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Thomas Hamlet Averett (July 10, 1800 – June 30, 1855) was a 19th Century American physician, slave owner and U.S. Representative from Virginia from 1849 to 1853.

Biography

Born near Halifax, Virginia, Averett attended the common schools. He served as a drummer boy in the War of 1812.

He studied medicine. He was graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and practiced in Halifax and the adjacent counties.

He served in the State senate in 1848 and 1849. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress.

Congress

Averett was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses (March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853). During that time, he was responsible for future Confederate cavalry general J.E.B. Stuart's appointment to attend West Point.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1852. He resumed the practice of medicine in Halifax County.

Death and burial

He died near Halifax Court House, Virginia, June 30, 1855. He was interred in the family burial ground near Halifax Court House.

Elections

• 1849; Averett was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 50.75% of the vote, defeating Whig Thomas Stanhope Flournoy.
• 1851; Averett was re-elected with 57.38% of the vote, defeating Whig Flournoy.

References

1. "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-01-23
2. Appeals, Virginia Supreme Court of (1844). Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. T. Nicholson.
3. Ball, Durwood (2001). Army regulars on the western frontier, 1848-1861. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-8061-3312-0. OCLC 45080088.

Sources

• United States Congress. "Thomas H. Averett (id: A000343)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 3rd congressional district
Moore Neville Jackson Machir Jackson J. Smith Tucker Williams Archer Jones Coles Tredway Flournoy Averett Caskie DeJarnette Porter J. A. Smith Walker Johnston Wise Waddill Wise Ellett Lamb Montague Satterfield Jr. Gary Satterfield III Bliley Scott

• 1800 births
• 1855 deaths
• Thomas Jefferson University alumni
• United States Army personnel of the War of 1812
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
• People from Halifax County, Virginia
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly