Our main effort here with compiling this data is primarily to provide our children with a source of knowledge showing and listing their ancestors starting with (Thomas Lafayette Covington and Berry Wilson) their ancestors and descendants, both on our paternal and maternal sides.

AYERS | BRUCE | COVINGTON | CUNNINGHAM | DAVIS | DYESS | ELMORE
FITZGERALD | HARRIS | LOVETT | MILLER | SOLOMON | WILSON | WOODARD |WEST

There are many other family surnames that we will list in this web site. We are trying to compile all of our family names but some names we will inevitable miss one or one hundred of them - not by choice but by mistake and for that please forgive us. Our Ridge-Runner and Cracker families were born and reared from Virginia, North and South Carolina to Tennessee and Florida. We will briefly cover some war history, especially during the WAR of the STATES, to show how our past love ones endured these troubling times.”

Mike Davis my cousin has given me data on our Davis side. “Covington’s Remembered” is another good source for Virginia and North Carolina Covington’s.

Mormon Genealogy Library has on micro film - several sources, such as, Church records, Land records, Local municipality records, Military, National, Probate, Vital records, and Bibles, Census.

During the 1880 Federal CENSUS and probably others, people were hired to collect family data. They had all that year to collect this census. I found another problem when I first started researching CENSUS, which was, that the person employed to take the census may in some cases misspell the Given name and/or Surname. SOUNDEX assist researchers in finding names in CENSUS. Soundex is a name coding system when comparing Surnames, so that similar-sounding names with different spelling are presented together. The method uses these rules: For

The rest of code is numeric (for example, Covington = (C152)

Code Letters

A control numbers links person’s name in the Soundex to the Census, that is, located on the top right side of each data file is an Enumeration District (E.D.) number, Volume, Sheet line numbers. It will show Head of family, color, age, Birthplace County and city.

Most large libraries that have Census/Soundex records, set up their genealogy section the same way. The library stores the microfilm in cabinets. Data within the Census for each year is organized differently, so you have to be familiar with the contents of each year’s Census data structure.

From Nashville, TN., Mt. Olivetti Cemetery at our Covington family plots, I knew that there was a headstone showing John (my Great grand father) Covington. There was also a headstone showing Joe Covington. He was my Great great-uncle.

Also, I knew John Covington was born in the year of 1871 and Joe was born in 1876. Next, I found a John Covington and a Joe Covington with the correct birth year and same father, who was (Thomas L. Covington) Thos. Covington.

The 1880 Census showed that Thomas and Sarah Jane Covington lived on Joseph Ave., house # 10. The Census showed that all of Thomas’s children Nannie, Eliza (Annie), John, Ida and Joseph. It also showed that there were five step children, Martha, Sarah, Thomas, George and James. At first, I thought that Thomas had taken-in some orphan children. One, she died given birth to Great great-uncle Joe Covington in 1876. Since I knew Thomas” age, I jumped back to the 1870 Census and found an individual with the name of Thomas, age 26 - in Rutherford County, Tennessee. The problem was this person was not my Thomas. This Thomas was born in Canon Co.

The first tidy bit of good information, I found on my Thomas Lafayette Covington, was in the 1850 CENSUS. Thomas was the sixth child of Champness Andrew Jackson Covington and Mary Corder. Thomas was born in 1844. He grew up in the Forth Civil District of Rutherford County, which is located south of Smyrna, Tennessee.

Thomas was in the War of the States. He joined the Confederate States Army, 20 Twentieth Tennessee Regiment Infantry. On eight June 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Captain John “JACK”S. Gooch, near Smyrna, TN. According to the “History of Twentieth Tennessee Regiment Volunteer Infantry,” Ralph J. Neal wrote, “This Company came from one of the best sections of the country and its members from some of the best families in the State.”

After the War, according to the 1870 Census, Thomas and Sarah Jane lived in a house (# 91) next to Jane’s father’s farm (# 90) - probably on the same farm. I believe it is located south of Rock Spring Church. This Census shows that Thomas was a farmer. Joseph’s birth is where this family history gets cloudy. I believe that Jane died giving birth to my Great great-uncle Joe Thomas Covington. I need to look South of La Vergne - South East of Rock Spring Church.

Jane’s father was Joseph C. Coleman. Joseph married Margaret Haley. Joseph and Margaret had the following children:

John W, Catherine, Sarah Jane, M. Ann, Frances, Joseph, Daniel, James F. Amanda, John, Lucy, Catherine, and Walter

Joseph Coleman’s father was Daniel and mother was Rebecca -------. Margaret Haley’s mother was Katherine Haley

Sometime between 1876 and 1878 Thomas and his five children moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas married Sarah Jane (Williams) Gourley on 11 Feb. 1880. Sarah’s previous husband was James Gourley. This Sara and James had the following children before James died: Martha Sarah E.P. Thomas M. George M. James S.

I collected the following information from the Nashville City Directories:

a.   In 1879 Thomas was a Saddle tree maker and his home was at Joseph Ave.

b.   In 1880 Thomas was a Saddle tree maker and their home was at Joseph Ave.

c.   In 1881 Thomas was a Black Smith and their home was at 528 Main. Thomas and Sarah Gourley got a divorce ----- need to get the date—it was before 27 Jan 1883 because Sarah married James Alexander Huggins on this date. Where was Thomas during this time? When I was about 8-10 years old, my great-uncle Tal Harris took me down to an old barn on Buchanan Street. Tal told me that my Great Great-Grand father owed a Black Smith and Harness Shop in that barn.

f.    In 1891 Thomas was a huckster and lived at 75N First Street.

g.   From 1891 until 1904 Thomas was not in the Nashville City Directories. Where was Thomas during this time????? It shows that Thomas L. Covington was living with Matidaly Cunningham am going to look in the prison records. According to the “History of Twentieth Tennessee Regiment Volunteer Infantry”, by Ralph J. Neal wrote, “Thomas lived in Wilson County during this time".

i.    In 1905 Thomas was a huckster. His home was located on Buchanan Street, two houses East of Hamburg Avenue.

j.    In 1906 and 1907 Thomas was still a huckster and his home was located third house East of Hamburg Ave. still on 893 Buchanan Street He now has three homes on Buchanan Street

k.   In 1908 Thomas opened a grocery store in his first house on 891 Buchanan St. located east from the corner of Hamburg Avenue.

m.  In 1910 Thomas has another store at 820 Buchanan and another house at 822 Buchanan.