Della Watson (Miner) Avery Stream was born on Oct. 9, 1863 at Hebron, OH, the daughter of Frederick and Catherine (Miller) Miner Jr. Much of the information on her and her family is found in the 1912 book, The Groton Avery Clan, Volume II, co-authored by Elroy McKendree Avery and Catharine Hitchcock (Tilden) Avery.

When Della was age 10, her mother died. Her father married again, to Emma Moore, who thus became Della's step-mother.

On April 14, 1883, at Hebron, Della married Oscar Eugene Avery (1858-1933), of Luray, Licking County, OH. He was the son of Milton Herman and Mamie (Lewis) Avery, and was a farmer.

Their children were Kencyle Clarence "Kensel" Avery (born 1886), Lawrence Eugene Avery (1888) and Ada May Avery (1891).

Book naming the family

Sometime in the 1890s, Della and Oscar separated and divorced. 

Della married again in 1899 to Charles F. Stream (1860- ? ), a native of Virginia. She was age 30, and he 38, at the time of marriage. They moved to Columbus, Franklin County, OH, where Charles was employed as a "picture artist." Della brought two of her children into the home -- Kensell and Ada -- although rightly or wrongly, the census-taker in 1900 marked the children's names as "Avery Kensell" and "Ada Kensell."

Oscar also remarried in September 1899 to Anna May Justice at Columbus. (Oscar and Anna May had a daughter, Anna Vietta Avery [born 1900].) Oscar may have married a third time, to Mamie (?). She was his wife at the time of his death in 1933. He may have had other children Ernest Avery, Milton Avery, Albert Avery and Clyde Avery, and stepchildren Wilson Payne, Elliott Payne and Mary Mountain. 

Obituary, 1933

Tragically, Della suffered from tuberculosis in late 1901 and early 1902. She could not regain her health, and died at home at the age of 39 on May 2, 1902. Her remains were sent from Columbus to the home of her brother John Gilbert Miner in Hebron. She was laid to rest in the Hebron Cemetery. Among the out-of-town mourners attending her funeral was Della's brother Thomas Miner. She "had been a sufferer with consumption for the past year," reported the Newark (OH) Advocate. "She leaves a husband and three small children."

Later in life, Oscar moved to Ironton, Lawrence County, OH, where two of his stepsons lived. In April 1933, at age 74, he began to suffer from gangrene of the foot, and died four months later, on Aug. 22, 1933. He was buried in Wilgus Cemetery.

~ Son Kencyle Clarence "Kensel" Avery ~

Son Kencyle Clarence "Kensel" Avery (1886-1963) was born in 1886.

He was a post office messenger in Columbus at the age of 13, residing with his mother and step-father.

He resided in Texas in 1933, the year his father died.

He is believed to be the same "K.C. Avery" who married Fay (1901- ? ) and lived in La Feria, Cameron County, TX when the 1930 census was taken. If so, they had a son, Kenneth Avery (born 1921 in Illinois).

Kensel died in Cameron County on Oct. 23, 1963.

~ Daughter Ada Avery ~

Daughter Ada Avery (1890- ? ) was born in 1890.

She lived in Columbus in 1933.

~ Son Lawrence Eugene Avery ~

Son Lawrence Eugene Avery (1888- ? ) was born in 1888.

He is lost to history.

~ More ~

Della and Oscar are mentioned in the book, The Groton Avery Clan, published in Cleveland in 1912 by Elroy McKendree Avery and Catharine Hitchcock (Tilden) Avery.

Copyright © 2001, 2008, 2019 Mark A. Miner