odist church. He labored chiefly in New York and Vermont, and from 1888 till 1841 was princi- pal of the Troy conference academy, West Poult- ney, Vt. He published a " Dictionary of the Bible " (New York).
COVERNTON, Charles William, Canadian
physician, b. in Penton Place, Walworth, London,
England, 13 Aug., 1813. He was educated in
London and at the Abbe Haffrangue's college,
Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. After studying medi-
cine for two years, in 1832 he went to Edinburgh
university, in 1835 was graduated at the Univer-
sity of St, Andrews, and in the same year obtained
the diploma of London college of surgeons. He
arrived in Canada in June, 1836, and accompanied
the militia as surgeon during the rebellion in the
following year. In 1878 he was appointed to a
chair in the faculty of medicine. Trinity college,
Toronto, Li 1882 he was appointed by the gov-
ernment of Ontario a member of the Provincial
board of health, in 1884 became its chairman, and
was present as a delegate of the board at the
4th international congress of hygiene at Geneva,
Switzerland, in 1882, and in October, 1884, at the
convention from state boards at St. Louis, and in
the following December at Washington, D. C.
COVERT, John M., physician, b. in St. Augus-
tine, Fla., 25 July, 1832; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 18
Feb., 1872, He was graduated at Charleston col-
lege, S. C, in 1853, and at South Carolina medical
college in 1855. Soon after taking his medical de-
gree he went to Portsmouth, Va., as a volunteer in
a yellow-fever epidemic, and settled there in the
practice of his profession. He became surgeon of
the 1st Louisiana volunteers m 1861, and was sub-
sequently medical director on Gen. Lee's staff. He
returned to Norfolk after the war, and in 1867
volunteered to go to Galveston, Texas, to combat
the yellow fever. He removed to Brooklyn, N. Y.,
in 1869, and at the time of his death was known in
literary circles there as an excellent belles-lettres
scholar, and the possessor of much poetical talent,
COVINGTON, Leonard, soldier, b. in Aquasco,
Md., 30 Oct., 1768 ; d, in French Mills, N, Y., 14
Nov., 1813. He was commissioned as lieutenant of
cavalry in October, 1792, and joined the army un-
der Gen. Wayne. He distinguished himself at
Fort Recovery, 30 June, 1794, and was honorably
mentioned by his commanding officer in the ac-
count of the battle of the Miami. He was made
captain in July following, but in September, 1795,
resigned his commission, and devoted himself to
agriculture. He served for several years in the
Maryland legislature, and as a member of con-
gress in 1805-'7. In 1809 he was commissioned
lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, colonel a month
later, and brigadier-general in 1813, when he was
ordered to duty on the northern frontier. He was
mortally wounded in the battle of Chrystler's
Field, 11 Nov., 1813, and died two days later.
COVODE, John, congressman, b. in Westmore-
land county, Pa., 17 March, 1808; d. in Harris-
burg, Pa., 11 Jan., 1871. He was of Dutch descent,
spent his early years on a farm, and, after serving
a short apprenticeship to a blacksmith, engaged in
the coal trade. He afterward became a large
woollen manufacturer, and a stockholder and di-
rector in several railroad lines. After two terms
in the legislature, he was elected to congress as an
anti-masonic whig in 1854, and re-elected as a re-
publican in 1856, serving four terms, from 1855 till
1863. In his second term he made a national repu-
tation by his vigor and penetration as chairman
of the special committee appointed to investigate
charges against President Buchanan. His report,
published by order of congress (Washington, 1860),
attracted much attention. He earnestly supported
President Lincoln's administration, being an act-
ive member of the joint committee on the conduct
of the war. President Johnson sent Mr. Covode
south to aid in the reconstruction of the disaffected
states ; but he did not see matters as the president
desired, and was recalled. Mr. Covode was again
elected to congress in 1868, his seat being unsuc-
cessfully contested by his opponent, and was active
in opposing the president. He was chairman of
the republican state committee of Pennsylvania in
1869, and declined a renomination to congress in
1870. He was recognized in his state as a strong
political power. His unthinking impetuosity
made him many bitter enemies, but his honesty
and geniality won him innumerable friends. He
was known as " Honest John Covode."
COWAN, Edgar, senator, b. in Sewickley,
Westmoreland co., Pa., 19 Sept., 1815 ; d. in
Greensburg, Pa., 29 Aug., 1885. He was early
thrown on his own resources, becoming by turns
clerk, boat-builder, school-teacher, and medical
student, but finally entered Franklin college, Ohio,
where he was graduated in 1839. He then stud-
ied law in Greensburg, Pa., and was admitted to
the bar in 1842. In 1861 he was elected to the
U. S. senate by the people's party, and served till
1867, distinguishing himself as a ready and fearless
debater. He was chairman of the committees on
patents, finance, and agriculture, and a member of
that on the judiciary. He was a delegate to the
Union convention at Philadelphia in 1866, and in
January, 1867. was appointed minister to Austria,
but was not confirmed by the senate. At the
close of his term he resumed the practice of law in
Greensburg, Senator Cowan was a man of lai'ge
proportions and great physical strength, being six
feet four inches in height. He published various
speeches and addresses in pamphlet form. — His
son, Frank, author, b. in Greensburg, Pa., 11
Dec, 1844, was educated at Mount Pleasant and
Jefferson colleges, but never graduated. He be-
came secretary of the senate committee on patents
in 1862, read law with his father during the vaca-
tions of congress, and was admitted to the bar in
1865. President Johnson made him one of his
secretaries in 1866, and in 1867 he began the study
of medicine, receiving his degree from George-
town medical college in 1869. He then practised
medicine in Greensburg till 1872, when he estab-
lished a journal called " Frank Cowan's Paper,"
which continued till 1875. He was district attor-
ney of his county in 1878, and in 1880-'81 made a
tour of the globe, entering Corea before the mak-
ing of any of the treaties between that country and
civilized nations, and sent to the U. S. govern-
ment much information about its exports and im-
ports, also making a A^aluable ethnological collec-
tion. He resumed the practice of law in 1882, and
in 1884-'5 made a second tour of the world. Dr.
Cowan is a member of several scientific societies.
He has lectured in various parts of the world on
his travels, and has published " Curious Facts in
the flistory of Insects" (Philadelphia, 1865);
" Zomara ; a Romance of Spain " (Pittsburg,
1873) ; " Southwestern Pennsylvania in Song and
Story" (Greensburg, Pa., 1881); "The City of
the Royal Palm, and other Poems " (Rio de Janerio,
1884) ; besides pamphlets and magazine articles,
including " The Hvidsaerk Inscription of the Falls
of the Potomac " (1866), a hoax, which, although
immediately explained by its author, has found its
way into European books of reference. Dr. Cowaa
has also published musical compositions.
