The Family of John and Serena (Rice) Covell - An overview
John Covell and Serena Rice of the Town of Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York, were married in Carroll about 1827. They lived in Carroll until 1843 when they moved to the Town of South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. Carroll is the southeasternmost town in Chautauqua County, bordering on Cattaraugus County to the east and Pennsylvania to the south. South Valley is the southwesternmost town in Cattaraugus County, bordering on Chautauqua County to the west and Pennsylvania to the south. The move from their home in Carroll to their home in south Valley was about 11 miles almost due east.
[Note: The Town of Carroll was formed from the Town of Ellicott on March 25, 1825. Earlier events in the area that became Carroll are in the records as Ellicott.]
John Covell was born about 1804 in the Town of Pittstown, Rensselaer County, New York, the son of Seth Covell and Lydia Sisson. He moved with his parents and siblings to the Town of Ellicott (now Carroll), Chautauqua County, New York, about 1810. He died on May 28, 1854, in Maysville, Kentucky. Why he died there is not known. Maysville is on the Ohio River, and he may have been on a river trip west, taken sick, went ashore to a doctor in Maysville, and died there. But that is just my speculation. His final resting place is not known. He may have been buried in Maysville, or he may have been buried on or near his farm in South Valley. That area was flooded in the 1960's by the Kinzua Dam and reservoir, and many graves were moved elsewhere. If John's grave was near his farm, and if it was marked by a stone, quite probably the stone was no longer readable, and he is buried elsewhere in a grave marked "Unknown."
John Covell was a farmer. On May 4, 1847, at the first South Valley town meeting, he was elected Justice of the Peace and Inspector of Elections. He was elected Justice again in 1849 and 1854. His home property in South Valley was on Lot 1, Township 1, Range 9. That is on the south side of Bone Run Road (County Road 33) near where it intersects the west bank Perimeter Road along the Allegany River. The property is now partially or completely flooded by the Kinzua reservoir and is not in use.
John Covell's father, Seth Covell, owned part of Lot 42, Twp. 1, Range 10, in the Town of Carroll. This property is immediately north of the hamlet of Fentonville, and less than a mile north of the Pennsylvania border. The property of Benjamin Covell, brother of Seth, was also less than a mile north of the Pennsylvania border. The History of Chautauqua County, New York, by Andrew W. Young, 1875, page 447 reads as follows:
"Benjamin Covel was born in Harwich, Mass., in 1761. In 1777, he enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and served during the war. (...) His father, John Covel, removed with his sons to Pittstown, N.Y., about 1786, where he died in 1806 aged 73. Benjamin removed in 1810, with a large family, to the present town of Carroll, where he resided until his death, Nov. 27, 1822, aged 61. At that time all of his sons and daughters, his brother Seth and nephew Simeon, were living in the neighborhood; and the settlement was called Coveltown. In a sketch of Benj. Covel and family, it is said they 'were active in getting the first bridge built across the Connewango at Coveltown, by Capt. Charles Taylor.' From this it is naturally inferred that they resided near the Connewango; whereas it appears from the Land Company's books, that Benj. Covel took up, in December, 1810, lot 2, tp. 1, r. 11, on which Alexander T. Prendergast and Seth Cheney now reside, in Kiantone."
Benjamin Covell's property described above, "lot 2, tp. 1, r. 11," is about one mile west of Connewango Creek. His brother Seth's property was on Lot 42, Twp. 1, Range 10, which borders on the east side of Connewango Creek, straight east from Benjamin's property, and on Lot 43, immediately north of the eastern part of Lot 42. Several other Covell family members were living in that same area, Coveltown. The bridge across the Conewango would have been a great benefit to the family. According to data collected by the Holland Land Company in 1829, Edmund Rice owned the contract to purchase 123 acres on the east side of Lot 42. Edmund Rice is the older brother of Serena Rice who married John Covell. According to the 1829 Holland Land Company data, there was a log house on this 123 acre plot, and Luther Forbush was the resident. Eighteen years later, his son, Daniel Forbush, married Louisa Covell, daughter of John and Serena Rice Covell. These property details are important because the many family connections help prove that John Covell is the son of Seth Covell.
Serena Rice was born on August 12, 1807, in the Town of Wendell, Franklin County, Mssachusetts, the daughter of Samuel Robinson Rice and Lucy Brigham. She moved before the 1820 census with her older brother Edmund Rice and younger brother Wheeler Rice to Ellicott (now Carroll) where they lived among the Covell families. Serena died in the Town of South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York, on February 16, 1864. She is buried in Fentonville Cemetery in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. She is buried next to her son, Edmund, and near her brother, Wheeler Rice, and his wife.
The family group of John and Serena spanned almost the continent. Serena was born about 70 miles west of Boston, and moved to western New York. Serena's daughter Lucy Jane was born in western New York, moved to the midwest, Houston County, Minnesota, then Barron County, Wisconsin, lived briefly in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and died at her home on the Pacific Ocean at Aberdeen, Washington. Serena's son Seth took a similar path, moving from western New York to Barron County, Wisconsin, then to the area near Seattle, Washington. Serena's sons John and Charles, and daughters Augusta and Emeline (Emma), migrated to eastern Washington State. John Covell's father, Seth Covell, was born at Harwich on Cape Cod, migrated to eastern New York after the Revolutionary War, then to western New York.
All of the Covell children were in South Valley, Cattaraugus County, or Carroll, Chautauqua County, through the 1865 census. The first three Covell children to go west were Lucy Jane who married in 1866 and went west to Houston County, Minnesota, with her husband, Alonzo J. Barton; Charles Malford Covell who went to Red Rock, Mower County, Minnesota in 1867; and Franklin Covell who is not in the 1870 census of South Valley, but also could not be found in the census elsewhere. By the 1860's, railroads reached from Cattaraugus County, New York, to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and no doubt the Covell children went west from South Valley on the railroad.
This family group and their close ancestors helped found, preserve, and settle this nation. On April 19, 1775, Serena's grandfather, Joseph Brigham, Jr., answered the Lexington Alarm of Paul Revere's famous ride, "The redcoats are coming," and fired some of the "shots heard around the world." The British soldiers were on their way to Lexington and Concord, where they planned to sieze the weapons of the patriots. The redcoats succeeded at Lexington, but were soundly defeated and turned back at Concord as the patriots streamed in from the surrounding area. Serena's grandfather Brigham later was given a Lieutenant's commission. John Covell's father Seth and grandfather John served in the Revolutionary War. Four sons of John and Serena Rice Covell served in the Union Army in the Civil War. A daughter and a granddaughter married Union Army veterans.
Children of John and Serena Rice Covell:
1. |
Augusta B. Covell was born on May 6, 1828, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. She died at age 84 on January 31, 1913, while living with her brother Charles and sister Emeline (Emma) in Dover (now Stayman), Chelan County, Washington. Augusta is buried next to her brother Charles in Fraternal Cemetery (originally IOOF Cemetery), near the city of Chelan in Chelan County, Washington. Augusta never married and had no children. |
2. |
Helen Louisa Covell was born on March 7, 1830, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. She used the name Louisa throughout her life. She died at age 60 on May 21, 1890, in the village of Cameron, Barron County, Wisconsin. She is buried in Wayside Cemetery in the city of Barron, Wisconsin. Her cemetery plot is next to that of her brother-in-law, Alonzo J. Barton, where it was intended that her sister, Lucy Jane (Covell) Barton, also would be buried. |
3. |
John Harrison Covell was born on January 25, 1832, in Warren County, Pennsylvania, just across the state line a few miles south of the family home in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. He used the name Harrison while he was a younger man living in South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York, perhaps not to be confused with his father. He died at age 83 years on December 11, 1915, at his home in Usk, Pend Oreille County, Washington. Pend Oreille County was formed from Stevens County on March 1, 1911; thus John Harrison Covell's earlier records there refer to Stevens County. He is buried in Newport Cemetery (originally Odd Fellows Cemetery) at Oldtown in Pend Oreille County with his wife and their three children. His grave marker reads "Harrison Covell, 1st Sgt Co H 154th NY Inf." |
4. |
George Washington Covell was born about 1834 in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. He died at about age 22 between June 1, 1855, (the date of the 1855 state census) and January 1, 1857, when his father's estate was administered and there is no mention of George Washington Covell or a wife or children. He is shown as George in the 1850 census and Washington in the 1855 census. Thus he was probably named after the father of our country. No record has been found of him after the 1855 census. He probably died in South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. His burial place is not known. Probably, he was buried next to his father. He was a teacher. He was not married and had no children. |
5. |
Edmund R. Covell was born in March, 1836, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. He died at age 82 or 83 in 1919 probably in South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. He is buried next to his mother in Fentonville Cemetery, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. He never married and had no children. |
6. |
Lucy Jane Covell was born on March 4, 1838, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. She died at age 83 on June 3, 1921, in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor County, Washington. She is buried in Sumner Cemetery, Sumner, Washington, not in Puyallup as shown on her Washington State Death Certificate. Her gravestone reads "Lucy." The Sumner Cemetery record gives her name as "Mabel Barton," but that is Lucy's daughter Mabel who made the funeral arrangements. |
7. |
Seth Warner Covell was born on March 24, 1840, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. He died at age 81 on November 1, 1921, in Seattle, Washington. He is buried in the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Cemetery in Snohomish, Snohomish County, Washington. |
8. |
Charles Melford Covell was born on June 7, 1842, in Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. He died at age 74 on August 5, 1916, in Dover (now Stayman), Chelan County, Washington. He is buried next to his sister Augusta in Fraternal Cemetery (originally IOOF Cemetery), near the city of Chelan in Chelan County, Washington. Charles Melford Covell never married and had no children. |
9. |
Lewis D. Covell was born in 1844 in South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. He died at age 42 on January 1, 1887, at which time he was a resident in the village of Onoville in the Town(ship) of South Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. His burial place is not known. He is not buried in Fentonville Cemetery as incorrectly stated on the Fentonville Cemetery website. His name is on that cemetery record as the person who was billed for expenses for the Covell grave plot. Probably Lewis was buried with his father and brother George: all probably were moved to some other cemetery and buried as "Unknown" when the Kinzua dam and reservoir project was underway. Lewis D. Covell never married and had no children. |
10. |
Franklin M. Covell was born in 1847 in South Valley, Cattataugus County, New York. He used the name Frank. He died at age 36 on March 20, 1883, in the Town(ship) of Stanley, Barron County, Wisconsin. In the 1880 census of the Town of Stanton, Dunn County, Wisconsin, Frank Covell (family #61, indexed on HeritageQuest as Frank W. Corel) is shown with his wife Harriett Wallace, daughter of James Matthew and Ann Eliza (Lockwood) Wallace, as described in full in the above sketch of Seth Warner Covell. The Covell and Wallace families were living in the same dwelling. Frank and Harriett had no children on the enumeration date. They were probably recently wed because they had two sons, not twins, by February 1882. The Wallace family had a three year-old son who was born in Vermont. Thus they had not been in Wisconsin for more than a few years. |
11. |
Emeline Covell was born in 1849 in South Valley, Cattataugus County, New York. She used the name Emma, and she was Em to those who knew her. She was living in Machias, Snohomish County, Washington, with her brother Seth in 1920. I know not what happened to her after that. Seth moved to Seattle later in 1920, and died in 1921. Emma was married for an unknown time and divorced between the years 1880 and 1909. She had no children |
Of the 11 children of John and Serena (Rice) Covell, eight are on record as living in Barron County, Wisconsin. George Washington Covell died young. There is no record that John Harrison Covell went to Barron. Emma Covell might have gone to Barron with everyone else, but there is no record. After the first few in 1872, it seems that most of the children of John and Serena (Rice) Covell went to Barron in about 1882 or so.
© by James C. Barton in the Year of our Lord 2008.