by Robert Wallace Avent
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| While a direct lineage has yet to be documented recent DNA comparisons by Steve Avent (see www.aventfamily.org/aventdna.htm) suggest that Henry Clay Avent was in fact a direct descendant of Colonel Thomas Avent who was born in England around 1671 and immigrated to Virginia in 1701 where he died in 1757. The following is an excerpt from the book The Avant-Avent Family of England by Peter Wilson Coldham from David Avant, Jr.'s Florida Pioneers and their AL, GA, Carolina, MD & VA Ancestors . “It has been established through a detailed study of the sources that the Avants/Avents were mainly established from at least 1541 in Plympton, St. Mary, Devon, on which date John Avent was a witness at the Inquisition Post Mortem of Robert Brett. At later dates the Avents are found in Wembury, Brixton, Modbury, and other Devon parishes and in Cornwall. The first mention of an Avent in the London area occurs in the Westminster Denization Rolls of 36 Henry VIII where a Raynt Avent, born in Normandy, is listed as living in Westminster with a wife and children in 1544. The Avent name occurs spasmodically in a number of London parish registers after that date but, for the most part, it seems likely that these were emigrants from Devon and not London born. The first such after Raynt Avent (of whose family no further information has been forthcoming) is George Avent, a waterman, against whom a suit was brought by the citizens of Gravesend, Kent (will, p. 51). There is no evidence of any Avent migration from London to the West Country and such a move would seem improbable. It seems more likely that the Devon and Cornwall family took its name from a local village, possibly Advent in Cornwall. There is also no evidence to suggest that any of the Avents settled in England were of Huguenot extraction. That the separate families of Devon and Cornwall were closely related can be demonstrated from the fragmentary remains of an early legal document.” It was my mother who gave me the interest to find my roots and it was through the efforts of the late Everette Wesley Crowley of Batesville, Mississippi, that started me on the quest. It was through correspondence with Garland Avent that I was able to determine the probable line from my great great grandfather to Colonel Avent. But of all the people who have provided help and assistance there is one person who truely made this family history possible, Laverne Huffman, of Eupora, Mississippi. It was through her unselfish sharing of her work and research over many years that enabled me to create this web site. Laverne furnished the names and all early period pictures of Henry Clay and his descendants. I will forever be in her debt! Please remember that this is research in progress. I not only hope that all who view this site will find it informative but especially request that any errors or omissions be brought to my attention so that I may continue to improve and expand this family tree. |
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robavent@yahoo.com |
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4631 Whitechapel Lane Belden, MS, 38826-9780 |
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(662) 842-3145 |