Elroy M. Avery

Who was Elroy M. Avery?

Elroy McKendree Avery, Ph.D., LL.D. was an American politician, author, and historian. Avery was an Ohio State Senator in the 1890s before becoming an early resident of west Pasco County, Florida and was the first mayor of New Port Richey, Florida. As an author, Avery wrote school textbooks about physics and chemistry as well as books about the history of the United States, Cleveland and New Port Richey.

Avery was born in Erie, Michigan as the elder son of Caspar Hugh and Dorothy Avery. He fought in the American Civil War achieving the rank of Sergeant-Major while with the 11th Michigan Cavalry. Also in the 1860s, he worked as a writer for the Detroit Tribune. In Battle Creek, Michigan, he was a high school principal in 1869 and married Catherine Hitchcock Tilden on July 2, 1870.

In 1871, Avery graduated from the University of Michigan and relocated to Cleveland where he continued as a school principal from 1871 to 1879. In 1891 and 1892, Avery was on the Cleveland City Council before being elected to the state senate and serving from 1893 to 1897.

On December 22, 1911, Mrs. Avery died.