Private Christopher Avery

With his brothers, he was a grantee of Chiswick and of Lisbon, N. H., in 1764 ; he was one of the proprietors of the Susquehanna land company. His name is found on the list of "Yankee Prisoners" taken by the Pennsylvanians in 1774. He moved to the Wyoming Valley as early as 1769 ; was sent thence as a delegate to the Connecticut legislature in 1769 and 1774. He was in the government employment in 1775, as is shown by the following pass :

"To whom it may concern: The bearer, Christopher Avery, is employed by the Continental Congress on business of importance, and is journeying in the protection of the Barriers and is to have free range to Wyoming, on the East branch of the Susquehanna River, and must not be hindered or molested. but all persons are requested to afford him every assistance he mayneed and forward him on his journey as quickly as possible.

Given under my hand at Philadelphia, this 5th day of November, 1775. John Hancock, President."

On June 1, 1778, he was commissioned by Governor Trumbull as justice of the peace for the county of Westmoreland, Connecticut (Pennsylvania). He was an ensign in the Continental army. June 30, 1778, a body of British troops and seven hundred Indians entered the Valley of the Wyoming, and demanded the surrender of Forty Fort, the principal fortification. After a desperate battle, the fort surrendered; some of the survivors were massacred and most of the others were forced to flee from the valley. Among the killed (July 3, 1778) was Christopher^ Avery. See Avery's History of the United States and Its People,vol.6,chap.8.

Military Unknown 3 Jul 1778 Wyoming Valley massacre where Colonel Zebulon Butler led the little band of patriot-soldiers and citizens to surprise the invaders, at Wintermoot's

Wyoming Valley massacre July 03, 1778

The first severely bitter fruit of the alliance of Great Britain with the American savages was tasted in the Wyoming Valley in the summer of 1778. That valley is a beautiful region of Pennsylvania, lying between mountain ranges and watered by the Susquehanna River that flows through it. The first European known to have trodden the soil of the valley was Count Zinzendorf the Moravian, seeking the good of souls. The region was claimed as a part of the domain of Connecticut granted by the charter of that province given by Charles the Second, and was called the county of Westmoreland. The first settlers there, forty in number, went from Connecticut about the middle of the last century. When the old war for independence broke out, the valley was a paradise of beauty and fertility. As that war went on, and an alliance between the British and Indians became manifest, the people of the valley felt insecure. They built small forts for their protection, and called the attention of the Continental Congress, from time to time, to their exposed situation. When St. Leger was besieging Fort Schuyler, on the Mohawk River, in 1977, parties of Indian warriors threatened the valley, but the inhabitants there were spared from much harm until the summer of 1778.

Among the Tory leaders in northern and western New York were John Butler and his son Walter N. They were less merciful toward the Whigs than their savage associates in deeds of violence. John Butler was a colonel in the British service; and in the spring of 1778, he induced the Seneca warriors in western New York to consent to follow him into Pennsylvania. He had been joined by some Tories from the Wyoming Valley, who gave him a correct account of that region; and on the last day of June he appeared at the head of the beautiful plains with more than a thousand men, Tories and Indians. They captured the uppermost fort, and Butler made the fortified house of Wintermoot, a Tory of the valley, his headquarters. The whole military force to oppose the invasion was composed of a small company of regulars and a few militia. When the alarm was given, the whole population flew to arms. Grandfathers and their aged sons, boys, and even women, seized such weapons as were at hand, and joined the soldiery. Colonel Zebulon Butler, an officer of the Continental Army, happened to be at home, and by common consent he was made commander-in-chief. Forty Fort, a short distance above Wilkes-Barre, was the place of general rendezvous, and in it were gathered the women and children of the valley.

On the 3d of July, Colonel Zebulon Butler led the little band of patriot-soldiers and citizens to surprise the invaders, at Wintermoot's. The vigilant leader of the motley host, informed of the movement, was ready to receive the assailants. The Tories formed the left wing of Colonel Butler's force resting on the river, and the Indians, led by Gi-en-gwa-tah, a Seneca chief, composed the right that extended to a swamp at the foot of the mountain. These were first struck by the patriots, and a general battle ensued. It raged vehemently for half an hour, when, just as the left of the invaders was about to give way, a mistaken order caused the republicans to retreat in disorder. The infuriated Indians sprang forward like wounded tigers, and gave no quarter. The patriots were slaughtered by scores. Only a few escaped to the mountains, and were saved. In less than an hour after the battle began, two hundred and twenty-five scalps were in the hands of the savages as tokens of their prowess.

The yells of the Indians had been heard by the feeble ones at Forty Fort, and terror reigned there. Colonel Denison, who had reached the valley that morning, had escaped to the stronghold, and prepared to defend the women and children to the last extremity.

of land were laid out to Christopher Avery in Putnam Township in 1776. Christopher Avery came to Wyoming from Norwich in May, 1789, with the company of settlers led by Major Durkee. (See page 487.) He was not here, apparently, in 1771, nor in the Spring of 1772, but arrived at Wilkes-Barre June 18, 1772— from which time until his death he resided here, and was active in the affairs of the settlement. At the drawing of lots in Wilkes-Barre in 1772 Jordan Hopson drew Lot No. 41 in the town-plot (see page 655) and lots in the other divisions of the township. Later in that year Hopson's rights were forfeited, and Christopher Avery became the possessor of the lots in question. A few years later Mr. Avery became the owner, also, of Lot No. 2 in the town-plot of Wilkes-Barre, and after his death his administrator sold the

Colt for $2,660. Christopher Avery was one of the original Ensigns of the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia. (See Chapter XII.) He was killed at the battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778, and at the time of his death was one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the county of Westmoreland. His brother Solomon was appointed administrator of his estate, the inventory of which (real and personal), made September 22, 1778, amounted to £1,099, llsh. So far as known Christopher Avery was never married. (For further mention of him see other pages in this history.)

Sources

• THE GROTON AVERY CLAN, Vol. I, by Elroy McKendree Avery and Catherine Hitchcock (Tilden) Avery, Cleveland, 1912. p 229-230
• MORGAN GENEALOGY: A History of James Morgan, of New London, Conn., and His Descendants; from 1607 to 1869, By Nathaniel H. Morgan, Hartford, Press of Case, Lockwood & Brainard, 1869, p. 30

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