Person:William Covington (7)

Caution -- The William Covington who is reported as born 1759 in Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina, said to be the son of John Covington and Hannah Dockery, married Rachel Thomas about 1777 in the same place, and died 1789^[1] seems to be an artifact of questionable research in the past which has since been challenged and corrected.

William Covington as the son of John and Hannah Dockery Covington is not included among documented children of John Covington and Hannah Dockery (See Gregg (p. 558).)

John Covington did have a son William by his second wife, Mary "Nancy" Wall, but that William was born 26 Jan 1777; married Mary Covington, not Rachel Thomas; and died in 1858, not 1789. (See Gregg p. 578; also DAR Ancestor A026813.) It should also be noted that John Covington did not arrive in North Carolina until about January 1770, so that any child born in 1759 would not have been born in North Carolina.

Finally, the William Covington who married Rachel Thomas died in 1794, leaving a will which named his wife Rachel, all but one unborn child he had with her, and also his children by his first wife. The husband of Rachel Thomas, in other words, could not have died in 1789. If there was a William Covington who died in Richmond County, North Carolina in 1789, he did not leave a will.

See also DAR Ancestor A026819, which gives an incorrect death date of 1789 for the William Covington who was the husband of Rachel Thomas, and DAR Ancestor A026813, which corrects the marriage of William Covington, son of John and Nancy Wall Covington from Rachel Thomas to Mary Covington.

Conclusion -- this William Covington probably did not exist.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Nehemiah7.FTW
   Date of Import: May 9, 2001.

   William Covington is reported as the son of John Covington and Hannah Dockery and said to have been born 1759 Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina, United States and to have married Rachel Thomas Abt 1777 in Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina, United States

2.   Volumes 1-2, 1779-1842; FHL #0019661, in North Carolina. Division of Archives and History (Raleigh, North Carolina). Wills, 1663-1978; estate papers, 1772-1933 (Richmond County). (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988-1989).