Ebenezer Avery was baptized 17 August 1746 at Groton, Connecticut, a son of Parke Avery, born 9 December 1710 at Groton, and died 4 May 1797, at Groton; and Mary Latham, born 1749, and died 13 August 1809 at Groton, Connecticut.  Ebenezer Avery married (first) Elizabeth Green, 17 August 1768.  She was born 16 September 1749.  He married (second), Elizabeth Smith, approximately 1785.  He married (third) Elizabeth Latham, 19 August 1791. 

Ebenezer would have the following children: by his wife Elizabeth Green: Elizabeth, baptized 16 July 1769; Ebenezer, born 4 March 1771; Lydia, born 4 April 1773; John Green, died 22 September 1777; and Elisha.  By his second wife, Elizabeth Smith, he had the following children:  Frances, born 4 August 1787.  By his third wife, Elizabeth Latham, he had the following children:  John, born 18 May 1792; and Orlando, died 18 September 1821.

The Battle of Groton Heights and Fort Griswold is what Ensign Avery is most noted for in his participation, the injuries he received, and the use of his residence as a hospital.  In 1781, Groton Heights was defended by a small American militia led by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard.  The British wished to delay General Washington from marching to Virginia against Lord Cornwallis, and by attacking Groton, attempted to divert Washington from his march.  The British forces, commanded by Benedict Arnold, who was originally from Connecticut, were in superior numbers.   The battle that ensued resulted in a British defeat of the Americans, however; the British, although successful, would suffer large casualties.  More importantly, when the British finally were able to breach Fort Griswold, they killed most of the surrendering defenders.   There have been conflicting views as to whether this was a massacre or miscommunication during battle that resulted in many of the surrendered deaths.

The Avery House, a structure in Groton, bears an important historical significance to the battle of Groton heights and Fort Griswold.  When the battle had concluded, many wounded Patriot soldiers were placed in a cart that would careen out of control down a hill, eventually colliding with a tree.  One of the British prisoners was described as Ensign Ebenezer Avery, which is most likely the reason these injured men were taken to his nearby residence, where they remained.  His home was located on the ferry bank at the corner of Thames and Latham Streets.  The residence would have been located at the edge of Groton Heights.  During the battle, he had been beaten with a musket butt, caving in a portion of his head.  He was severely injured, which is why he was not boarded onto the British prisoner transports. He would later recover from his wounds and work as a Tailor.  He would go on to be a disability Pensioner of the Revolutionary War.

In an information request regarding Ensign Avery’s pension, dated November 3, 1916, Acting Commissioner E. C. Tieman stated, “…the papers in claim Sur. File No. 19,986 Rev. War, it appears that Ebenezer Avery, while acting as a Corporal in Captain John Wiliams’ company of the Eighth Regiment of Connecticut Militia, was wounded in the head and body, at Fort Griswold September 6, 1781, while opposing the British troops under General Arnold.  He was allowed pension, for said disability, from September 28, 1788, in which year he was forty-two years of age.”  In 1828, he was a resident of Groton, Connecticut.  The record in this Bureau bears the endorsement “…died January 10, 1827.”

Ensign Ebenezer Avery died 11 January 1828 at Groton, Connecticut.  He is buried at the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery, at Groton.

References:

1. Fold3, Official Letter of Pension information https://www.fold3.com/image/11079627.

2. Fold3, Ebenezer Avery, 11 July 1779, Connecticut Militia Roll, Captain John Williams, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Gallup, stationed Fort Griswold.

3. Fold3, Connecticut Militia, Gallups Regiment, Card Number 37077849.

4. Connecticut Men in the Revolutionary War, Pg. 555, 577, 578.

5. Burnham, H. H. (1894).  The Battle of Groton Heights:  A Story of the Storming of Fort Griswold, and The Burning of New London on the Sixth of September, 1781.  E. E. Darrow, Printer and Book Binder.  New London, Connecticut. 

6. Fold3, Revolutionary War Pension *S19906, https://www.fold3.com/image/11079518.

7. North American Family Histories, 1500-2000, Vol.079, Pg. 204.

8. Connecticut history.org, “Blood on the Hill: The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781,” by Richard Malley.

9. Avery, Catherine Hitchock Tilden (1912).  The Groton Avery Clan, Elroy Mckendree Avery, 1844-1935. Cleveland, Ohio,  Pg 387, 379-380.

10. “Historic Buildings of Connecticut,” https://historicbuildingsct.com/the-ebenezer-avery-house-1750.

11.  Waldo, Samuel Putnam (1819).  The Tour of James Monroe.  Silas Andrus. Hartford. Pg. 129.