Samuel Cover, Marion Trustee, Postmaster, saddle maker and Civil War veteran, arrived in Jonesboro, Illinois when he was four years old. He was the last of ten children born to Daniel Cover and Susannah (Hahn) Cover and was born in Pipe Creek, Carroll County, Maryland in 1835. Soon after Samuel’s birth, his father died, so in 1839 his mother gathered her brood of children and came down the Ohio River, then to Jonesboro, where she settled permanently and purchased a lot on August 15, 1840 from John McIntosh, Lot #5 in his addition to the town of Jonesboro. Her children were all educated in Maryland and Jonesboro. Her three oldest children, Hiram, Daniel and Catherine were all married in Jonesboro before 1842.
In the 1840 census, which lists no names other than the head of household, Samuel’s mother, Susanna, was living in Jonesboro in Union County, Illinois with 2 girls, Allison and Rebecca, three sons, 5 to 9 years of age, and 2 boys under 5 years. Hiram, Daniel, Catherine and Abraham appear to have already left home.
Her son Abraham apprenticed himself to a tanner at an early age and in spring, summer and fall worked in his trade, finishing his schooling in the winter months. He opened his own tannery on the Ohio River in Pulaski County around 1848, married Sophie Miller in 1849 and raised nine children in that county.
By the 1850 federal census, there were just five children left at home, Allison, Rebecca, Ephraim, Levi and Samuel. Samuel had a lot of brothers around most of the time to take the place of the father he never knew. After his mother died in 1855 in Jonesboro, he met and married Eunice Gorham in April 1858. She was one of six daughters of Stephen A. Gorham of New York.
Samuel Cover was shown in Grand Jury papers of Jonesboro Illinois on Saturday, May 19th to be indicted for assault to do bodily injury. He was given bail in the sum of $200.00 and caused a continuance. On the same day, Daniel Cover, his brother, was indicted for selling whiskey. Bail ordered in the sum of $50.00 each instance and cause continuance.
Samuel and Eunice expected to settle in Jonesboro and raise a family but there were so many rumors of war they decided to wait awhile. Soon the rumors turned into reality and Samuel, at the age of 28 years, enlisted in September of 1862 into Company C of the 128th Illinois Infantry. He was 5’ 8½” tall, black hair, blue eyes, had a fair complexion and his occupation was listed as a saddler. The 128th was disbanded after only 6 months because so many men were ill or deserted. They went from over 800 men down to 161 men in just a few months. Those soldiers that were left over were transferred to other units.
Samuel was transferred to the 9th Regiment Illinois Infantry. He went in as a commissary sergeant and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant RQM (Quarter Master) for the 9th Regiment Illinois Infantry. He saw duty in the battle of Decatur, July 1864; and was with the 4th Division 15th Army Corps with Sherman’s March to the Sea in November and December 1864. In this last march he spent almost 33 continuous days in the saddle with hardly a let up of the rain and wetness which were to take their toll. He came down with rheumatoid arthritis and suffered with it the rest of his life.
He mustered out in July of 1865 and came home to settle down in Marion. His first son Joseph was born in Marion, Illinois in 1866 where he was made Postmaster of Marion on December 20th 1866.
In 1868, Samuel became a member of the Board of Trustees for the city of Marion under Marion President Robert M. Hundley.
The following year, on the first day of January, 1869, Samuel became embroiled in an argument with Phillip Thompson Corder, a Confederate veteran. The difficulty arose about a difficulty between Cover and a brother of Corder’s. Corder was striking at Cover with brass knuckles, when he was shot and killed. Cover was then put in jail to keep him from being mobbed. He was tried and acquitted with the ruling of self-defense. Phillip T. Corder (1839-1869) was buried in the old Marion Cemetery and had served with Company G of the 15th Tennessee Infantry.
Soon after that Sam and his family left Marion and settled in Grand Tower. Here his daughter, Musa Percy Cover, was born in 1875.
In a December 13, 1877, Marion paper the following notice appeared, “Sam Cover of Grand Tower killed a man at that place Saturday and fled the country.” No other evidence to corroborate the story was found.
In the 1880 census, Samuel and Eunice were living in Grand Tower, Jackson County, Illinois with children, Joe and Musa. Another son Burle Cover was born in 1881 while in Grand Tower.
Samuel was a saddler by trade, also a painter and a store and hotel keeper. In May of 1882 they left Illinois to settle across the river in Crystal City, Missouri where they stayed seven years. They then moved on to DeSoto, Missouri and ran a boarding house at 606 North Main Street right next to the railroad yards. His daughter Musa helped with the boarding house and when Arthur Politte went to work for the railroad, he stayed at their boarding house and that’s how he met Musa Cover, his future wife.
After nine years in this locality, Samuel’s wife of forty years passed away. Samuel had been sick for a good many years and his wife was his mainstay in running the boarding house. After she passed away, he gave it up. We have been unable to find any trace of him after 1898 and assume he passed away shortly after his wife in DeSoto, Missouri.
The obituary for his wife is as follows:
“Died: Mrs. Samuel Cover at her home in DeSoto on April 3, at 2:15 am. Eunice Gorham was born April 1840, and was married to Samuel Cover April 18, 1858. She united with the Christian Church on July 31, 1887. She was a faithful Christian, a devoted wife and a loving mother and sister.” Weekly Facts April 7, 1898, DeSoto, Missouri
“Mrs. Cover left a husband, three children, two boys and one daughter, and three sisters to mourn her loss. Her remains were buried at the Christian Church on April 4th. The funeral was conducted by Elder C.F. Trimble of Columbus, Missouri. Relatives in attendance from a distance were: J.B. Kuykendall and Mrs. J.B. Kuykendall (sister) from Vienna, Illinois; Mrs. N.B. Jinnette (sister) from Vienna, Illinois; Mrs. Thomas Mattingly (sister) from Miami, Missouri; and Burle Cover (son) from Booneville, Missouri.”
“Mrs. Cover, mother of Joseph Cover, died at her home in DeSoto after a short illness. Mrs. Cover lived at Crystal City and was a member of the Christian Church of this place (Festus) for several years. She was a very estimable lady loved and respected by all who knew her. We extend our sympathy to the bereaved husband and children.” Festus News April 7, 1898
Notes on Samuel’s Siblings:
Samuel’s sister, Catherine Cover, married Henry Miller of North Carolina and he provided a comfortable home for her and their seven children. She became a widow in 1892 and survived in a very pleasant home in Anna, Illinois, blessed with plenty of this world’s goods to make her comfortable the remainder of her life.
His brother, Abraham Cover, was one of the influential and worthy people of Western Saratoga. He was a tanner and a master at his vocation. Along with his tannery, he purchased a large farm about a mile from West Saratoga (a ghost town now). In 1856 he built a steam flour and lumber mill combined, and here he continued in business until 1875. In 1862 he also opened a grocery and notion store in Saratoga Village and did very well with that along with his other projects. In 1875, he moved his mill and store to Tunnel Hill in Johnson County but still kept his residence in Saratoga. His descendants are still in that part of the country. Between building up an empire, he took time out and was among the first to volunteer in the Mexican War. He started out with the rank of corporal in Company F of the 2nd Illinois Infantry. He was honorably discharged in July 1847. In the Civil War he started out on October 1861 as a 1st Lieutenant in the 6th Illinois Cavalry and served until January 1863 when he was discharged by order of the Medical Board because of the disability from rheumatism.
Brother, Hiram Cover, drank so bad his wife divorced him 1856, which was almost unheard of at that time.
Brother, Daniel Cover, was hauled into court several times for selling whiskey in Illinois. He was fined $50.00. He died from repeated debauches of drinking and exposure.
Brother Ephraim Cover was a school teacher.
Samuel and Eunice’s Children:
Joe O.E. Cover was born Apr. 28, 1866 in Marion, Williamson County, Illinois and died Dec. 20, 1915 in Farmington, Missouri. He married Carrie Swink. They had Bessie (1891) and Mary Cover (1895).
Musa Percy Cover was born July 31, 1873 and died Nov. 15, 1915 in Los Angeles, California. She married Arthur P. Politte June 13, 1894 in Jefferson County, Missouri. They had Darlene (1895-1997) and Musa Eunice Politte (1901-1988).
Burle Cover was born July 24, 1881 in Jackson County, Illinois. No other records could be found for him.
(Sources: Events in Egypt, U.S. Census Records, Ancestry Family Trees, The History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois Muster Rolls and Descriptions, Marion Illinois History Preservation web site, compiled by Colleen Norman)