Sampson Avard, Snr

Biography

Sampson Avard, Snr was born circa 1770 in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey.

Sampson married Ann Avard (Jehan).

Together they had the following children:

• Sampson Avard.

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From the records we see that another Avard family were also living in St Peter Port at that time; Sampson Avard and his wife Ann Jehan. When his son Sampson (more of him later) was baptised in 1803, Adam Avard was a godfather. Adam Clarke Avard, son of Joseph, became a Methodist minister in Canada in 1817 and died in 1821, but as he was born around 1800 he was probably too young to be a godfather in 1803. Although from her name Ann Jehan must have been a Channel Islander, a search of the Library’s marriage records drew a blank, and it is possible that she was originally from Jersey, where the Methodist ministry to the 'Norman Isles' was based.

And what about Guernsey-born Sampson Avard Jr., whose relative Adam seems to have been a Methodist minister? He was a physician and by 1835 was in the US, where he was baptised a member of the Mormon Church. He became leader of a secretive sect known as the Danites8 and in 1838 was involved in the 'Missouri Wars.' in which Mormon settlers were driven out of Missouri with a great deal of violence on both sides; he was captured and accused Joseph Smith, whom he claimed (probably falsely) was responsible for all the trouble. This was just what the authorities wanted to hear and they imprisoned Joseph Smith in the notorious Liberty Jail. Sampson Avard was excommunicated by Smith in 1839 and continued his life as a doctor in Edwardsville, Illinois, where he died in 1869, having never tried to return to the Mormon Church.

Joseph Avard was born in St Austell, Cornwall, in 1761, was apprenticed at a young age to a clockmaker, and by 1789 had based himself in Bristol. Several watches of his making are apparently in existence. While he was still in St Austell, he married Frances Ivey in 1782 and met in 1784 the Methodist pioneer Adam Clarke.

https://www.priaulxlibrary.co.uk/articles/article/prince-edward-isl...

England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975

• Name: Sampson Avard
• Gender: Male
• Baptism Date: 10 Nov 1765
• Baptism Place: Saint Austell,Cornwall,England
• Father: Thomas Avard
• Mother: Elizabeth
• FHL Film Number: 0246827-0246831