Gathings College
Covington, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established about 1860 by the founder of Covington, Col. James Gathings, and his brother Philip. Over 200 students enrolled. A military department prepared young men for duty in Civil War. Many of the 25 colleges in Confederate Texas closed, due to shortage of teachers and books. But college here stayed open. Col. Gathings operated flour mill, tannery, shoe shop, machine shop (made wagons, coffins, farm equipment), brick kiln, saddlery. To needy families of soldiers he gave flour, meat and shoes. He also mounted, clothed and equipped army units free.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded around 1860 by Covington's founder Col. James Gathings and his brother Philip, Gathings College drew over 200 students and added a military department to prepare young men for Civil War service. While most of Confederate Texas's twenty-five colleges shuttered for want of teachers and books, this one stayed open—sustained by Gathings's mills, tannery, and workshops. He gave flour, meat, and shoes to soldiers' needy families and outfitted army units at his own expense.
Why it matters
The college captures how the Civil War hollowed out Southern education while a handful of frontier patrons kept learning—and their communities—alive through the conflict.
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Related people
- · James Gathings
- · Philip Gathings
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Covington Cemetery
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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.
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