William Waightstill Avery
William Waightstill Avery (1816–1864) was a North Carolina politician and lawyer. Born in Burke County, North Carolina, he was the brother of Isaac E. Avery, the son of Isaac Thomas Avery, and the grandson of Waightstill Avery. In 1846 Avery married Mary Corinna Morehead, the daughter of Gov. John Motley Morehead.
A Democrat, Avery served in the North Carolina House of Commons and later in the North Carolina Senate to which he was elected Speaker in 1856. He ran for Congress in 1858, but a split among the Democrats led to a victory by Zebulon B. Vance.
After North Carolina seceded from the union in 1861, Avery was chosen to represent the state in the Provisional Confederate Congress. Then, he returned to Burke County to raise a regiment for the Confederate States Army. He died in Morganton from wounds received in a skirmish with a party of Tennessee Unionists in 1864.
