Sarah was one of seven children born to William AverellWilliam is known to have spelled his name, Averell, with a second "e", notably in the signature on his will, although his children and descendants often spelled the name Averill. He was also called "Avery" in some town records, and some of his descendants settled on that variation of the surname. and Abigail Hynton, immigrants from Chipping Norton, England who settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. William was a bailiff in Chipping Norton in 1634, and Ipswich town records first mention him in 1637, which brackets their migration to the intervening time period, when Sarah was around 7–10 years old.
