[2] In December 1839, movement founder Joseph Smith called on Avery to organize a quorum of elders in Montrose, Iowa.
[4] On December 2, 1843, Avery was kidnapped at Bear Creek Precinct, Hancock County, Illinois, by a group which included Levi Williams, John Elliott, and others, who accused him of stealing a horse and colt about four years earlier.
[7] After the death of Joseph Smith, Avery became one of the carpenters charged with finishing the construction of the Nauvoo Temple.
[8] When Brigham Young announced that he would lead the Latter Day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley, Avery chose instead to follow the leadership of James J. Strang, who was gathering Latter Day Saints in Voree, Wisconsin.
From 1846 to 1848, Avery was a member of the high council at Voree for Strang's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.