Biography
Bishop Robert Dockery Covington was born 20 August 1815 in Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina to Thomas Covington (1790-1857) and Jane Thomas (1790-1822) and died 2 June 1902 Washington, Washington County, Utah of unspecified causes. He married Elizabeth Ann Thomas (1820-1847) 20 February 1839 in Noxubee County, Mississippi. He married Malinda Allison (1815-1881) 26 September 1848 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. He married Nancy Roberts (1839-1864) 28 December 1856 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah.
Soon after their marriage they moved with Robert's father, Thomas B. Covington, to Summerville, Noxubee County, Mississippi. Robert was a college graduate, who helped on his father's plantation raising cotton and tobacco. With the help of slave labor, the Covingtons established a large successful plantation in Summerville. Robert Dockery Covington was overseer on two plantations.
Noxubee Plantation
Robert D. and Elizabeth Ann Covington were baptized February 3, 1843. After joining the Mormon religion they felt the need to join the Saints in Nauvoo. (See also Buttahatchie 1845 LDS Branch.) We have no record of this part of their life. Robert's father and siblings disapproved of this new religion and as a result he was eventually disinherited.
Dixie Cottom Mission (1857)

In 1857, a group of about 38 southerner families were called by Brigham Young (1801-1877) on to settle the Virgin River area of Southwest Utah and to crow cotton, to decrease the saints reliance on expensive product from back east. Other pioneer families joined them in 1861 but this ambitious endeavor came to an end after the close of the Civil War and cotton prices collapsed.
Marriage and Familey
1st Marriage : Elizabeth Ann
Elizabeth Ann Thomas (1820-1847) married Robert in Noxubee County, Mississippi and their young family trekked west to Salt Lake in the Edwards-Foutz Company of 1847. Soon afterwards she died.
Somewhere near what is now known as Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, Elizabeth Ann gave birth to her last child, Robert Laborious on August 1, 1847. After traversing the last of the cold, slow and rough miles through the mountains, the Hunter Company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 27, 1847.
2nd Marriage : Malinda
Malinda Allison (1815-1881) was a widow who had marched the prior year in the Mormon Battalion, but she was very pregnant and her husband ill, so both were part of the Sick Detachment that went to Pueblo, Colorado where her first husband died. She bore a daughter soon afterwards. They marred in 1848 in the Salt Lake Valley.
Children
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
Mary Ellen Covington (1849-1881) | 30 December 1849 Cottonwood Heights, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States | 25 October 1881 Washington, Washington County, Utah, United States | James Horten Thompson (1849-1873) |
Alice Covington (1854-1869) |
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
Phoebe Ann Covington (1857-1929) | |||
Thomas Covington (1860-1925) | |||
Nancy Melinda Covington (1861-1863) | |||
James Isaac Covington (1864-1864) |
Siblings
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
John Thomas Covington (1813-1840) | |||
Robert Dockery Covington (1815-1902) | 20 August 1815 Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina | 2 June 1902 Washington, Washington County, Utah | Elizabeth Ann Thomas (1820-1847) Malinda Allison (1815-1881) Nancy Roberts (1839-1864) |
James Wall Covington (1816-1896) | |||
William Covington (1817-1837) | |||
Martha Ann Covington (1818-1871) | |||
Thomas Covington (1820-1871) | |||
Nancy Covington (1822-1881) |
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
William Covington (1826-1863) | |||
Sarah Ann Covington (1829-1906) | |||
Christopher Columbus Covington (1832-1902) | |||
Elizabeth Covington (1834-1898) | |||
Henry Covington (1836-1886) | |||
Harriett Covington (1840-1910) |
Residences
Vital Records
- Washington County, Utah/1860 U.S. Census - Household #1083 residing in Tokerville, Utah.
- Shows daughter Catherine alive at age 14- birthplace listed as Mexico
- Missing Daughter Alice (died early?)
References
- Robert Covington at Find A Grave #52434
See Also
- Robert Covington
- Covington Family
- Covington in Washington County, Utah
- Covington in Richmond County, North Carolina