![Detail from [The office and sales staff of Imperial Oil Company Vancouver], Vancouver City Archives, Port P1493, about 1913, http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/office-and-sales-staff-of-imperial-oil-company-vancouver;rad](https://westendvancouver.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/henry-dodge-averill-photograph.jpg)
Henry Dodge Averill was an oil company manager.
He lived at 1847 Barclay Street in 1901.
Family Background
Henry Dodge Averill was born on October 5, 1867, in Columbus, Ohio. His parents were Henry Eliphalet Averill (1839-1892) and Julia Maria Dodge (1843-1876).
Henry Eliphalet Averill was a lawyer who was born in Connecticut in 1839. He moved with his parents to Ohio in 1844. After being admitted to the bar, he practiced law for many years in Toledo, Ohio. He was also the assistant to the Attorney General of Ohio, and he served in the office of the Adjutant General. He was associated with his father-in-law, Frederick Dodge, in construction of railroads in Ohio and Illinois, and he became an auditor of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. He was also one of the auditors of Standard Oil Company.
Early Life
Henry Dodge Averill attended Cornell University as a member of the class of 1890.
To Vancouver
Henry first appeared in Vancouver city directories in 1893, working as an agent for Standard Oil Co. on Cordova Street. From then on, he lived in a series of boarding establishments. In 1897 he was at 1300 Comox Street.
In 1904, he was a member of the lawn bowling committee at the Vancouver Tennis Club, along with John Walter Kerr (1868-1937) and Frederick James Procter (1863-1916).
According to the 1914 Vancouver Social Register and Club Directory, he was a member of the Vancouver Golf and Country Club and the Western Club, which was at Dunsmuir and Hornby Streets. The Western Club was one of the “middling class commercial associations” in Vancouver: Robert A.J. McDonald, Making Vancouver: Class, Status, and Social Boundaries, 1863-1913, Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press, 1996, page 162.
There are no listings in Vancouver for Henry Averill after 1918.
James Skitt Matthews (the Vancouver archivist who was usually called Major Matthews) knew Mr. Averill quite well, because they both worked for the Vancouver office of the Imperial Oil Company. Major Matthews did not like Mr. Averill.
Henry D. Averill, Charles M. Rolston and Major J.S. Matthews all appear in the following photo. Mr. Averill is in the front row, second from the right. Mr. Rolston is in the front row, third from the left; Major Matthews is in the back row, second from the right.
![[The office and sales staff of Imperial Oil Company Vancouver], AM54-S4-: Port P1493, http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/office-and-sales-staff-of-imperial-oil-company-vancouver;rad](https://westendvancouver.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/the-office-and-sales-staff-of-imperial-oil-company-vancouver-am54-s4-port-p1493.jpg)
In November 1919, Henry was planning to leave Vancouver. The staff of the Imperial Oil Company gave him a tie pin as a going away gift.
He later went to Ohio. He died in Perrysburg, Ohio, on December 24, 1921. The cause of death was cerebral endarteritis.
He was buried on December 26, 1921, in Fort Meigs Cemetery, Perrysburg, Ohio: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29267879. (Note: The entry on Find A Grave says that he was “US Navy Officer (Asst Surgeon) Spanish American War.” This is surprising and probably unlikely, if the Vancouver directory information is correct and if Major Matthews was accurate in his recollections of Henry Averill’s occupation and character.)
Sources
Henry Eliphalet Averill, house in Perrysburg, Ohio; http://www.historicperrysburg.org/properties/333EFront.htm.
Henry Eliphalet Averill, in Clara A. Avery, The Averell-Averill-Avery Family, 1906, Vol. 2, page 899:
The Cornell Daily Sun, Volume VII, Number 121, 4 May 1887 — PAUL PRY PRESENTED: “H.D. Averill, as Harry Stanley . . . acted very creditably indeed.”
Cornell Alumni News, Vol. 11, No. 10, December 2, 1908, Page 115:
[Class of] ’90 – H.D. Averill is manager of the Imperial Oil Company for British Columbia, with headquarters at Vancouver, B.C.
Cornell Alumni News, Vol. 14, No. 28, April 17, 1912, page 331:
Alumni Associations . . .Vancouver, B.C.
On the evening of March 14 the Cornell alumni residing in Vancouver, British Columbia, met at the University Club for an informal dinner. This was the first Cornell gathering held in the metropolis of Western Canada and was a total success. The strains of “Alma Mater” and of other songs dear to Cornellians were welcome sounds. After singing “Alma Mater” and drinking a toast to “The King” the following men sat down to dinner: H.D. Averill ’90 . . .. [list of other attendees omitted.] Other Cornell dinners will be given in the near future, and it is probable that the alumni will organize before long.
“United States Census, 1870”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M62S-VJC : 19 March 2020), Henry D Averill in entry for Fredrick Dodge, 1870.
“United States Census, 1880,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M83D-2YJ : 16 July 2017), Harry D Averall in household of H E Averall, Perrysburg, Wood, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district ED 105, sheet 336B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,079.
“Recensement du Canada de 1911,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV95-9S2N : 16 March 2018), Henry D Avrill in entry for Agnes Somerville, 1911; citing Census, Vancouver Sub-Districts 1-18, British Columbia, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,417,661.
Henry Dodge Averill, impressions by Major Matthews; Vancouver City Archives: AM0054.013.00 (Add MSS 54): “Mr. Averill was not the first agent of the Standard Oil Co. of San Francisco. The first was a Mr. Morrell, who was removed or absconded, but was not prosecuted. Mr. Averill came next. At the time of his appointment, about 1896 approx, he was a young man out of college. I understood his father was an official of the Standard Oil Co., Ohio. That fact was possibly the reason for his appointment, as he had absolutely no business qualifications and disliked business or business administration and business men. He was a bit of a playboy, took especial interest in social affairs, parties, croquet. Very popular with ladies and proportionately unpopular with men. He never married. C.M. Rolston, his successor, was his junior in age and was his salesman in 1899. A studious man, good manager, popular, freemason. Gradually Rolston took over, until finally it became “Averill and Rolston, managers,” though actual[ly] Averill did little or nothing at his desk. Finally C.R. Rolston became manager. I was, at first, office boy from 1898 onwards.
“Ohio Death Index, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK5H-9C6 : 12 November 2019), Henry D Averill, 1921.
“Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8PL-XR5 : 15 August 2019), Henry Dodge Averill, 24 Dec 1921; citing Perrysburg, Wood, Ohio, reference fn 71891; FHL microfilm 1,991,861.
“Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6ZZ-22K : 10 March 2018), Henry Dodge Averill, 24 Dec 1921; citing Death, Perrysburg, Perrysburg City, Wood, Ohio, United States, source ID Item 1 P 2 Ln 13, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 1,871,892.
“Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV1-4FG2 : 19 June 2020), Henry Dodge Averill, ; Burial, Perrysburg, Wood, Ohio, United States of America, Fort Meigs Cemetery; citing record ID 29267879, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
“BillionGraves Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPD-NGYS : 24 June 2015), Henry D Averill, died 1921; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Fort Meigs Cemetery, Perrysburg, Wood, Ohio, United States.
Note: Thanks to Gary for information on Henry Averill’s connection to the Vancouver Tennis Club.
Addresses:
The following list of addresses shows how often Henry moved:
- 1893: boarding on Georgia Street, although the directory does not give the exact address.
- 1894: no listing for him.
- 1895: no home listing for him.
- 1896: Pender Street.
- 1897 and 1898: 1300 Comox Street.
- 1899: 805 Bute Street.
- 1900: 786 Bute Street.
- 1901: 1847 Barclay Street (under the street listing; the entry under his name gives no address).
- 1902: boarding at the Badminton Hotel.
- 1903: corner “Broughton & Robson,” although the street directory listings for both Broughton Street and Robson Street do not show him on either street. This is probably 765 Broughton Street, as in the listings for 1904 and 1905.
- 1904 and 1905: 765 Broughton Street, which was the home of Charles Wurtele of the Great Northern Railway.
- 1906 to 1910: 1103 Georgia Street, which was the Earlscourt Boarding House.
- 1911 directory: 404 Abbott Street, which was the Loo Building (apparently an office building at that time: http://buildingvancouver.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/hello-world/; in 2013 it was called the Abbott Mansions).
- 1911 Canada census: 1001 Georgia Street, which was Glencoe Lodge, an upscale accommodation at the northwest corner of Georgia Street and Burrard Street; http://automatedgenealogy.com/census11/View.jsp?id=63904&highlight=42&desc=1911+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+Henry+D.+Avrill
- 1912 to 1918: Glencoe Lodge (listed as Henry H. Averill in 1914 and 1915).
WestEndVancouver 
You have done an amazing amount of work on this project. Thank you, H.D. Averill was on the tournament committee of the Vancouver Tennis Club and in 1904 was organizing one of the early lawn bowling tournaments at the Club.
Hello Gary,
Thank you for getting in touch with me.
I will add information on the Vancouver Tennis Club to the page on Henry Dodge Averill.
Robert