Northumberland County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Covington, Thomas Stowers Davenport 1814 - 1873 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 24, 2008, 7:55 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) THOMAS STOWERS DAVENPORT COVINGTON THE Covington family has made excellent history in America. It is now represented in the States of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The family settled on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is probably the oldest in point of time in this country, for Thomas Covington, of Kent County, was a church warden as early as 1705. This family has been represented by a number of strong men, three of whom have been members of the Federal Congress at different times, one being at the present day a Democratic party leader in his State, and yet another, General Leonard Covington, one of the most gallant soldiers of the War of 1812. General Leonard Covington was killed at the battle of Chrysler's Field in 1813, but his memory is honored and preserved by several towns in different States. In Virginia and North Carolina the Covingtons have been distinguished citizens. In Georgia to-day one of the ablest men of the State is Judge William Covington of Moultrie. In Florida the great Covington Company at Jacksonville is a monument to the mercantile sagacity of descendants of the North Carolina family who settled in Florida. The family name is said to have been known at an early date in Scotland under the form of Coventon, but it seems reasonably certain that the American Covingtons came from Hampshire, England, where the English family of that name was domiciled. The particular Covington family with which this sketch deals seems to have had no connection with any of the others mentioned. Thomas S. D. Covington was born March 21, 1814, and died January 12, 1873. He was the grandson of the founder of this branch of the family. According to the accounts preserved by members of this family, it was founded in America about 1795 by Thomas Covington, said to have been a member of the English nobility and generally spoken of as Lord Thomas Covington. Addicted to a wandering life, though a man then of middle age, he returned from one of his long expeditions abroad to his home in England to find that his wife and only daughter had died from some epidemic. Accompanying him on that expedition there were his three sons and a half brother, and they had thus escaped the disease. His home having been made desolate, and owning his own pleasure craft, he decided to visit America and see if he could find a spot that would appeal to him for the making of a new home. He first went to New York. Later he started for Washington, but during a severe storm in seeking for a safe harbor he was driven into the mouth of the Great Wicomico River. He caught sight of some trees that capped a high point then known as Spicer's Hill, where was maintained a wayside inn. Attracted by the situation he examined it, liked it and found that five hundred acres could be bought. He returned to his English home, which he sold, and returned, bringing with him his three sons, his half-brother and the sons' tutor, with ample material for the building of a roomy house. The old inn which had appealed to him had been a landmark for many years. The country was devoted to the growing of grain and grass and the grazing of stock. The main crop, however, was tobacco. The farmers, on their way to market their tobacco, after selling it at the port, would spend the night at Spicer's Inn, only a short distance away, and then return to their inland homes. Thomas Covington built his new home near the bay, which was then in full view. The sons grew to manhood, and two of them decided to try their fortunes elsewhere, one settling in Maryland and the other in Mississippi. The home place was given to his son Thomas, who remained with the father. To the other two sons an equal value in money and other personal property was given. Thomas Lord Covington died in 1805 at the age of sixty. His remains were taken to his old English home for burial. His son Thomas in 1810 or 1811 married a Westmoreland County lady, Mary Stowers. She was one of two sisters, the other sister marrying a Mr. Rice. The old Stowers home is owned by Thomas Rice a great-grandson of Mrs. Rice. The English help which the first Thomas Covington had brought with him had mostly all returned to England after his death, so that the slaves owned by Mary Stowers Covington, and which she brought to her new home, were a welcome addition to its equipment. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 Thomas Covington promptly joined the American Army in defense of his adopted home. The British, by reason of their naval superiority, would land on the coasts and commit depredations in the nearby country, carrying off stock, provisions and other personal property that was of value. The ships would sail up and down the coast, and, when signaled, would take the troops and plunder on board. Mrs. Covington was a resolute woman. She had watched the signals so that at any time the opportunity came she might assist in their capture. The soldiers on the land had taken off silver, china and other personal property, which was of value, and which had associations connected with it that made her reluctant to lose it. One day, early in the morning, the British, stacking their guns in the yard and taking the wagons, left in search of more plunder. Mrs. Covington had learned that her cousin, Colonel Hungerford, was at Heathsville on the lookout for these raiders; she had some of the corn removed from the corn house, the arms and ammunition placed therein and the corn replaced. Then, sending away the overseer and all the hands except one old man who had been her father's body servant, she wrote a note to Colonel Hungerford, sending it by old Sam, telling him that her life was in his hands, to go as rapidly as he could and to return to her after giving the note to Colonel Hungerford, which ran thus: "Colonel Hungerford, Come. Mary Covington." The old servant Sam arrived at the Covington home in advance of Colonel Hungerford and the troops. He was therefore the first to reach Mrs. Covington. He found her bound to a tree surrounded by burning fagots and immediately essayed to scatter the burning wood. Colonel Hungerford found on reaching them that both had fainted, Sam's hands being burned by his efforts to extinguish the fire. The raiders were captured and taken inland, the ship returned, the signal was made, and, as the eight barges came ashore, they were captured, after which the ship was boarded, everything of value taken off, and the ship burnt. For the remainder of the war a guard of soldiers were stationed at the Covington home. Many, many years after this, the writer of this incident met a very old man in the Valley of Virginia who gave her the above story just as she had often heard it from her father, and the old negro slaves who were boys and girls when it occurred. They delighted in telling her the story over and over again when she visited them in their cabins. The second Thomas Covington died in 1819, not over forty years of age. His wife only survived him some five or six years, dying in 1824 or 1825. Thomas Stowers Davenport, the third Thomas, the only child of this marriage, was thus left an orphan at not more than ten years of age. The farm was managed by the overseer and servants. Young Thomas was sent by his relatives in Fauquier, to Professor Tackett's Male School, where he remained several years. Later he attended Northumberland Academy near Heathsville, which was at that time one of the most superior schools in the country, conducted by Professor Joseph Davice, a Westmoreland man, afterwards President of Wesleyan Institute, Murfreesboro, North Carolina. A daughter of Mr. Covington, Mary Sue Covington, received a part of her school training at the hands of this same teacher. After leaving the academy, Thomas Stowers Covington married Jane Conway, of Northumberland. She, with her infant daughter, died a few years later. He married, secondly, Ann Eliza Taylor, daughter of Colonel Thorogood Taylor of White Stone, Lancaster County, Virginia. The old historic home had changed its name since the adventure with the British, and came to be known as Surprise Hill. After a few years on the farm Mr. Covington decided to study for the ministry. He entered the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Church, and was a traveling preacher for nine years. His wife, Ann Eliza, having died and his health failing him, he returned to his old home at Surprise Hill. Of his second marriage there were seven children: Mary; Susan, who married Doctor Samuel Field of Baltimore, and who died in 1895 leaving no children; Olivia Ellen, educated in Hampton and Fredericksburg, who married Doctor J. W. Tankard, and still survives, a widow without children, their only child having died in infancy; Thomas, Jr.; Stowers John, who died in infancy; and Ida Kate, educated at the Wesleyan Female College and Wilmington College, who died the summer after having graduated with distinction in July, 1873. Mrs. Tankard is the only survivor of this family of seven children. In 1860 Mr. Covington married his third wife, Mrs. Sallie Ann Rudd, nee Jett. Of this marriage two sons were born: Doctor Thomas Stowers Davenport Covington, Jr., educated in Baltimore and a dental surgeon with no children but an adopted son; and Charles Jett Covington, educated by private tutors, who married and has three children: Lou Field Covington, educated at Blackstone Female Institution, an accomplished and successful teacher, and principal of one of the public schools in Norfolk; Mary Jennette Covington, educated at the Reedville High School, who married Mr. Pratt Hayne, of Fleeton, Virginia; and Willie Tankard Covington, an intelligent youth of seventeen, attending the Reedville High School, who stands high in all of his classes. He served as a page in the Virginia Legislature in 1909 and 1910, and was a page at the Baltimore Democratic Convention in 1912 under appointment from Governor Mann. During the Civil War the troops raised in that section of the State were camped and drilled on Surprise Hill, and all the Northern troops in that section camped on the Hill, because, being one hundred and twenty feet above tide water, they could easily signal the steamers either for landing or taking off troops. Thomas S. D. Covington served as captain of home guards in that war. He captured a steamer on the Wicomico Eiver, took off the ammunition and everything of value, burned the steamer and took the provisions to Richmond. He served also as a dispatch bearer, taking the dispatches which came through the blockade on to Richmond. He was the soldiers' friend, the protector, and often provider for the soldiers' families, the widows and orphans. Some of his slaves remained on the farm during the war, and after the struggle he gave them homes. A number, however, left one night and crossed the Potomac to Point Lookout. The majority of these died within the year from exposure and lack of food. The few who survived gladly returned to the old home after the war. The old home is now owned by Mrs. Olivia Tankard and Charles Covington, the other heirs, Mrs. Field, who lived in Baltimore and Doctor T. S. D. Covington, who lives at Lillian, both having sold their interests because of residing elsewhere. Thomas S. D. Covington was an intelligent man, highly esteemed in his county, noted for his charity, and hospitality and devoted to his family, his church and his State. Of the five generations of Covingtons who have lived on Surprise Hill not one was ever guilty of any infraction of the law, none were ever dissipated and all may be properly described as model citizens. Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/northumberland/photos/bios/covingto57gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/northumberland/bios/covingto57gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vafiles/ File size: 12.8 Kb