Isaac Avery was born in Florida, graduated from Oglethorpe University, and practiced law in Savannah, Georgia. After serving in the Confederacy, he practiced law in Dalton, Georgia and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1869 to become editor of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. In 1892 he started the movement for the establishment of direct trade between southern ports and foreign countries. Therefore it was natural that Avery became the foreign commissioner for the company that handled the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta in 1895. He made a promotional tour of the southwestern USA and South America.