First Avery and Morgan families in USA lived in Groton, CT about 1655. Cemetery stones (earliest 1689) were renovated in 1924 by the Avery Memorial Assoc.
History: James Morgan came to Poquonnock about 1655. James Avery and James Morgan families were friends and were joined together by marriages of daughters of James Morgan to the James Avery family. The two served on various committees including the laying out of the Kings highway between Norwich and Mystic. These first Avery and Morgan families in America are buried here, with a marker memorializing the beginning of the family tree, making the cemetery one of the oldest in Groton.
The Avery-Morgan Cemetery was established on the property of James Morgan. In 1912 the property in front of the Avery-Morgan Cemetery was deeded to the borough. It was felt that the Smith Lake Cemetery, on the shores of Smith Lake, was a contamination to the drinking water and by May 25, 1915 all bodies and headstones were moved from the Smith Lake Cemetery to the property in front of the Avery-Morgan Cemetery.
The Avery-Morgan Cemetery was renovated in 1924 with a gift of $1000 from John D. Rockefeller, a descendant of Samuel Avery who was buried there. A. W. Pierson of Niagara Falls, also Samuel's descendant, had recently moved his ancestor's body from the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery and had interested Rockefeller in the project. Two hundred old stones were cleaned, recut and set in cement and boulders bearing tablets in memory of James Avery and James Morgan were set in place. The boulder near the entrance marks the site of the house built by the first James Morgan about 1657. This work was done by the Avery Memorial Association.
