William Francis Avent  1827 - 1881

Home  Search  Print  Login

• Birth	28 Dec 1827
  Sex	Male
  Died	6 Sep 1881
  Person ID	I1846	avefamily
  Last Modified	30 Mar 2009
  Father	Tamlin Avent, b. 1801, Greensville Co., VA
  Mother	Sarah Elizabeth Dupree, b. 30 Mar 1809
  Family ID	F569	Group Sheet
  Family	Frances S. Brown, b. Abt 1830, Lafayette Co., MS
  Married	30 Jan 1851	Lafayette Co., MS
  Children	1. Elizabeth Avent, b. 1852, Lafayette Co., MS   2. Sarah Avent, b. 1854, Lafayette Co., MS   3. Walter Avent, b. 1856, Lafayette Co., MS   4. Frances Avent, b. 1860, Lafayette Co., MS
  Last Modified	09 Mar 2007
  Family ID	F773	Group Sheet

• Photos		Avent, William Francis, Major, CSA (28 Dec 1827 - 6 Sep 1881) b. in Greensville Co., VA, moved to MS 1845-50, moved back to VA by 1870. Maj. William Francis Avent, Quartermaster with the Department of AL, MS, and East LA, Army of Tennessee. Appointed Captain on 27 May 1862, listed as a Major serving with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest on 15 March 1864. Surrendered with Lt. Gen. R. Taylor at Citronville 4 May 1865 and paroled 18 May 1865. from "William Faulkner and Southern History", Joel Williamson, p. 127: "William F. Avent was a planter and at age 34 in 1860 valued his holdings at $486,000. Avent (sometimes spelled Avant) was born to a very ambitious family of Virginians who had come into the area (Lafayette Co., MS) at the beginning and bought large amounts of land, some of it directly from the Indians..."

• Notes

  Major William Francis Avent(28 DEC 1827 - 6 SEP 1881), General and Staff Officer, Quartermaster with the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. Appointed Captain on 27 May 1862 and was listed as a Major serving with Gen. N. B. Forrest on 15 March 1864. He surrendered with Lt. Gen. R. Taylor at Citronville 4 May 1865 and was paroled 18 May 1865. from William Faulkner and Southern History, Joel Williamson, p. 127 "William F. Avent was a planter and at age 34 in 1860 valued his holdings at $486,000. Avent (sometimes spelled Avant) was born to a very ambitious family of Virginians who had come into the area at the beginning and bought large amounts of land, some of it directly from the Indians. In 1851, William Avent had married one of the Brown daughters..." It appears that William F. Avent was born in Greensville Co., VA in 1826 and moved to Lafayette Co., MS 1845-50. Census records show that he was there, unmarried, in 1850. By 1870 he was back in VA, a widower, with his children. 10 years later he was living with his widowed mother, Sarah. 1880 Greensville Co., VA census: Avent, Sarah E., 71 Avent, William F., 54, son Lundy, Willia, B., 16 granddaughter Lundy, Turner, T., 14, grandson Avent, Fannie, R., 18, granddaughter from the web: "His (Wm F. Avent) mother was Sarah Elizabeth Dupree and his father was a politician, Tamlin Avent, member of the house of delegates from what is now Emporia,VA. He attended William and Mary College back in the 1840's. " On the 1880 census, Greenville Co., VA is William F. Avent, age 54, living with mother Sarah E. Avent, age 71. His marital status is widower. On 1870 Greenville Co. census Sarah E. Avent age 61 is wife of Tamlin Avent, age 69. William F. Avent, age 45, is in same county with children Elizabeth, age 18, Sarah, 16, and Fanny, 9, all born in MS. from: Mississippi Marriages, 1826-1900 Name: WILLIAM F. AVENT Spouse: FRANCES S. BROWN Marriage Date: 30 Jan 1851 County: Lafayette State: MS 1850 Lafayette Co., MS census has William F. Avant, age 23, born in VA. There is some confusion about the first name of William's wife. Some sources give her name as Susan, but it may actually have been Sarah. The 1850 Lafayette Co., MS, census shows planter James Brown, with wife Mary and a daughter Sarah F., age 20, born in TN. The 1860 Lafayette Co. census shows W. F. Avant, age 34, born in VA, living next door to James Brown and wife Mary. The only other adult female in the household is named Sarah, age 30, born in TN. It does not state their relationship, but it has to be assumed that she was his wife, as her name is listed below his. 1860 Lafayette Co. census: W. F. Avant, 34, planter, b. VA Sarah, 30, b. TN Elizabeth, 8 Sarah, 6 Walter, 4 Fannie, 1/12 Walter Fox, 14 Wm Fox, 19