The Biographical Dictionary of America/Avery, Waitstill

AVERY, Waitstill, revolutionary patriot, was born at Groton, Conn., May 3, 1745. He was graduated at Princeton college in 1770, removed to Mecklenburg county, N. C., was admitted to the bar, and took an active part in the political agitation that followed the battle of the Alamance. In 1775 he was a member of the celebrated Mecklenburg convention, signed the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," and was a member of the Hillsborough congress. In 1776 he was elected to the state congress, and in 1777 was appointed the first attorney-general of the state. In the following year he was given command of a regiment of state troops, and served with credit in that capacity till the close of the war. He died in Burke county, N. C., in 1821.