My Genetic Genealogy: Is It Working?

The short answer is "that depends". Lots of work. Some important progress. So far, I'll give it a "thumbs up": yes, it's working.

It's been about a year and a half, now, that I've been chasing family genealogy through DNA. Here's what I've learned so far.

1. The power of DNA matching is that it identifies for us persons who share identical segments of DNA, and so are likely related. It also estimates what that relationship is, based on how much DNA is identical and other proprietary tweeks.
2. The DNA match information is a starting point, but we still must search for our common ancestors, the couple from whom we are both descended. Most of the matches shown are fourth cousins and more distant. Our common ancestors must be five generations or more back. I'll come back to this.
3. Since less than half of DNA matches reply to requests for information, it is often necessary to research several generations of their ancestors, i.e., to do all the research unassisted. Among those who do reply, most have little information beyond their own grandparents, so a lot of work is still required to build their family trees.
4. Different people undoubtedly have different goals in providing DNA samples for study. I've been researching family genealogy for 25 years and am not interested in finding more distant cousins. My goal is to extend my families back further in time than I have been able to uncover so far. Some have been adopted and are looking for birth families. Some are confirming or refuting rumored infidelities. I don't know what others are doing because they don't reply to my queries.
5. Even though I'm not interested in fitting more cousins in my family tree, I need to do it anyway. An important clue when trying to extend and connect my ancestry is to at least identify which branch of my ancestry I'm trying to connect with. Second and third cousins allow me to identify which DNA segments come from which already known ancestors. When I find one of these segments in a more distant cousin, it at least helps me to focus my efforts on connecting to a particular ancestor couple.
6. Genealogy DNA testing services differ. I have been using AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, and 23andMe.
   • AncestryDNA has the largest collection of clients, so may provide the best opportunity to find connections. Also, since Ancestry.com has been a genealogy research service, providing access to lots of indexed historical records and to customers' family trees, the matches are often more knowledgeable about their family history and have well-developed trees. Surprisingly, though, I still get replies to less than half of my queries. Ancestry will allow you to download your DNA analysis results, basically a map of your chromosomes, but it will not allow you to download DNA matches information to use with third party services or software. Since I'm not an Ancestry.com subscriber, I did find it frustrating, until recently, that I can't view family trees of matches. Ancestry is currently testing a beta version of their service, though. I can now view up to five generations of a tree attached to a DNA match. This has been very helpful. I've been able to see family tree connections now to dozens of DNA matches. (That's about a dozen per DNA kit. I'm working with DNA results for two relatives. Five generation trees have helped me find connections to about a dozen DNA matches for each of them.) After the initial excitement, I've come to three realizations: (1) most AncestryDNA subscribers don't have well-developed trees; (2) five generations allows me to connect with cousins withing my known ancestry, but does not allow me to see connections beyond my current known ancestry; (3) (not really a new realization, but commonly found in family trees) information in a tree is not necessarily true: some is contradicted by my records, and some is often copied from some other tree with no knowledge of where the original information came from; (4) AncestryDNA members seem to be very happy to provide access to their private trees when I explain how were related and what I hope to see in their tree and send them a link to my own online family tree.
   • MyHeritage is my preferred service because they allowed me to load raw DNA files downloaded from other services so that I can get matches to all four of my dna files (two parents, two in-laws). While they still allow you to upload DNA files, there are now limits on what information you may access. MyHeritage also allows access to customers' family trees. Most of these trees are either private or contain only a few individuals, but some are quite large which can make it much easier to find a connection. MyHeritage has a new feature that goes through their subscriber trees, through FamilySearch trees, and other available trees, and proposes connections with matches. It hasn't shown me an "important" connections, yet - and by important I mean one that I don't already know and that helped extend my tree back in time - but it might. It does not propose a lot of connections, yet, but it might be very useful especially for those whose trees are not yet very well developed.
   • 23andMe is not a genealogy records company. So unlike the above two companies, I never click on a button and get a message that I have to be a subscriber to use that function. They have a variety of interesting gene related reports, some regarding health predispositions, some regarding physical traits. While they do not have a family trees as part of their service, they do permit self-reporting of family surnames and locations, which is often helpful.
   • Note: I've read that the testing services may differ quite a bit in their accuracy with different ethnic groups or geographic origins. My ancestry is white European. I have noticed some inaccuracies that I don't understand. AncestryDNA often predicts a significantly more distant relationship than the true relationship and than I expect from the amount of shared DNA (where I assume a simplistic single path between matches). On the other hand, I'm finding many cousins estimated to be fairly close (third and fourth) are actually quite distant (6th and 7th). This latter only after lots of work tracing back so many generations. These cases seem to be for very old American families when there are multiple paths of relationship over many generations that must accumulate to as much shared DNA as a closer relative.
   • Note 2:
     

     DNA Matches by Service

     Company	Relative	New matches	Matches to Gr-parents
     23andMe
     	Mother
     		37	D & L: 3 C & H: 10 * H & M:1.5 L & D: 17.5 [closer: 5]
     	Father
     		13	C & C: 3 * P & D: 1 W & A:  2 W & M: 0 [closer: 7]
     AncestryDNA
     	Mother-in-law
     		18	P & C: 7 H & C: 1 * C & K: 0 K & R: 0 [closer: 10]
     	Father-in-law
     		19	M & W: 0 C & McL: 17 M & P: 0 S & B: 0 [closer: 2]
     MyHeritage
     	Mother
     		8	D & L: 3 C & H: 0 H & M: 0 L & D:4 [closer: 1]
     	Father
     		31	C & C: 2 P & D: 27 W & A:  0 W & M: 0 [closer: 2]
     	Mother-in-law
     		4	P & C: 2 H & C: 0 C & K: 0 K & R: 0 [closer: 2]
     	Father-in-law
     		3	M & W: 0 C & McL: 3 * M & P: 0 S & B: 0 [closer: 0]

   
   
7. Probably the reason that I have been most successful finding connections for my mom is that all of her ancestors immigrated to the US in the early to mid 1800s. So her family history is not that long, at least not in this country. For my dad, it's more complicated. Because most of his ancestral lines go back centuries in the US, it can be much more difficult to research all the way back to our common ancestor. Also, after so many generation, many of them in the northeastern US (or colonies), there has been a lot of mixing of ancestral lines, so there are multiple paths of relationship and, because each path adds inherited DNA, the estimated relationships implied by the amount of shared DNA may be in error by multiple generations.

The numbers in that table show that in the past year and a half I've made about 130 connections to relatives, with (only) one major find in each of our four parental lines (wife's parents and my parents). So, I'm certainly working hard. But I'm not sure I can sustain this level of effort to advance our tree. For now, I'm continuing with an emphasis on finding certain missing family members and specific pre-emigration families in Europe.

DNA: Case Study: William Sorrance Covington

Background

So far, the typical meeting between me and a DNA match consists of my choosing someone not too distantly related - a 3rd or 4th cousin - and sending them note, suggesting a related family based on common matches I've already identified, and asking if they know how we might be related. In this case, my match knew only her mother's name, having had no contact with family that had been in Oklahoma. Not a lot to go on.

Start by finding an obituary

In this case I was able to find a recent obituary naming my match. In the obituary were also birth dates and places, maiden names, and the names of both parents - Earl Shotwell and Bell Covington. This lead to locating the family in Fresno, California in 1940 and in Oklahoma in 1930. Earl and Bell must have married in the late 1920s. Their first three children were born there, then the family moved to California in about 1936. Belle's mother, Lucinda, died in Texas in 1936 and I've wondered if this had anything to do with the departure of the Shotwells. More likely, they were just part of the large migration from economically depressed Oklahoma to the opportunities in California. (See this article on the migration from the Oklahoma Historical Society: http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK008 .) (On a personal note: in the late 1970s, while working for a PG&E road crew, I was amazed to hear a colleague's southern accent, which he explained as him being from Modesto, in California's Central Valley. He had no idea what accent I was talking about. I later learned about the large migrations from Oklahoma and other southern states to the Central Valley.) Chasing Bell back even further in the census records, she was the second of seventeen children born to William Sorrance Covington and Lucinda Titsworth, a family that seemed to move back and forth between Oklahoma and Texas. William and Lucinda were married in the Indian Territory, in or near the Kiowa nation.

Who is William Sorrance Covington?

I still haven't completely figured out William Sorrance Covington. The DNA match seemed to indicate a Covington connection, so my focus was on just this family line. Later census records say William was born in Oklahoma or Texas circa 1873. Earlier records (1900 and 1910 censuses) say he was born in Arkansas. Finding William prior to his marriage in the Indian Territory in 1899 has been difficult. There is a 20 year census gap between 1880 and 1900. Still, I should be able to find him in the 1880 census. But haven't been able to.

Ancestry.com estimates that the two DNA matches are fourth cousins, or back five generations. This should be in my known family tree. Taking another look at my tree, there is a William Covington born in 1870 in Arkansas to our ancestor, James Mattis Covington, and his second wife, Winnie Watson. This William would be a 1/2 brother to our ancestor, James. If William Sorrance Covington is, indeed, our William, son of James, the relationship between the two DNA matches is 1/2 second cousin twice removed. The amount of shared DNA expected for this relationship is about midway between a third and a fourth cousin. I'm a DNA novice, and don't know the proprietary criteria that Ancestry.com use to estimate relationship, but midway between 3rd and 4th is at least close to the predicted 4th cousin, indicating that it is at least plausible that William Sorrance is a son of James. I have not yet attached William Sorrance to my tree, but likely will soon.

DNA: Case study: Floyd Covington

Initial question

DNA analysis indicated a fairly strong ("confiance élevée" = high confidence?) quantity of shared DNA with a "DNA relative". Browsing through our list of common matches (persons whose DNA indicates they are related to both of us), I noticed a few descendants of John Covington and Mary McLaughlin. So I sent a note asking if my match knew their relationship to John and Mary.

Wrong family

I got a response giving my the names of grandparents and great-grandparents. I was able to easily find John H. Covington and wife Augusta in census records, together with their son, Floyd. Since John H. was born in  I was able to find Floyd and his wife, Linda, in later census records. Among the many records that I sought, I found all of these people also in a FamilySearch family tree. But I also fairly quickly discovered some problems. First, I was not looking forward to researching this connection. My extensive research into the large Covington family had followed them from Tennessee (though some born in North Carolina) to Arkansas to Texas to Oklahoma. This John H. was born in Mississippi. I know of no Covingtons in our branch that went to Mississippi, so a connection would be a related family in North Carolina in the late 1700s - lots of work to uncover! Then I also discovered that their son, Floyd A., never married a Linda, and stayed his whole life in San Antonio, Texas. The Floyd and Linda I was researching moved to California and raised a family there. A more general search of records found another Floyd, Floyd G., born in Texas at about the same time, in about 1903. But I couldn't find Floyd G.'s parents.

Stuck in public record: search my own data

I tried another tact: search through my existing family database for a Floyd Covington. We had a Floyd, also born in Texas in about 1903. So now I tried tracing the life our our Floyd Covington, and ran into enough circumstantial evidence that I'm convinced the DNA match I contacted is descended from a Floyd already known in our tree.

Clarifying my search

I focused my efforts on finding the ancestry of Floyd Covington and Linda Prince. Since I my original interest was common DNA with Covington descendants, my main interest was in Floyd's ancestry.

Findings

Floyd G. Covington was born in Texas in 1903 to Richard A. and Fannie Prince. Yes, his mother's family name was the same as his future wife's family name. For a future reference, Richard was the son of James Mattis Covington and his second wife, Winnie Watson. According to posted family trees, Fannie Prince was from a very large family and was a close sibling (near in age, only two years apart) of Jasper Prince. In 1910, Jasper was a recently married farmer with three very young children. Claud Covington, the oldest of Richard and Fanny's children, was living with them and working on their farm. In 1913, when Floyd was 10 years old, Fannie passed away, leaving his father with ten children between the ages of about 1 and 21. In 1920, another of Floyd's siblings, his older sister Wilma, was living with the Princes. By the way, one of the Princes was Linda, future wife of Floyd, born in 1908 in Texas. Also in 1920, 17 year old Floyd was living with his newly married brother, John B., and his wife, Sarah. John in a butcher; Floyd also works in the meatpacking plant.

The move to California

In 1930, John and Sarah Covington are living in Maywood, a district in Los Angeles, with two more Covington brothers, Ray and George. All three brothers are butchers. Floyd, meanwhile, (and now shown as Floyd G.) is living in the Phoenix area with his new wife, Linda Prince. (An source citation posted online says they were married there in the late 1920s. By the early 1930s, Floyd and Linda had moved to Maywood, too, where they began to raise a family.

The DNA math

Ancestry.com predicts, based on quantities and lengths of identical DNA segments, that the two persons tested are fourth cousins. According to my family tree software, the relationship between the two, if I am correct that the Floyd who married Linda was the son of Richard Covington, 1/2 3rd cousins once removed. A mouthful, to be sure. The 1/2 is because Richard and our direct ancestor, John (not John H!), had the same father, but were from different wives. Hence they share only some of the father's DNA. The once removed means one of the two persons tested was a fifth generation descendant from their common ancestor (James, the father whose kids are from different marriages), while the other was a sixth generation descendant. No doubt this is more math than many are comfortable with. But the important math to understand is that for each generation of descent, the shared DNA is halved, on each side of the relationship. For example, compare first cousins to second cousins. The child of a first cousin shares half as much DNA from an ancestor as his/her parent does. This is the same for the child of the other first cousin. So second cousins share 1/4 as much DNA from a common ancestor as their parents did. In the case of our Covington relatives, the main relationship is third cousin, but the 1/2 cuts the shared DNA by half and the once removed is another half. Taken together, the shared DNA is 1/4 that of 3rd cousins, which would be mistaken for fourth cousins, the relationship predicted by Ancestry.com .

Recap

The Floyd Covington who married Linda Prince was Floyd G. (some have posted Gabriel), son of Richard Covington and Fannie Prince

My reasons for reaching that conclusion are:
1) The son of John H. and Augusta, also Floyd, married one time, to Margaret Arend, and remained in San Antonio, Texas until his death in 1973. He was not married to Linda.
2) Floyd G.'s mother's maiden name was Prince, increasing the probability that one of her son's might have met/known a Prince family member.
3) Floyd G.'s oldest brother, Claud, was living with Linda Prince's family in 1910.
4) Floyd G.'s sister, Wilma, was living with Linda Prince's family in 1920.
5) At least three of Floyd G.'s siblings moved to Maywood/Los Angeles shortly before Floyd & Linda.
6) My claimed relationship of 1/2 3rd cousins once removed between the two individuals whose DNA was analyzed would result in a far less complicated prediction of  4th cousin, which matches Ancestry.com's prediction.

What?

Normally, I would focus on facts and strive to be more concise and less wordy in an explanation of a relationship. My emphasis here, though, was in showing a process that might be involved in making connections with relatives through DNA. The DNA in this case only played the role of (a) identifying a definite relative to contact, and (b) strengthening confidence in the result. I would add, that this is in many ways an easy connection. Connecting through common ancestors that are outside of your family tree and generations beyond your current research is more typical, and records are much more difficult to find.

Winnie Watson

I'm trying to sort out our Winnie Watsons. First, a background review.

The Covingtons were raised in eastern Tennessee, in Rhea county, in the early to mid 1800s. After their parents passed away in the 1840s, most of the family moved west, to eastern Arkansas. One of these was "Mat", sixth of the fourteen children. His first marriage was to Martha, with whom he had five children: Betsy, Sarah, Nancy, John and James Madison. Soon after Martha's death in the 1860s, Mat married Winnie and they, too, had five children: Mary, Richard, William, Bell Lona and Thomas, though there may have been an adoption or two in there. Many years later, Richard's death certificate (in 1946) and Bell Lona's (in 1959) both stated their mother's name was Winnie Watson.

I recently discovered that Mat's youngest son with Martha, his first wife, James Madison, married three times. His first wife was Cora Belle Autry, whom he married in 1882 in Texas, and with whom he had seven children. It turns out that Cora Belle's mother's name was Winny Watson. My first reaction was that it's very unlikely that both James Madison Covington's stepmother and his mother-in-law had the same name. But the sources of these names are pretty solid documents. So for now I'm going to assume that they did have the same name, possibly because they are related.

James Madison, Jr., was only about six when his father remarried in about 1866, so he was mostly raised by Winnie. "Step-Winnie" was born in about 1845 in Tennessee. She was probably living in Arkansas when they married. The family moved to Texas in the 1870s where James, Jr. married Cora Belle in 1882. Her mother, whom I'll call "Winny-in-Law", was born in 1824 in Tennessee. So the two Winnies/Winnys are a generation apart. Perhaps an aunt and a niece? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much of Winny-in-Law's family.

Winny Watson Autry was living in Carrol county, Tennessee in 1850. From that record, I know that Winny's mother was Cyntha Watson, born about 1799 in North Carolina, and that she probably had a younger brother name Samuel, born about 1831 in Tennessee. Cyntha is named in the 1840 census in Carroll county, so was probably a widow by then, with two more sons and a daughter, in addition to Cora Belle and Samuel. And that's pretty much all I know. There were two Watson families in Carroll county in the 1830 census: Samuel and John. It's likely that one of these is Winny-in-Law's family.

My goal is to identify Winny-in-Law's brothers and sisters and to see if any of her brothers had a daughter named Winnie born in about 1845. Since Samuel was a single 19 year old in 1850, it was not he.

Current McClintock Hypothesis

Briefly, James and Mary McClintock are found in Wheeling, Virginia in the 1850 US census.  James is a ship's carpenter, born in Ohio.  Just two houses away are John and Hannah McClintock and family.  John is also a ship's carpenter, born in Ohio, and just a couple of years older than James. My guess would be that John and James are brothers. They are in Wheeling, where McClintock tradition says James was born; James is a ship's carpenter, as he was in the 1870 census where I first found our James McClintock.  The Wheeling James seems to be ours. When John died in Wood county several years later, his death certificate listed his parents as Noble and Ellen McClintock. It is reasonable to assume that John and James were both sons of Noble and Eleanor McClintock.

There are some inconsistencies, though:
1) Family tradition says James was married to Ann Wilkins.  There is no mention of a first marriage to a Mary, as in the 1850 census. (However, the ten year gap in ages between the first two children shown in the 1870 census is a good indication that the first child was born to a first marriage, and the others were born to a second marriage.)
2) From census records for Noble and Eleanor, and a daughter Elizabeth, and from the earliest known land record in 1825, I would conclude that Noble and family immigrated from Ireland to the United States in the mid-to-late 1820s.  This is inconsistent with James and John census records indicating they were born in Ohio, W. Virginia, and other places, prior to that year. (However, a death record for Elizabeth says she was born on the ocean in 1808, indicating a family immigration in 1808.)

To shore up the addition of Noble and Eleanor and family to our family tree, I am searching for any records supporting two marriages to James McClintock and supporting an earlier immigration of Noble and family to the US.  If you know of any such records, please contact me.

In Search of McClintock Origins

   Our McClintock information goes back as far as James McClintock, thought to be born in Wheeling, Virginia in about 1820.  (West Virginia wasn't formed until 1863, when the western part of the state was so opposed to Virginia's inclusion in the Confederate States that it broke away and aligned itself with the Union.)  James' origin came from senior members of our branch of the McClintock family, who have since passed away.  As best I know, their source was a family bible, known as the Covington Bible, that contained birth, marriage and death dates for the families of Robert Lee McClintock, the fifth of James' six sons that we know of, and his wife, Catherine Covington.  Over the years I've been able to verify most of the names, places and dates, establishing this bible as a reliable source of information. According to the Covington Bible, James was married to Ann Wilkins, born in 1831 in Union county, Kentucky.

   The earliest record I have that is definitively the family of James McClintock is the 1870 US census of Bells Mines, Kentucky, a tiny town in Crittenden county, on the Ohio River (the same river that runs through Wheeling, West Virginia) that no longer exists.  In other words, the first record isn't until James is fifty years old.  Ten years later the family is located in adjacent Hopkins county, a little further inland. I've tracked several of the kids to and through Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan and California.  Recently, I've been trying to confirm what little I know and find more about James and Ann.

Marker of James McClintock in Earlington, Kentucky
(findagrave.com)

Marker of Ann McClintock in
 Lehigh, Oklahoma (findagrave.com)

     I found these grave markers through findagrave.com .  James was buried in Earlington, Kentucky in 1886.  Ann was buried in Lehigh, in the Choctaw Nation of the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, in 1900.  I've searched online records extensively, but have not found anything definitive about James and Ann prior to the 1870 census.  I have three major leads:


1) I found a birth certificate for Albert B. McClintock, born in Crittenden county, Kentucky in 1859 to James A. McClintock. This matches the Covington bible information, except for a six day difference in birth dates, i.e., it's almost certainly a match.  The birth record lists the mother as Ann Dobbs, not Ann Wilkins.  This raises a host of questions that I will try, as time allows, to resolve. I am now wondering what the source of the Covington Bible information is, if it was recorded more or less contemporaneously with events, or if it was all from a family genealogist, and may contain errors.  Ann Wilkins may be a married name, Dobbs a maiden name. I have searched for Dobbs families and Wilkins families in the Union county area, and in West Virginia, but have not found a likely match. To do: get copy of birth certificate; talk to owner of Covington Bible, revisit census records, contact remaining senior McClintocks.

2) I found a James and May (Mary?) McClintock of the right age in Wheeling, Virginia in 1850.  He was a ship's carpenter, as was our James in the 1870 census in Kentucky. He lived next door to a John McClintock, 5 years older, who was also a ship's carpenter, and I assume the two of them were brothers. One of John's kids was born in Kentucky. I was on the verge of accepting this James as ours, but have now traced John and James through census records to Wood county, West Virginia, where James and his family were living in 1870.  The family names are not those of our Kentucky family, so I've had to give up on the Wheeling, West Virginia McClintocks as our ancestors.

3) Several years ago I contacted a McClintock genealogist who had compiled a book of hundreds of McClintock families, and included our own.  According to his research, James was the son of Noble and Eleanor McClintock, Irish immigrants living in Harrison county, Ohio, not far from Wheeling. He cited records that prove the relationship, but also mentions brothers John and James in West Virginia. I was hoping to confirm the link to Noble, but given the 1870 census record discrepancy, I'm less certain of this. To do: get copies of sources cited.

If you have any information on James and Ann (and possibly James' first wife and family), please leave a comment.

Covington Family in Rhea co., Tenn. & Crawford co., Ark. 1800s

Rhea and Meigs Counties, 1840

I believe that our Covington family is descended from Richard Covington, born in about 1775. It's likely he himself was born further east, probably Virginia or one of the Carolinas, but census records indicate that all of his children were born in Tennessee, beginning before 1810.  The earliest record I have found so far is the 1840 US census, showing Richard, his wife, and twelve children living in Rhea County, Tennessee, in the southeast corner of the state.  Rhea County is located in the Tennessee River Valley, in the Appalachian Mountains. Two of their sons were married and lived nearby: John, also in Rhea County and William, across the Tennessee River in the newly formed Meigs County.

 

Cherokee Connection?

Indian Removal (graphic from Wikipedia)

The Covingtons were in this location probably as part of a natural westward expansion into fertile farmland along the Tennessee River. But perhaps there is a Cherokee connection.  In the late 1830s, the US government forced the Cherokee Nation to move from their territory to the Oklahoma Territory, their very difficult journey known as the Trail of Tears. (This was part of a broader displacement of the largest eastern tribes during the 1830s.) The Covington properties were just outside of the Cherokee territory in 1840. The Cherokee followed two routes, both beginning at the Tennessee River between Meigs and Rhea Counties. (Click on the graphic caption for a larger image.) By 1850, most of the family had moved to the Fort Smith, Arkansas area, which was near the other end of the Cherokee route and just across the border from the new Cherokee territory. Family history claims there was "Native American blood" in the Covington family.  I have not found any records showing Native Americans in the family, but records are sparse. I wonder if the Covingtons were just a family in a westward expansion, or whether they had family in the Indian Territories.

Crawford County region, from 1850

I'm guessing that Richard and his wife passed away in the early 1840s.  In 1841, three of the kids were married in Rhea co.: Sarah and Anna married Silas and Thomas Conley (brothers?) on August 17th, and Jackson married Rebecca Smith in December. By 1850, William, John, James "Mat", Lorenzo, Rebecca, Gregsby and Richard, i.e., half of Richard's kids, were all in Richland township, in Crawford county, Arkansas. Crawford county was on the western edge of Arkansas, bordering the (Oklahoma) Indian Territory. Jackson and Anna (Conley) were back in Rhea co. I haven't found the other five.  By 1860, Jackson, Rufus and Louis join Mat in Crawford county, in Mountain township, bringing to 10 of 14 kids that came through Crawford co..  The remaining four are Sarah and Anna Conley and Richard's oldest son and daughter, that I have not been able to identify.  As the 12 known families continued to spread out, I lost track of most of them.  From census and marriage records I assembled the following Covington family tree:

(If you're in the OurFamilyForest family but don't know how you'r related to these folks, click on the genealogy link to our family tree on the right side of this blog, type in the name of your nearest deceased family member [father, grandfather, etc.] [last name, first name], click on the "list" button, click on your relative, then select the pedigree tab.  One of the branches of your tree should be a Covington.  If this doesn't work for you, contact me.)

Accuracy of the Covington Family Tree

Census records contain all sorts of errors, including ages, places of birth, and name spellings, the 1840 enumeration does not include names of those counted, and relationships are not shown prior to 1880.  There are very few vital records (at least available through FamilySearch.org) to support (or refute) the guesses I've made.  So there is plenty of opportunity for errors in the above family tree.  However, given the proximity of these Covingtons to each other in the towns where they were located in 1840, 1850 and 1860, assuming only making reasonable assumptions based on their ages, and matching ages with the 1840 data, the Richard Covington family tree I've assembled is a very reasonable estimate. As more evidence becomes available, I will modify the tree as appropriate.  (If you have any data that either supports or refutes some part of the family tree, please contact me or leave a comment.)

Family Names

It was common in the South to name children after prominent people.  The Covingtons include an Andrew Jackson, Lorenzo Dow, James Madison, and Martin Van Buren.  Presumably, these namesakes represented values important to the Covington family.  At the time of Andrew Jackson Covington's birth in about 1820, Andrew Jackson was a war hero for his victories against the Creek Indians and the British in the War of 1812 and victories over the Seminole and Creek Indians in The First Seminole War in 1818, subsequently was responsible for taking Florida from the Spanish, was a very successful planter and merchant, had been Tennessee's first US Representative in 1796, and owned about 40 slaves. He was a Tennessee hero long before his election to two terms as US President in 1828 and 1832. (Note that Jackson's battles with the Creek and Seminole Indians does not mean he was "anti-Indian".  In other battles he was allied with Creek, Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, and two of his three adopted children were Native Americans.) Lorenzo Dow Covington was born in about 1827, near the end of a 30 year tenure of the very popular traveling preacher after whom he was named, Lorenzo Dow.  Dow was eccentric but eloquent, often shouting, insulting, and telling jokes. Very unconventional in the conservative religious services of the time.  He travelled throughout the United States, on foot, "did not practice personal hygiene", carried only the clothes on his back and a box of Bibles to give away.  He was a fierce abolitionist, often making him unpopular in the South. There are several Lorenzo Dow Covingtons, probably indicating their profound admiration, and may indicate the Covingtons were anti-slavery.  James Madison served two terms as President, from 1809-1817. He, too, was a slave owner.  Not being an historian, it is not clear to me why Madison would be a popular choice for naming children, other than that he was President at the time.  He tried to use the US Army to protect Indian lands against encroachment by settlers.  If the Covingtons had ties to the Cherokee near whom they lived in the 1830s, this may have endeared Madison to them. Martin Van Buren Covington was one of Richard Covington's grandchildren, and was born near Van Buren, Arkansas in 1839, right in the middle of Martin Van Buren's single term as President of the United States, so his name probably has more to do with circumstance than admiration.  Van Buren was anti-slavery, though opposing abolition. I believe it was common in the South for people to be anti-slavery as immoral, but against Federal abolition of slavery as an encroachment on States' rights, so Van Buren's position may have resonated with many in the South.

1860 Murder in Van Buren

On Saturday, October 13 1860, the town of Van Buren had been "called out to muster".  I'm not sure whether this was a regular town militia training, or whether is was a recruitment day for the US Army.  For a little historical context, Abraham Lincoln was elected with only 40% of the popular vote the following month, and in December southern states began seceding from the United States, including Arkansas in May of the following year.  There was heated debate over the issues of slavery and States' rights and many European-Americans in Arkansas were probably upset that there was apparently so much open land just across the river in the Oklahoma Indian Territories, but that they could not settle on it. In the early evening of October 13, 1860, two local troublemakers, brothers Ben and Silas Edwards, shot and stabbed to death Andrew Jackson Covington, then his 17 year old son, Richard, who tried to intervene, and then his brother, Rufus.  The reason was allegedly some combination of troublemakers and a family feud.  The Edwards brothers were caught and jailed, and one of them was shot by an angry group of Covington family and friends who tried to intercept the arresting officers. From an Edwards genealogy, I know that neither of the Edwards brothers died that day, but I do not yet know what happened following the murder. (If you have access to the compilation of newspaper article published in Van Buren Press: 1859-62 Volume 1, I"m very interested in learning the rest of this story.)  The families of Jackson and Rufus may have been split up following their deaths.  I can't find Jackson's family in 1870; I found two of Rufus' kids living with another family.

Fort Smith

Fort Smith, just a few miles from Van Buren, was on the Arkansas-Indian Territories border, was/is the second largest town in the state, and had a reputation for a very tough, "wild west" town.  Often death certificates of Covingtons who had moved away will show Fort Smith as a birthplace, because when asked while living they undoubtedly said they were from near Fort Smith, an easily recognizable place.

My Covingtons: On to Texas and Indian Territories

My own Covington family descended from James "Mat" Covington, and his oldest son, John.  He married Mary McLaughlin in Crawford co. in 1873, where Sarah, their oldest daughter was born the following year, then moved to join his father's family in Denton co., Texas in about 1875.  Both families were there in 1880.  John died in 1900 and was buried in Lehigh in the Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory, later Lehigh, Coal co., Oklahoma.  (A booming town in the early 1900s and later as a coal mining town, but since the Depression has become nearly a ghost town.) I don't know what became of James and Winnie Covington's family.  They scattered in the 20 years between the 1880 and 1900 censuses.  I have picked up the trail of John and Mary's family (which is what led me back to the Covington's in Arkansas and Tennessee in the first place).

Unanswered questions

1) What is the Kuykendall-Covington connection?  I know of two marriages (John C. to Sarah K. in Franklin co., Arkansas in 1872, and Lorenzo Dow C. to Parthena K. in 1881 in Crawford co., Arkansas) but there are multiple instances well prior to that of Covington kids living with Kuykendalls and of Covington and Kuykendall neighbors in various places.
2) The Van Buren murders:  What happened to the Edwards brothers? What was the feud about? What became of Jackson and Rufus' families? Where are Jackson and Rufus buried?
3) Where were Richard & family before 1840 (children's births indicate Tennessee since at least 1810, but can't find in census)?  Where did they go after 1860?
4) Strays that might link to previous marriages: Who was 9 year old Jasper Brown, living with Lorenzo and Eliza Covington in 1850 and 1860 in Richland? Who was John Hardin, living with this same family in 1860? Who was 5 year old Richard Loyd, living with William and Mary in Richland in 1850?
5) James "Mat" Covington was married to Martha in 1850 and 1860, but Winnie in 1870 and 1880.  Were they the same person, or did James remarry?

Covington Murders, October 1860, Van Buren, Arkansas

VAN BUREN PRESS, Oct __, 1860

BRUTAL MURDER

WE ARE ENTAILED UPON TO CHRONICLE ONE OF THE WORST MURDERS THAT IT WAS EVER FOR US TO KNOW OF, AN "EYE-WITNESS" OF THE AFFAIR HAS GIVEN US THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT:
     Mr. Duxmaw (?)--- Sir: I deem it a duty --- being an eye-witness --- to give you an outline of the dreadful affair that occurred last Saturday, the 13th of October, the terror of which will long remain in the minds of those who witnessed it, and one that will stain the reputation of our long peaceable city. And the blood of the murdered men will stain the streets and pavements of her terra firma for many days and weeks; it has been already four or five days since the horrible crime was committed, and the blood is still to be seen spread over the streets and pavements --- "The blood of murdered men shall rise." What horrid spectacle to see three mudered men lying in a pile --- two brothers and a son --- murdered by the villainous hands of two brothers who have always been a pest and terror to the whole country ever since they arrived at the age of 15 years, and who have already cost our county twelve or fifteen thousand, and who been running at large sometime without notice. But on Saturday I suppose they thought they would bring themselves into notice by killing three good citezens by the name of COVINGTON, it being a public day, and everybody was called out to muster, as it was the regular day appointed for that occassion. There was quite a large number of people in attendance, and the day passed off with peace and quiet up to the hour of the killing, which was about five O'clock in the evening, when the fight was commenced by one BENJAMIN EDWARDS, who draw a gun and shot JACKSON COVINGTON, and then ran upon him and knocked him in the head with his gun; but while he was accomplishing this horrible deed, his brother SILAS stabbed COVINGTON's son, who ran up to protect and save his father, but alas, he was too late. He was stabbed and killed by that notorious villain, SILAS EDWARDS, and then, after accomplishing that wilful deed, he ran up to where the young man's father lay, and thrust his large bowie knife into him three or four times, as though he was killing a wild beast of the forest. He then ran across and came into contact with RUFUS COVINGTON, who met him with hands only, and would, had there been no intereference from any other source, saved his life, but he was knocked in the head with rocks, by some two persons, but I do not know who, and then the said villain rose and stabbed him two or three times, killing him almost instantly. The two EDWARDS then made for their escape, but were pursued by our energetic officers and brought back and lodged in jail, where they will remain until the next term of Circut Court, when it is to be hoped they will be dealt with according to law.
     This, Sir, is about as an impartial view of the affair as I can give. Although an eye-witness, there were many things done that I could not correctly memorize, I therefore give this statement as near as I can without doing injustice to either party.            An Eye-witness

{Same paper as above - right under above story}
Van Buren, Oct. 15, 1860
     After the arrest of the muderers, an attempt was made by the excited populace to take from the officers and hang them without trial. But by the determined will and strenuous efforts of the officers having them in charge, they were got to jail. On Tuesday, the two EDWARDS were brought before JUSTICE HATTAWAY for examination under guard of twenty-five men to protect them. By advice of council, they waved an examination, and were ordered back to jail. On their way back, when within about forty yards of the jail, two brothers of the murdered men armed guns brought them all to a stand; the guards, seeing their determination to fire, gave way when one fired and brought them to the ground, and the other firing directly after. The younger EDWARDS was shot in the body and arm, the other through the thigh and arm; neither of them were mortally wounded, and up to our going to press are recovering slowly.
     Our advice to all parties interested is to let the law take its course. See if there not a remedy there; if not, it will then be time enough for the people to take the law into their own hands. We think there is a remedy, and we trust that no good citezen will give countance to any act that will bring disgrace upon our city, and place a stain upon our fair name, that time will never efface; but give to the officers of the county a cordial and ready support in the maintenance of law and order.

Oct 26, 1860
Benjamin Edwards that was committed to jail for shooting and killing in connection with his brother, the three Covingtons, and who was shot by other brothers of the murdered men, on the day of examination died from his wounds on Sunday night last.  He leaves a wife and infant child.  Silas Edwards is considered in no danger at all, his wounds being but slight.

Nov 30, 1860
Silas Edwards, charged with killing the Covingtons, has had an examination before R C Hattaway, ESQ. and committed fully for murder.


New Albany Daily Tribune
Tuesday, October 16, 1860, New Albany, Indiana
 A dispatch from Van Buren, Ark; dated the 13th says:—
After a regimental muster which was held here to-day, three men, named Ruftis and Jackson Covington, brothers, and Richard, a son ot the latter, were killed by two brothers named Silas and Ben Edwards. Several others were badly cut and otherwise injured on both sides. An old feud existed between the parties, but the Edwards', who have long been the terror of this part of the State, are the aggressors. While trying to make their escape they were overtaken a short distance from town by the constable and his posse and lodged in the jail.
   A large crowd nearly succeeded in taking the prisoners from the constable and hanging them upon the streets, and afterwards surrounded the jail for that purpose but were finally pacified.  The people are much excited and it is feared that the prisoners will yet be lynched. It is the most atrocious affair that ever was known here.

Found on Google Books:
History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas: From the Earliest Time to the Present, Including a Department Devoted to the Preservation of Sundry Personal, Business, Professional and Private Records ; Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Etc., Etc (Livre numérique Google)
Higginson Book Company, 1889 - 1382 pages
p.515
On October 13, 1860, a muster day, Benjamin and Silas Edwards were the murderers of Jackson Covington and his son, and Rufus Covington, at Van Buren. It was some feudal trouble; Benjamin stabbed Jackson Covington, and Silas stabbed his son, and then made for Rufus and stabbed him, leaving the three dead bodies in a pile. The Edwards were imprisoned, and when brought out for trial, and witnesses not being ready, they were being taken out of the court-yard gate, the infuriated mob shot at them and killed one and wounded the other. He was imprisoned, but later on burned his way out of jail with a candle and escaped.

Questions: What was the feud? What happened to the families of Rufus and Jackson?  Where are the Covington brothers buried?

The Other Irish

For the McClintock/Pyne branches of the family:  The McClintocks and Pynes came from Ireland, but how Irish are they now?  For the benefit of those who are first cousins you only share half this lineage, so pick your half.  Stan (and his brother and sister) is 1/2 Italian, 1/8 Irish, and the other 3/8 "old American" (which means the families have been here a while, and are probably predominantly of English descent.  Betty (and sibs) is 3/4 Irish and 1/4 "old American". You first cousins will have to add one of these (your side of the family) to the mix from your other parent and divide by 2 to get your own mix.  Their children are then 7/16 Irish, 1/4 Italian, and 5/16 "old American".