfort was the eldest. Sarah, named for Mary's mother Sarah Avery, was married in 1710 and could have been the eldest. But lacking birth records or a marriage date for Comfort, who seems to have married close to the same time, a final conclusion can only be an estimation. A clue may be found In an entry of the Sussex County Orphans Court held Sept. 2, 1707. In this entry, Richard Hinman who was the step-father of Comfort, had appeared in court along with Comfort Shepheard. Comfort, stated as a spinster, acknowledged herself by hand and seal satisfied in the estate of her deceased father Hercules Shepheard. The Orphans Court entry suggests that Comfort was the first of the sisters to become of age, and she may have indeed been older than Sarah. (This 1707 document is also probably the source of the mistaken belief that Hercules Shepheard had died near to this date, and that his widow had only recently married Richard Hinman). I believe the most probable birth order of the daughters of Hercules and Mary Shepheard would have been (1) Comfort, (2) Sarah, and (3) Alice. Edwin Sellers in his original material said that the Shepheard daughters also had a younger full brother John Shepheard, but no real evidence supports this claim. The mistake was probably made by a confusion with their half-brother John Hinman mentioned below. Mary Avery, after the death of her first husband Hercules Shepheard, had married Richard Hinman shortly before 1698. Mary would have been about 30 years old at the time of this 2nd marriage and had at least two children by her second husband. John Hinman, the eldest, was given a gift of land by Mary Hinman in 1707. The deed book read: "Mary, wife of Richard Hinman, gives to her son John Hinman, from natural love and affection, by deed of gift, land belonging to her father John Avery". (This son was very likely the John Hinman whose will was probated in Sept. of 1727). Mary's second son Richard Hinman made his will in 1741. In the will he states that he is the owner of Horse Island and marsh lands in Rehoboth Bay. This island in Rehoboth Bay was the property and last residence of Captain John Avery at the time of his death in 1682. Conclusion: In 1704 the three counties of Delaware would separate from Pennsylvania which they had been part of since the arrival of William Penn in 1682. Tobacco, the great cash crop and currency of John Avery's 17th century Delaware, would soon become un-economical and largely disappear by 1750. The same 18th century decline of tobacco growing would also occur in Somerset Co., Maryland due to poor and worn out soil conditions. The westward migration of the 1750's would see a number of descendants of the original Delaware families leave for new lands developing in the Shenandoah Valley and beyond. My own Delaware colonial ancestors would be included among this group. Slavery in Delaware would decline by the 19th century, but would not be abolished until December of 1865. The Delaware and Rehoboth Bay areas of today have developed a largely tourist and recreational based economy. Avery's Rest is the only remaining reminder of John Avery in the Rehoboth Bay area---it has been designated a historical site, but remains on private land. Charlestown would eventually become a part of the city of Boston, it's maritime tradition preserved as the permanent docking site of the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides). Wapping, Whitechapel, and Stepney in the 19th century had become the proto-typical east end slums described in Charles Dickens' novels and made infamous by Jack the Ripper. The London blitz of 1940 virtually destroyed all that remained of the original Wapping area including the churches of St. Mary Whitechapel and St. John Wapping. Neither church has ever been re-built. The Wapping waterfront of today's London has been surprisingly resurrected as an up-scale residential area with attractive restaurants and pubs. Our original research on Captain John Avery was begun in the late 1980's as a basic ancestral study. Looking for his origins in England was pursued, but had to be left incomplete due to a lack of evidence. Although at that time suspecting the London birth of John Avery found in 1632 could be correct, no connectng links to the American colonies of Mathew and John Avery were found. In 2005, the discovery of the Charlestown Ma. records of this Avery family provided the vital clues to begin the present project. Knowing that the transporting of John and Sarah Avery to Maryland in 1665 would almost certainly have been from another colony, an intensive study and comparison of the Massachusetts and Maryland records provided the connecting links and clues that were not available in our earlier search efforts. These newly found facts led to our wish to write a new and complete chronological and biographical outline of the lives and origins of John and Sarah Avery. Bruce & Barbara Morrison Lexington, Ky. February 12, 2006