Graves-Covington House (c.1860)

(click on photograph for larger image)

Thomas Covington House, Caswell County, Yanceyville, North Carolina

History of Owners

1. Lewis Graves and Elizabeth Graves

Married November 12, 1818. Elizabeth Graves is the daughter of General Azariah Graves of Locust Hill. Lewis Graves and Elizabeth Graves are first cousins. Lewis Graves built the federal-style cottage (the rear portion in the above photograph) around 1818. The Lewis Graves family later moved to Morgan County, Georgia

2. Thomas Burton

Purchased tract from Lewis Graves on April 7, 1835. Thomas Burton paid $1,028.35 for 374.3 acres adjoining John Wiley, John Richmond, John Langley and Joseph Langley.

3. Thomas Covington (1806-1869)

Married Elizabeth Willis Stanfield in Halifax County, VA, on February 22, 1836
Listed on Caswell County Tax in 1839 near Milton, NC.
On May 6, 1846, Thomas Covington purchased from Thomas Burton tract of land for $2,448.00 with house thereon. Thomas Covington built his home soon thereafter by adding to the front of Lewis Graves federal cottage.

4. Virginia Covington Chandler (died 1916)

Daughter of Thomas Covington and Elizabeth Willis Stanfield Covington. Married William Graves Chandler

5. Vance Chandler (died c.1938)

Son of William Graves Chandler and Virginia Covington Chandler. Never Married.

6. Arnold Jeter Fuqua (1892-1971) and wife Flora Ilene Lindley Fuqua (1902-1992)

Apparently purchased the property after Vance Chandler died. Arnold Jeter Fuqua once operated the Yanceyville business that later became "Alvis Briggs BBQ."

"House is still standing and in good condition. Floor plan is almost identical to Bartlett Yancey House. I think both houses were built about the same time frame. Has Tom Day woodwork, stairway and doors."

Source: Maggie Johnson 17 December 2022 post to Rick Frederick Facebook Page.

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"After the deaths of Thomas and Elizabeth Covington, their daughter Virginia Chandler and her husband William Graves Chandler inherited the house and plantation. According to Virginia Chandler, the interior woodwork was all made inside the house, and the Covington land extended all the way to Grier's Church. The Chandler's bachelor son, Vance Chandler, lived at the house until his death about 1938. The house was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Jeter Fuqua. Mr Fuqua found a brick with the initials TC carved into the chimney.

"Covington children in addition to Virginia Chandler were: Nathaniel R.; George W., killed in Maryland in the War Between the States; Mary T. Covington Oliver, wife of Iverson Oliver (see article), mother of George Washington Oliver (see article), and grandmother of Mary Johnston Oliver Kerr (see article); Annie Elizabeth (Roberts) Brooks; and John Grasty Covington, a prominent Danville, Va. tobacconist who had been named the minister of Grier's Church."

Whitlow, Jeannine D., Editor. The Heritage of Caswell County North Carolina 1985. Winston-Salem: Hunter Publishing Company, 1985, Pages 162-163 (Article #142: "Thomas Covington" by Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson).

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