HISTORY OF AVERY TOWNSHIP

Avery Township is located in the most western of the central tier of townships in Humboldt Count.  The west fork of the Des Moines River enters the township on the west line of Section 6 and flows southeasterly across the entire breadth of Avery leaving at Section 25.  The land is mostly of gentle rolling prairie with the bank of the river fringed with a heavy growth of trees.  The soil is a rich alluvial deposit of dark loam with just the right mixture of sand.  Avery Township also has a fine grade of building stone and top quality agricultural lime.

A man named Fenton was the first white person to settle within the limits of Avery Township and he built a cabin in 1857.  However, he did not stay long and moved to Fort Dodge.  Others came and went during 1857-1860.  The first settler coming to farm was O. F. Avery, after whom the township was named.  he settled on a bluff west of Bradgate.  In November 1`859 he began to build a home, sawing his own lumber.  he also built the first bridge across the West Des Moines River.  Avery erected the first schoolhouse, a temporary one, in 1864 at a cost of $35.  he also planted the first corn and wheat in the area.  A native of Herkimer County, New York, he became the first postmaster when the station of Park Grove was established in his home.

Charles Jarvis came in 1861, as did Charles Sherman, d. W. Rider also came in 1861 driving a drove of cattle and sheep and built the first frame building in Avery Township.

The first birth in the township was that of Minnie G. Avery who was born July 21, 1866.  The first marriage was that of Charles Sherman to Sylvia Ingham which took place in November 1864.

In the early days there was a big spring in the river about a mile south of Bradgate and many of the early pioneers were baptized in the shallows near it.

Avery Township has always been one of the best hunting, trapping and fishing areas in the state of Iowa.