Covington Cemetery
Covington, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in the mid-1800s, the Covington Cemetery honors the memory of early Texas pioneers of Hill County and their descendants. In the early 1850s, James Jackson Gathings (1817-1880) moved from Mississippi to Texas, bringing his family, slaves, and enough livestock and essentials for creating a new life on the Blackland Prairie of north central Texas. In May of 1853, he purchased 3,136 acres on Aquilla Creek, which was the first recorded land purchase James made in Hill County. In 1854, James' younger brother, Philip Gathings (1819-1895), purchased 1,471 acres adjacent to his brother and together they developed two large plantations for agriculture and raising stock. James designated one hundred acres of this land to be laid out in lots of one to five acres for the town of Covington. He installed a steam mill, saw mill tannery, wood shop, cloth loom, and brick yards. The brothers donated 10 acres for a church and the Gathings Male and Female College, the first in Hill County. The earliest marked grave in the Covington Cemetery is for James Gathings' son-in-law, Joseph Patterson Wier (1831-1864), who was killed during the Civil War, at the Battle of Yellow Bayou in Louisiana. Joseph was initially buried near the battlefield. James had Joseph's body brought home and reinterred on the highest elevation in the cemetery. The cemetery includes 7.5 acres and almost 2,500 marked graves maintained by the Covington Cemetery Fund. In 1970, Allie Plumlee, Lucille Cowley Williams and Wileta Gathings McCall organized the townspeople to clean and restore the cemetery. A distinguishing feature of the cemetery is the native rock wall surrounding the property. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2017
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Covington Cemetery grew alongside the plantations of brothers James and Philip Gathings, who moved from Mississippi in the early 1850s with their families and enslaved workers and amassed thousands of acres on the Blackland Prairie. James platted the town of Covington and, with his brother, donated land for a church and the Gathings Male and Female College. The earliest marked grave is a son-in-law killed at the Battle of Yellow Bayou in 1864, whose body James had brought home for reburial.
Why it matters
The cemetery embodies the antebellum plantation economy that slavery built in Central Texas, and the Civil War that broke over the families who profited from it.
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Related people
- · James Jackson Gathings
- · Philip Gathings
- · Joseph Patterson Wier
Related events
- · Battle of Yellow Bayou
Themes & tags
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