William Avery was born on December 25, 1811, in Wilkinson County, Georgia. He married a woman named Susan, and they had at least seven children: Asa, born around 1840; John, born around 1841; Lewis, born around 1844; Martha, born around 1846; James, born around 1849; Susan, born around 1852; and Sarah, born around 1855. They moved to Gadsden County, Florida, in the 1840s, and Avery worked as a farmer there. By 1850, he owned $525 of real estate. By 1860, they were living in Jackson County, Florida, and Avery owned $400 of personal property. The family moved to Henry County, Alabama, in the 1860s, and he served enlisted as a corporal in the Henry County Reserves on December 19, 1864. He died in Alabama on August 8, 1868.