James George Averell

Notes:

Emily Sibley Watson’s son by her first marriage. J.G., as he was called, was a promising architect when he died from typhoid at age 26. From an early age, J.G. accompanied his mother on her travels in the United States and Europe and he participated in the 1893 Trip Along the Nile. He was educated at the Fort Hill School in Rochester, St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and Harvard College. Throughout, he studied violin, including under the tutelage of Rochester orchestral leader Herman Dossenbach, and performed with various musical groups.

Following graduation in 1899, he returned to Rochester and worked intermittently in the architectural firm of Bragdon and Hillman. A course of advanced study in architecture at Harvard was followed by a European tour and then a position with Herbert D. Hale's Boston-based architecture firm.

After his death, J.G.'s architecture books were given by his mother, Emily Sibley Watson, to Claude Bragdon. In 1913, Emily Sibley Watson donated the Memorial Art Gallery to the University of Rochester in his memory. His newly-acquired collection of prints formed the beginnings of the print collection at the Memorial Art Gallery.

May Bragdon, Claude's sister, writes about his death in her diary entry of November 21, 1904, page 138 of February 26, 1904-June 8, 1905: "Very much shocked to hear of the death of "J.G." Averell yesterday, of typhoid fever, at his Mother's, Mrs. Watson's. He was such a fine strong handsome, athletic such fellow and just boning down to his architecture after a year abroad - with everything before him - it does seem such a pity!"

Friends & Acquaintances of J.G. Averell

Notes:

Emily Sibley Watson's first husband

Isaac married Emily Sibley 27 Apr 1876, Rochester, New York; divorced ca. 1891, California. Emily (daughter of Hiram Sibley and Elizabeth Maria Tinker) was born 10 May 1855; died 8 Feb 1945. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Youngest child of Hiram Sibley and Elizabeth Maria Tinker Sibley. Emily Sibley married Isaac S. Averell in 1876. They had two children, born 11 months apart, Elizabeth Louise Averell (1877-1886) and James G. Averell (1877-1904). Emily and Isaac separated ca. 1883, and were divorced in 1891. Later that year, Emily married James Sibley Watson, son of her father's partner Don Alonzo Watson. Together, Emily and "Jimmie" had one son, James Sibley Watson, Jr.
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Notes:

father of Isaac Averell father-in-law of Emily Sibley Watson

James married Charlotte Hildebrand Seymour 27 Apr 1876, Rochester, NY. Charlotte was born 1829; died 1862. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Isaac Seymour Averell's mother

Notes:

Entrepreneur and capitalist, nurseryman and founder of Western Union, Hiram Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts. He moved to Western New York around 1829-1830, and by 1835 he and his lifelong friend and partner Don Alonzo Watson had opened a machine shop in Sibleyville (now Mendon). He was elected Monroe County Sheriff in 1843 and began to invest in local nurseries in 1844.

Before the Civil War he was active in Republican (anti-slavery) politics.

After the invention of the telegraph in 1844, Sibley’s interests turned to telegraphy and railroads. He organized and invested in patents and companies, consolidating his interests through the formation of Western Union in 1856.

During the Civil War, Western Union consolidated its hold on northern and western telegraph lines. Sibley traveled to Russia in late 1864 to negotiate with the Tsar for an undersea telegraph cable that would cross the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia, uniting the Americas, Europe and Asia. The plan was stymied by the ultimate success after several failures of an Atlantic cable in 1866.

In his later years, he again invested in nurseries, purchasing the largest farm in the country and founding Hiram Sibley & Co., a seed company based in Rochester and Chicago. He was a prominent supporter of both the University of Rochester and Cornell University in Ithaca.

Hiram married Elizabeth Maria Tinker 24 Jan 1833, North Adams, MA. Elizabeth (daughter of Giles Tinker and Zilpha Knight Tinker) was born 11 Aug 1815; died 11 Jul 1903, Rochester, New York ; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York . [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wife of Hiram Sibley; Emily Sibley Watson’s mother. She was one of the founders and early benefactors of Genesee Hospital, and a quiet philanthropist who helped many individuals.
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Benjamin married Zilpha Davis. Zilpha (child of Samuel Davis) was born 13 Apr 1771, Oxford, MA; died 10 May 1824. [Group Sheet]