My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM COVILL, a thrifty farmer and an ex-justice of the peace of the town of Sherman, is a son of David and Eliza (Krouskop) Covin, and was born in Delaware county, New York, March 28, 1826. His paternal grandfather, Simeon Covill, was a native of Canada, and lived in the United States for a few years, after which he returned to Canada, where he followed farming until his death. He married and had five sons, two of whom, Simeon and Henry, deserted from the British army during the war of 1812, and served for some time in the American forces operating against the Canadian border. Another son, David Covill, (father) was born about 1802, and made a visit to Chautauqua in 1823, before permanently settling in it in 1825. He was a farmer and an old-line whig and republican and died in November, 1878. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and married Eliza Krouskop, by whom he had three sons: William H.; George, who married Olive Newell; and John. Mrs. Covill was a daughter of William Krouskop, of German descent, who lived in Delaware county, He married Nancy Sands, who bore him three sons and five daughters, and who was a lineal descendant of Samuel Sands, who was born in 1622 in England, and settled with his family in the Colony of Massachusetts in 1658 or 1660.

William Covill received an academic education, taught school for one year in Kentucky and then returned to Chautauqua county, where he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, at which he worked for about twenty years. He was an oil producer for a short time, and then engaged in farming, which he has followed ever since. He owns a nice farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres of good land near the village of Sherman, and is a member of Grange No. 36, Patrons of Husbandry.

On February 21, 1850, he married Julia Newell, a daughter of Jesse Newell, of Connecticut, who came to Cayuga and subsequently to Chautauqua county. Mr. and Mrs. Covill have two adopted children: Lamont and Henrietta, wife of Edgar O. Buss.

He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Squire Covill is a republican, and served the town for six years as assessor, and for ten years as justice of the peace.