Escambia-Franklin County FlArchives Biographies.....Covington, Charles Manley 1853 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 4, 2008, 3:39 pm Author: B. F. Johnson Charles Manley Covington The Covington family goes back to a very ancient period in both Scotland and England. The Scottish founder of the family was said to have been Colban, who nourished about the year 1120. From him came the local name of the parish which in 1190 was called Colbani. In 1212 it appears on the record as Colbaynistun. In 1396 it is called Colbanstoun. In 1480 it appears as Covington. This evolution in names and variations in spelling are very common in all of our English and Scotch names. The original meaning of the name was Col, black, ban, bone or leg. Colban, therefore, was "the blacklegged." In those days in Scotland the men wore kilts, and were bare as to the greater part of the leg. It is therefore clear that Colban was of dark skin, and as the majority of those around him had fair skin it was very natural for them to seize upon this personal peculiarity by which to designate him, tthis being a custom in all primitive nations. This is the Scotch derivation. The English family originated in Huntingtonshire of that country. The early name was Coventon, afterwards changed into Covington. Coven or Covan was derived from the Latin conventus, a convent, and Coventon or Coventon thus means a convent town, the family evidently taking its name from some convent town. The old form of Coventon survived down to the seventeenth century, and Covent Garden, London, is a relic of this old spelling. In England while the family name was spelled Coventon, a coat-of-arms was granted which is described as follows: "Az. fretty argules a saltier parted of the last between four estoiles or." Crest. "An heraldic tiger rampant gu. semee of estoiles armed and tufted or, supporting a tilting spearppre." Motto, "Invidere Sperno." The family history in America is rather obscure. One Thomas Coventon (who later spelled his name Covington) came from England and settled at Plymouth, about 1740. He was a master mariner, and retiring from the sea purchased large property in Old Plymouth. A younger brother, Jacob Covington, inherited his property. This family appears to have died out entirely in New England. Another branch settled in Franklin county, New York State, and changed the name of old Fort Springs Mills to Fort Covington. The Maryland family appears to be the oldest in this country, and is beyond all reasonable doubt the parent stock of all the southern Covingtons. These Maryland Covingtons came over at the first settling of that colony by Lord Baltimore. The family tradition has it that there were three brothers. The North Carolina and Virginia families are both believed to have been descended from these, and it is a tradition in the North Carolina family that two brothers, descended from one of the original Maryland settlers, came to Rockingham prior to 1776. These two brothers were John and William. A third brother settled in Covington, Ky., and gave his name to the town. Terrell Covington, father of the three brothers in Florida, was a descendant of John. A favorite name in the Maryland family was Leonard. Rebecca Covington, daughter of Leonard, married in 1750 Lieutenant Benjamin Mack-all, who was one of the earlist Maryland patriots and suffered much from Tory persecutions. John R. Covington, a member of the Maryland family, became a gunner in the navy, and died in 1840. Erasmus F., of the Kentucky family, was a lieutenant in the regular United States Army, and died in 1833. General Leonard Covington, of Maryland, born the thirtieth of October, 1768, entered the regular army as a Lieutenant under Anthony Wayne in 1792, was a captain in 1795, resigned late in that year, served in the Maryland Legislature in 1805-1807, re-entered the army in 1809 as a Lieutenant-Colonel, was a Brigadier-General in the War of 1812, and fell mortally wounded at the battle of Chrysler's Field, on November n, 1813, leaving behind a record which entitled him to be classed not only as a gallant, but as a most capable soldier. Another prominent member, Judge Alexander Covington, of Mississippi, who died October 16, 1848, aged seventy-one, went from Virginia to Mississippi where he lived for forty years, was a Christian gentleman, charitable, hospitable, and of rare colloquial powers. It will thus be seen that the family is of ancient origin, has been long settled in our country, and has made an honorable record. In Florida the five brothers, Charles M. and Henry L. Covington, of Pensacola, Robert V. Covington, of Jacksonville, A. D. Covington, Quincy, Fla., W. H. Covington, Tallahassee, together with the remaining two brothers T. J. Covington of Wadesboro, N. C., and Dr. F. P. Covington, of Florence, S. C., are descended from John, who came from Maryland to Rockingham, N. C. Charles M. Covington, of Pensacola, the eldest of the five brothers now in Florida, was born in Richmond county, N. C., on January 9, 1853, son of Terrell and Eranda (Chappell) Covington. Young Covington secured such education as was obtainable in the public schools of Richmond county, and on arriving at manhood engaged in the naval stores business, at that time the leading industry in eas ern North Carolina. As the business declined in North Carolina, owing to the exhaustion of the source of supply, he, with his brother Henry L., who was associated with him, moved south into South Carolina, continuing in the same business. Then, following the pine belt, they moved into Georgia, operating near Savannah and Brunswick. Finally they located in Florida, where in 1894 they organized the Gulf Naval Stores Company, at Carrabelle, the headquarters of which they moved later to Pensacola. This company with its $300,000 capital did a very large business, and in 1898 was merged into the Consolidated Naval Stores Company, which is the principal concern of the country in that line. Mr. Covington is also interested in many other enterprises such as banks, lumber companies, manufacturing ventures, and land companies in Florida, and elsewhere. He is recognized as of a high order of business ability, of strict personal integrity, and a pleasant personality. Mr. Covington has been twice married; first to Miss Louise Victoria Capel, of Powellton, N. C. She died in 1897, leaving him four children, Jessie Delilah (now Mrs. J. F. Riley, of Birmingham, Ala.), Capitola Cornelia, Louise Capel and Charles H. Covington. He was married for the second time to Miss Marie Therese Armistead, of Richmond, Va. They have two children, viz: Armistead Manley and Treadwell Downing Covington. Mr. Covington is yet a vigorous man, a leader among the business men of his section, who has achieved his success by his own merit, and the future holds out to him the promise of yet greater and better things. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/escambia/photos/bios/covingto55gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/escambia/bios/covingto55gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb