Truman COVERT

COVERT, DUCKWORTH, CUSHING, STONE, TABOR, MCKEE, JENNY, ROBBINS, FINCH

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/31/2012 at 17:26:39

Truman Covert
August 8, 1838 -- January 29, 1907
Truman died in Clarion, Wright County, Iowa

Portrait and biographical album of Champaign County, Ill., 1887, pp. 558-9.

Truman Covert, a well-to-do resident of East Bend Township, owns a farm of eighty acres on section 30. He is a native of the Empire state, born in the town of Greece, Monroe County, Aug. 8, 1838. His father, Mathias, and his grandfather, Bunn Covert, were natives of New Jersey. It is supposed that the family originated in Holland. Its first representative in America lo­cated first on Manhattan Island and became posses­sor of a large tract of land which is now included in New York City. The grandfather of our sub­ject, who was a farmer by occupation, removed from New Jersey to Seneca County, N. Y., when a young man, and there spent his last days.

His son, Mathias, remained on the farm until eighteen years old and then learned the carpenter's trade. When ready to establish a home for himself he purchased a small tract of land near the town of Greece, but devoted the greater part of his time to his trade. In 1842 he traded his land for a farm in Wilson, Niagara County, which he occupied until 1870. He then sold out and came to this county, locating in Rantoul, where he lived retired from active busi­ness, until departing this life on the 6th of October, 1886, having reached the advanced age of eighty- five years. He had married in early manhood Miss Jemima Duckworth, a native of his own State. This lady died in Niagara County, N. Y., in 1857.

Of this marriage there were born eleven children, of whom nine grew to mature years and are still living. The record is as follows: Elvira, now Mrs. Cushing, lives in Wilson, Niagara Co., N. Y.; Lo­ving Tabor is a resident of Stevensville, Wis.; Alvin, of Rantoul, this county; Albert lives in Ingham County, Mich.; Melissa, Mrs. Stone, died in Wilson, N. Y. ; Truman, of our sketch, was the sixth child; May J. McKee lives in Rantoul, this county, and William in East Bend Township, which is also the residence of Bertha, Hillman and Fred­erick. Mathias Covert, for his second wife, married Mrs. Martha Jenny, in April, 1859. She departed this life July 5, 1886.

Truman Covert, of our sketch, was reared on the home farm in Niagara County, N. Y., received his education in the district school, and remained a resident of his native county until 1860. He then located on a farm of his cousin in Ingham County, Mich., until enlisting in the army in December 1863. He served as a soldier in the 1st Michigan Light Artillery until after the close of the war, being under command of Gen. Sherman, at Chat­tanooga, marching from Atlanta to the sea, and participating in many of the important battles of that campaign. He was taken seriously ill at Goldsboro, N. C., whence he was sent to Beaufort and from there to New York City, and was mus­tered out at Ft. Schuyler in June following.

Him­self and twenty-six of his comrades enlisted at Leslie, Mich,, and of these thirteen died in the service. Our subject after leaving the army was unable to do manual labor, and returning to his native town served as Constable and Collector until 1870, when the family came to this State and located on the farm which he now owns. The land at the time they took possession of it, was uncultivated prairie, and the nearest market was Rantoul, ten miles dis­tant. The face of the country has been greatly changed since that time. The prairie has been transformed into cultivated fields, enclosed with neat hedges and substantial fences, and a good resi­dence affords a pleasant house for our subject and his household. Adjacent to it are all the necessary out-buildings required for the proper shelter of stock and the other products of the farm.

Mr. Covert was married in Niagara County, N. Y., Nov. 24, 1859, to Miss Jane Robbins, and they had five interesting children—Maude, Ida and Charles, living, and two Ticey and Jennie, de­ceased. Mrs. Covert was born in Lockport, N. Y., May 11, 1842. Her father, Cephas Robbins, of Vermont, became a resident of the Empire State when a young man, and was there married to Miss Drusella Finch. Mr. Covert is a member of the G. A. R., and is a staunch Republican in politics. The thrift and industry which have characterized the life of Mr. Covert are perhaps illustrated in the most forcible manner by the homestead which he has built up from the wild prairie, and a view of which has been faithfully lithographed on an adja­cent page. It forms a picture which his children will be proud to cherish in future years.