Berrill Covington, the second son of Simon and Elizabeth (Brown) Covington, was from England. He was born in the town of Wellingborough, in the district of Northamptonshire, in 1794. At age 18, in the fall of 1812, he married Elizabeth Hodges. They were blessed with nine children, all born in Bedford, England: Mary Ann, Berrill, Josiah, Elizabeth, Edward, Henry, Simon, Sarah and Priscilla. Later he married twice more, to Elizabeth Gill Griffiths, a school teacher, and Mary Woodmansee. He had no children with either. In his old age, he was known for his love of talking; one granddaughter called him “Old Man Chatter Box.” On July 31, 1837, one day after the first Mormon baptisms in England, the original seven missionaries to proselyte in England held a council in Preston. It was decided that Elders Willard Richards and John Goodson should go to Bedford, “There being a good prospect, from the information received, of a Church being built up in that city.” They left on 1 August and arrived at Bedford the following day.
Work progressed quickly. The first baptisms occurred on 10 August and by December a Bedford Branch had been organized. Berrill Covington, later to play an important role in the beginnings of the Church in Buckinghamshire, was baptized in 1838 by Elder Willard Richards. He was instrumental in the conversion of two of the first nine Buckinghamshire natives and later became a member of the first branch organized on Buckinghamshire soil.
(from The Genesis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Buckinghamshire - The first Buckinghamshire Natives to join the church.)
His wife and four children also joined in 1841, and eventually his entire family was baptized. His new religion was not popular, and Berrill felt it in his efforts to earn a living. Berrill was a shoemaker by trade and owned his own business. Often while out delivering shoes he would be recognized and chased home by a mob. Many times his wife saw him coming and had the door open for him. When he fell inside the house exhausted, they hurried to close the door and bolt it shut. Despite the opposition, he was a very active church member in England. They moved to Birmingham, where Latter-day Saints were not treated as badly, then to Liverpool to prepare for the trip to America. Liverpool was good for his work as well as his faith. Here, according to a life sketch written by his great-granddaughter, “he and his sons had a large shoemaking establishment where they made shoes for the army.”
In 1852, Berrill and some of his family members left their homeland and immigrated to America aboard the ship “Ellen Maria.” After nearly two months on the ocean they landed in New Orleans, took a steamer up the river to St. Louis, then crossed the plains to their new home in Utah. They were part of the first group of emigrants to reach Utah from Europe as part of the Perpetual Emigrant Fund that would go on to help many other devout church members in poverty reach Utah. Came West with the Abraham O. Smoot Company in 1852. ("List of Persons Sent from Great Britain by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co., in the Months of January and February 1852, by Franklin D. Richards Agent at Liverpool," Deseret News [Weekly], 21 Aug. 1852)
Berrill lived in the cities of American Fork and Ogden. Eventually, all his children would come to America except son Josiah, who remained in England and died in Liverpool in 1889.
Berrill was highly respected for his spiritual gifts. A kind and loving man, he believed not only in don’t speak evil of others, but don’t listen to it either. He went out of his way to help others. When cholera broke out in the community, Berrill and his sons disregarded the risk to their own health to go out, administer to the sick and leave their blessings. Berrill held high positions in the church. He was a member of the 6th Quorum of the Seventy and was ordained a Patriarch.
While in Missouri with his wife Mary, he died in Gallatin on Apr. 15, 1881, at the age of 86.
[Found living in Ward 14, Great Salt Lake City, Utah on the 1860 U. S. Census & in 3rd Ward by 1880 Census.]
Many thanks to a GGGGrandson, Blake Adams for the Bio.
Work progressed quickly. The first baptisms occurred on 10 August and by December a Bedford Branch had been organized. Berrill Covington, later to play an important role in the beginnings of the Church in Buckinghamshire, was baptized in 1838 by Elder Willard Richards. He was instrumental in the conversion of two of the first nine Buckinghamshire natives and later became a member of the first branch organized on Buckinghamshire soil.
(from The Genesis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Buckinghamshire - The first Buckinghamshire Natives to join the church.)
His wife and four children also joined in 1841, and eventually his entire family was baptized. His new religion was not popular, and Berrill felt it in his efforts to earn a living. Berrill was a shoemaker by trade and owned his own business. Often while out delivering shoes he would be recognized and chased home by a mob. Many times his wife saw him coming and had the door open for him. When he fell inside the house exhausted, they hurried to close the door and bolt it shut. Despite the opposition, he was a very active church member in England. They moved to Birmingham, where Latter-day Saints were not treated as badly, then to Liverpool to prepare for the trip to America. Liverpool was good for his work as well as his faith. Here, according to a life sketch written by his great-granddaughter, “he and his sons had a large shoemaking establishment where they made shoes for the army.”
In 1852, Berrill and some of his family members left their homeland and immigrated to America aboard the ship “Ellen Maria.” After nearly two months on the ocean they landed in New Orleans, took a steamer up the river to St. Louis, then crossed the plains to their new home in Utah. They were part of the first group of emigrants to reach Utah from Europe as part of the Perpetual Emigrant Fund that would go on to help many other devout church members in poverty reach Utah. Came West with the Abraham O. Smoot Company in 1852. ("List of Persons Sent from Great Britain by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co., in the Months of January and February 1852, by Franklin D. Richards Agent at Liverpool," Deseret News [Weekly], 21 Aug. 1852)
Berrill lived in the cities of American Fork and Ogden. Eventually, all his children would come to America except son Josiah, who remained in England and died in Liverpool in 1889.
Berrill was highly respected for his spiritual gifts. A kind and loving man, he believed not only in don’t speak evil of others, but don’t listen to it either. He went out of his way to help others. When cholera broke out in the community, Berrill and his sons disregarded the risk to their own health to go out, administer to the sick and leave their blessings. Berrill held high positions in the church. He was a member of the 6th Quorum of the Seventy and was ordained a Patriarch.
While in Missouri with his wife Mary, he died in Gallatin on Apr. 15, 1881, at the age of 86.
[Found living in Ward 14, Great Salt Lake City, Utah on the 1860 U. S. Census & in 3rd Ward by 1880 Census.]
Many thanks to a GGGGrandson, Blake Adams for the Bio.
Berrill Covington, the second son of Simon and Elizabeth (Brown) Covington, was from England. He was born in the town of Wellingborough, in the district of Northamptonshire, in 1794. At age 18, in the fall of 1812, he married Elizabeth Hodges. They were blessed with nine children, all born in Bedford, England: Mary Ann, Berrill, Josiah, Elizabeth, Edward, Henry, Simon, Sarah and Priscilla. Later he married twice more, to Elizabeth Gill Griffiths, a school teacher, and Mary Woodmansee. He had no children with either. In his old age, he was known for his love of talking; one granddaughter called him “Old Man Chatter Box.” On July 31, 1837, one day after the first Mormon baptisms in England, the original seven missionaries to proselyte in England held a council in Preston. It was decided that Elders Willard Richards and John Goodson should go to Bedford, “There being a good prospect, from the information received, of a Church being built up in that city.” They left on 1 August and arrived at Bedford the following day.
Work progressed quickly. The first baptisms occurred on 10 August and by December a Bedford Branch had been organized. Berrill Covington, later to play an important role in the beginnings of the Church in Buckinghamshire, was baptized in 1838 by Elder Willard Richards. He was instrumental in the conversion of two of the first nine Buckinghamshire natives and later became a member of the first branch organized on Buckinghamshire soil.
(from The Genesis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Buckinghamshire - The first Buckinghamshire Natives to join the church.)
His wife and four children also joined in 1841, and eventually his entire family was baptized. His new religion was not popular, and Berrill felt it in his efforts to earn a living. Berrill was a shoemaker by trade and owned his own business. Often while out delivering shoes he would be recognized and chased home by a mob. Many times his wife saw him coming and had the door open for him. When he fell inside the house exhausted, they hurried to close the door and bolt it shut. Despite the opposition, he was a very active church member in England. They moved to Birmingham, where Latter-day Saints were not treated as badly, then to Liverpool to prepare for the trip to America. Liverpool was good for his work as well as his faith. Here, according to a life sketch written by his great-granddaughter, “he and his sons had a large shoemaking establishment where they made shoes for the army.”
In 1852, Berrill and some of his family members left their homeland and immigrated to America aboard the ship “Ellen Maria.” After nearly two months on the ocean they landed in New Orleans, took a steamer up the river to St. Louis, then crossed the plains to their new home in Utah. They were part of the first group of emigrants to reach Utah from Europe as part of the Perpetual Emigrant Fund that would go on to help many other devout church members in poverty reach Utah. Came West with the Abraham O. Smoot Company in 1852. ("List of Persons Sent from Great Britain by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co., in the Months of January and February 1852, by Franklin D. Richards Agent at Liverpool," Deseret News [Weekly], 21 Aug. 1852)
Berrill lived in the cities of American Fork and Ogden. Eventually, all his children would come to America except son Josiah, who remained in England and died in Liverpool in 1889.
Berrill was highly respected for his spiritual gifts. A kind and loving man, he believed not only in don’t speak evil of others, but don’t listen to it either. He went out of his way to help others. When cholera broke out in the community, Berrill and his sons disregarded the risk to their own health to go out, administer to the sick and leave their blessings. Berrill held high positions in the church. He was a member of the 6th Quorum of the Seventy and was ordained a Patriarch.
While in Missouri with his wife Mary, he died in Gallatin on Apr. 15, 1881, at the age of 86.
[Found living in Ward 14, Great Salt Lake City, Utah on the 1860 U. S. Census & in 3rd Ward by 1880 Census.]
Many thanks to a GGGGrandson, Blake Adams for the Bio.
Work progressed quickly. The first baptisms occurred on 10 August and by December a Bedford Branch had been organized. Berrill Covington, later to play an important role in the beginnings of the Church in Buckinghamshire, was baptized in 1838 by Elder Willard Richards. He was instrumental in the conversion of two of the first nine Buckinghamshire natives and later became a member of the first branch organized on Buckinghamshire soil.
(from The Genesis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Buckinghamshire - The first Buckinghamshire Natives to join the church.)
His wife and four children also joined in 1841, and eventually his entire family was baptized. His new religion was not popular, and Berrill felt it in his efforts to earn a living. Berrill was a shoemaker by trade and owned his own business. Often while out delivering shoes he would be recognized and chased home by a mob. Many times his wife saw him coming and had the door open for him. When he fell inside the house exhausted, they hurried to close the door and bolt it shut. Despite the opposition, he was a very active church member in England. They moved to Birmingham, where Latter-day Saints were not treated as badly, then to Liverpool to prepare for the trip to America. Liverpool was good for his work as well as his faith. Here, according to a life sketch written by his great-granddaughter, “he and his sons had a large shoemaking establishment where they made shoes for the army.”
In 1852, Berrill and some of his family members left their homeland and immigrated to America aboard the ship “Ellen Maria.” After nearly two months on the ocean they landed in New Orleans, took a steamer up the river to St. Louis, then crossed the plains to their new home in Utah. They were part of the first group of emigrants to reach Utah from Europe as part of the Perpetual Emigrant Fund that would go on to help many other devout church members in poverty reach Utah. Came West with the Abraham O. Smoot Company in 1852. ("List of Persons Sent from Great Britain by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co., in the Months of January and February 1852, by Franklin D. Richards Agent at Liverpool," Deseret News [Weekly], 21 Aug. 1852)
Berrill lived in the cities of American Fork and Ogden. Eventually, all his children would come to America except son Josiah, who remained in England and died in Liverpool in 1889.
Berrill was highly respected for his spiritual gifts. A kind and loving man, he believed not only in don’t speak evil of others, but don’t listen to it either. He went out of his way to help others. When cholera broke out in the community, Berrill and his sons disregarded the risk to their own health to go out, administer to the sick and leave their blessings. Berrill held high positions in the church. He was a member of the 6th Quorum of the Seventy and was ordained a Patriarch.
While in Missouri with his wife Mary, he died in Gallatin on Apr. 15, 1881, at the age of 86.
[Found living in Ward 14, Great Salt Lake City, Utah on the 1860 U. S. Census & in 3rd Ward by 1880 Census.]
Many thanks to a GGGGrandson, Blake Adams for the Bio.
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