Children of Richard Covell, son of John and Rejoice (Smith) Covell
Ruth Chisholm's family group sheet for Richard Covell includes the following paragraph and family group data:
"Richard Covell, son of John Covell and Rejoice (Smith) Covell was born at Harwich, Mass. Oct. 30, 1765. In 1776 his mother died and his father moved to Tivertown, R.I. He enlisted in the Continental Army at Dartmouth in Mar. 1781, at the age of 16 years. His father signed an agreement to let him go: 'Richard Covell enlisted into the Continental Service for 250 dollars and two pounds silver money for the term of three years unless sooner discharged, and also a suit of clothes a year as by a promise from Capt. Richmond on which promise I John Covel consent to let the boy go.' Attest - John Covell. Richard served as a private in Capt. William's Co., Col. Ebenezer Sprout's Regiment, and served for more than two years. After the Revolution, the family moved to Washington, Litchfield Co. Conn. and in 1786 to Pittstown, Renss. Co. N.Y. where Richard m. in May 1787 Penelope West, b. June 1, 1768 dau. of Ichabod and Susanna (McLeod) West. About 1833 he moved his family to Chautauqua Co. and lived in Sheridan. A few years later he moved to Genesee Co. and settled in the town of Alexander. Here Penelope died May 30, 1845 and Richard m. 2) June 15, 1847 Mercy Pratt. Richard d. Dec. 3, 1853 at Alexander and is buried in the town of Pembroke, Genesee Co."
Children: Surname Covell: All born in Pittstown, New York:
1. |
Simeon |
b. Apr. 01, 1789 |
m. Sally Maria Thompson |
2. |
Jonathan West |
b. May 15, 1790 |
m. Olive _____ |
3. |
Susannah West |
b. Aug. 03, 1791 |
m. David Knickerbocker |
4. |
Penelope |
b. Aug. 25, 1794 |
m. Noah Brown Denton |
5. |
Betsey |
b. Oct. 27, 1796 |
m. Richard Covell (Benjamin} |
6. |
Richard |
b. Jul. 08, 1799 |
m. Sylvia Eldridge |
7. |
Lucy |
b. Mar. 19, 1802 |
m. John Baker, Jr. |
8. |
Permelia |
b. May 24, 1805 |
d. June 9, 1805 |
9. |
Elmira |
b. Sep. 14, 1807 |
m. Caleb Lamb |
10. |
Melissa |
b. Mar. 04, 1810 |
b. Albert Brown |
The above data for Richard Covell's children are consistent with the census data.
1790 census of New York - Family of Richard Covell of Hoosick, Albany County, NY:
1 Male 16 years and up: Richard Covell, b. 1765.
2 Males under 16 years of age: Simeon, b. 1789; and Jonathan West, b. 1790.
1 Female: Richard's wife, Penelope West.
1800 census of New York - Family of Richard Covell of Hoosick, Rensselaer County, NY:
1 Male under 10 years of age: Richard, b. 1799.
2 Males age 10 to under 16 years: Simeon, b. 1789; and Jonathan West, b. 1790.
1 Male age 16 to under 26 years: Unidentified.
1 Male age 26 to under 45 years: Richard, b. 1765.
3 Females under 10 years of age: Susannah West, b. 1791; Penelope, b. 1794; and Betsey, b. 1796.
1 Female age 16 to under 26 years: Unidentified.
1 Female age 26 to under 45 years: Richard's wife, Penelope West.
1810 census of New York - Family of Richard Covell of Hoosick, Rensselaer County, NY:
1 Male under 10 years of age: Probably Richard, b. 1799.
1 Male age 16 to under 26 years: Either Simeon, b. 1789, or Jonathan, b. 1790.
1 Male age 45 years and over: Richard, b. 1765.
3 Females under 10 years of age: Lucy, b. 1802; Elmira, b. 1807; Melissa, b. 1810.
1 Female age 10 to under 16 years: Betsey, b. 1796.
Sources
The above family group sheet for Richard Covell is from LDS FHC Microfilm 0230619, Volume 11 of the several microfilms of the work of Ruth Chisholm. Ruth Chisholm's source for this data seems to be as follows:
1. A three page typed transcription of a letter dated Jan 9, 1911, from Miss Sarah E. Covell of LeRoy, New York to a Miss Brown. The letter mentions brothers Benjamin, Richard, and Seth Covell; mentions the children of Benjamin by name only; recites the children of Richard by name and date of birth; then details her (Sarah E. Covell's) descendancy from Benjamin; followed by a detailed listing of the children of Simeon Covell, the oldest son of Benjamin. Miss Sarah E. Covell stated that she was 72 years old at the time (1911), and had obtained her data from her father and grandfather, both of whom she stated were interested in their family history. The letter shows that Sarah E. Covell was the great granddaughter of Benjamin Covell. Her grandfather, the collector of family history, was the son of Benjamin.
2. One typed page that included a transcription of a letter written by the above named Richard Covell before he died in 1854, followed by a family group sheet for Richard Covell. The transcription of Richard Covell's letter is preceded by the following:
Verbatim copy of letter prepared by Dr. Frances M. Witmer of LeRoy for Editha Penelope Kendall of 336 Fifth St. Moline, Ill.
"In Frances Covell's possession, LeRoy, N.Y. Superscription Mr. Richard Covell, Center Pavilion, Wyoming Co. N.Y.
The quote is opened as shown above, but is not closed after Richard's letter nor on the page, therefore, I assume this means the letter from Dr. Witmer included the family group sheet for Richard Covell.
The above two references were sent to me by Cathy Pouls who identified them as being from the Ruth Chisholm files on LDS FHC Microfilm 0230617. This provided three lists of the ten children of Richard Covell. The only name difference is that Permelia above is Parindia in Sarah Covell's letter. There are birth date differences for six of the children, but all are minor and are probably typographical errors due to the data being transcriptions of transcriptions of transcriptions.
However, the data is used here only to show that John Covell (ca 1804-1854), husband of Serena Rice, was the only John Covell born about 1804 in the Covell families of Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York, and the minor differences in birth dates does not affect that.