John Covington's children with Hannah Dockery

. . .the census of Rutherford County lists a Samuel Covington, age 80-89, living with a female, age 40-49, who is “insane” and an “idiot.” ~ Cousin Lou Poole

Moonlight on the Great Pee Dee by Blue Sky

Our grandfather John Covington (4GGF), born in 1733, was the grandson of our first known Covington ancestor, Henry (6GGF), born ca. 1681. John's four children from his first marriage to Hannah Dockery were all born in Maryland. After Hannah's death, John moved to North Carolina in 1769 and married our grandmother Nancy Wall (4GGM). John and Nancy had nine children, all born in North Carolina.

Matthew Covington

Matthew (3U) was our grandfather's first born child, a son of John's (4GGF) first wife Hannah Dockery. There has been some confusion about Matthew's middle name. On one document, he is listed as Matthew P. Covington. Covington family researchers pounced on the name Poythress, a common Covington middle name. Poythress, however, was the maiden name of the mother of John's second wife, Nancy Wall (4GGM). As Lou Poole (5C), who has corrected so many errors in Covington family histories, scathingly points out, "This I find to be more absurdity! How could Matthew, born in 1760, inherit the name of his step-mother’s grandmother, 10 years before his father married Nancy Wall???!!!" It's much more likely that the supposed P was actually a D for Dockery.

Matthew was born in 1760 in Maryland. We don't know when his mother Hannah died but it appears to have been sometime between 1766 and 1769. In 1770, Matthew went with his father and three siblings to their new home in North Carolina.

The Revolutionary War began when Matthew was only 15, and he enlisted in the North Carolina militia in October of 1775. He first served for two months as a guard at Anson Court-house under Captain William Hunter, who his aunt Mary Covington's husband. He was then drafted into the Cherokee campaign of 1776 at age 16. From his pension application:

. . .we marched across the Blue Ridge thence crossed French Broad River and on to the Cherokee towns & burnt a considerable number of the towns and destroyed their corn &c these towns. . . After destroying these towns General Rutherford proposed for 1200 volunteers to go on to Hiwassee a distance of about 30 miles further. . .I again volunteered. We killed a few Indians and burnt their towns the day after we marched for Hiwassee the South Carolina troops had a battle with and defeated the Indians. . .this tour was six months.

The rest of Matthew's miltary service was voluntary. In 1832 he applied for a pension for his service. From his pension application:

. . .from the time of his return from the Cherokee Nation till the year 1780 nothing of importance transpired in his section of County. After Charleston was taken by the British In May 1780 the Tories became so troublesome in the Country where declarant lived that it was unsafe for any man who was a friend to his Country to stay at home. Sometime after Charleston was taken declarant had to leave his Country on account of the Tories & went into Wake County that he there volunteered under Captain William Hunter. . .

We learn a little bit more about Matthew from questions that were asked him by the court:

Where and in what year were you born?

A. I was born in the Eastern Shore of Maryland Queen Anne’s County in the year of our Lord 1760.

 Have you any record of your age and if so where is it?

“A. I have arrived at my age from my Grandfather who was Clerk in the congregation where I was born but it was sent for by some person in South Carolina for some purpose and was never returned.

Note: The man who recorded Matthew's birth was his (and our) grandfather John Covington, Sr. (5GGF).

Where were you living when called into service: where have you lived since the Revolutionary War and where do you now live?

A. I lived in Anson County State of North Carolina, where I continued until the year 1828 when I removed to Carroll County in the State of Tennessee where I now live.

How were you called into service: were you drafted; did you volunteer or were you a substitute, and if in substitute, for whom?

A. I was drafted to the Cherokee Nation, all the rest of my service I volunteered. I never was a substitute.

In 1780 it appears that Matthew was had found a little more safety in Bladen County, NC where his name was on a petition opposing the formation of a new county.

After again volunteering for service in the militia In 1781, Matthew was captured by the British and taken to Charleston for a period of seven months, probably on board one of the prison ships in the harbor there. When the war ended a year later, Matthew, a mere 22 years old, returned home to the Rockingham area of North Carolina

Five years later, in 1788, Matthew married his (and our) first cousin, Sarah Sallie Covington (1C5X), daughter of his (and our) uncle Henry Covington (4U). In 1790, Matthew was granted 120 acres of land on the west side of Gum Swamp where many of our Thomas relatives lived. He is listed in the 1800 census in Fayetteville. That census showed him with 8 family members and no slaves.

From this census record, it appears that Matthew and Sallie had six children, three sons and three daughters. From further census records and later records of his children, it seems likely that one of these sons and two of the daughters died young.

Gum Swamp is equidistance between Rockingham and Fayetteville:

Sallie died ca. 1805. Three years later, when our grandfather John Covington died, Matthew inherited "that tract of land whereon I now live that is to say all the land I own on the north side of the south fork" of the Pee Dee River. Sometime in this time frame, John married Martha Yates. From census records, it appears that John and Martha had a number of children but I can find records for only three of them as adults.

The 1810 and 1820 census show Matthew still in Richmond County, probably now living on his inherited land. Census records also show that he owned 3 slaves in 1710 and 7 slaves in 1820.

Ca. 1828, when he was 68 years old, Matthew became part of the burgeoning westward migration happening at that time when he moved with his new wife and some of his children to Carroll County, Tennessee. The first record of him in Carroll County was in 1732 when he applied for his pension. The tax rolls of 1836 show him with 4 slaves and tax rolls of 1839 show him with 3.

Matthew died in Tennessee in 1839 at age 79.

Hannah Covington Covington

Hannah (3A) was the second child of John and Hannah Dockery. She was born ca. 1762 in Maryland so she would have been about 8 when her father moved to North Carolina. We know that she married her (and our) first cousin Samuel Covington (1C5X), son of her father's brother, Henry (4U)

Lou Poole (5C) did a little digging into the couple and this is what he came up with:

Very little is known about this pair. Some of the authors provide a list of children (unverified), among whom was a daughter Charlotte (1C4X). In the 1810 census of Richmond County was listed a Samuel Covington, age over 45, and wife, age over 45, with 3 sons and 6 daughters. I cannot find them in the 1820 census, but in the 1830 Richmond County census are Samuel Covington, age 60-69, a wife, age 60-69, and 1 daughter. There is no appropriate listing in Richmond County in the 1840 census, but the census of Rutherford County lists a Samuel Covington, age 80-89, living with a female, age 40-49, who is “insane” and an “idiot.” Then in the 1850 census of Richmond County a Samuel Covington, age 90, is living with a Charlotte Covington (his daughter?), age 50. He was listed as a pauper, and she as deaf & ??? [cannot read].

The moral of this tale might just be that it's not a good idea to marry your first cousin. I was able to find the 1850 census and Lou is wrong about the label "deaf" for Charlotte. Look closely and you will see that it says "idiot."

Mary "Mollie" Covington Thomas

Our grandfather John's two youngest children with Hannah Dockery were twin girls. One of the twins, Mary Mollie (3A) was born in Maryland in 1766. Ca. 1780, when she was about 16, Mary and her two sisters all received a grant of land from their grandfather, Thomas Dockery. Three years later, Mary married our uncle Stephen Thomas (3U), son of our grandfather William "Billy Ram" Thomas (4GGF). Stephen was born in Maryland 1765.

The couple had been married for 42 years when Stephen died in 1825.

Note: There were many marriages between the Covington and Thomas families including our grandparents, "Billy Ram's" daughter Jane Thomas (3GGM) and John's son Thomas Covington (3GGF).

We'll have more on Stephen and Mary in a future Thomas family post.

Sarah "Sally" Covington McDowell

The other twin born to John Covington and Hannah Dockery was Sarah "Sally" (3A). She was born in Maryland in 1766. We know very little about Sally except that she married William McDowell ca. 1790. At William's death in 1811, the couple had five children, all mentioned in his will. Sally was 55 when her husband died. Below are excerpts of William's will, the only record we have of Sally and her family:

I give to my beloved wife Sally McDowell during her widowhood all my lands with all their improvements and advantages whatsoever lands lying on the head of the south fork of Cartledges Creek. At her marriage, if it ever should happen, my will is that she have one half of my aforesaid lands divided at the discretion of my executors, likewise during her widowhood all my personal effects, stocks of all kinds whatsoever. At her marriage if ever it should happen my will is that my wife have one sixth part of the above mentioned personal estate, stocks, etc., at her disposal forever.

I give to my two sons John McDowell (1C4X) and James McDowell (1C4X) all my lands as above described to be divided at the discretion of my executors.

The two boy were to have William's property at the marriage or death of their mother.

In the last place, I leave to my three daughters Elizabeth (1C4X), Polly (1C4X) and Nancy (1C4X) all my personal estate at my wife’s marriage or death with what my two sons quotas of fifty dollars for their use to be divided between the aforesaid three daughters with twenty five dollars that bequeath to my granddaughter Julia Cother (2C3X) to be taken out of my personal estate after paying all just debts. I appoint Matthew Covington (3U) and John Denson executors to this my last will etc.

Daughter Elizabeth, born in 1790, was William and Sally's oldest child. Elizabeth married Jesse Cother ca. 1809 and their daughter Julia, mentioned in William's will, was the only McDowell grandchild born at the time of William's death.

Next up: John's children with our grandmother Nancy Wall.