Lieut. Silas Covell

1753 – 1820

Washington Crossing The Delaware

Silas was born in Pomfret, Connecticut to Stephen Covell and Elizabeth Givens in 1753. He married Rebecca Thurber (1749-1830) on March 6, 1783 in Providence, Rhode Island.

He was a merchant in Providence, Rhode Island. On 30 Aug 1792 the family started for Troy, NY. They had received letters of recommendation from the first Baptist Church of Providence.

The passage from Providence was made in a sloop of which Capt. Anthony was master and John Kinnecut the mate. On arriving at Albany, the emigrants and their effects were transferred to a bateau which was at Albany from Waterford awaiting a load up the river.

In Troy, Silas carried on the business of a merchant in company with his brother Benjamin, under the firm name of Benjamin & Silas Covell. There is a handsome monument to their memory in Troy.

According to family history, Silas was a corporal at West Point, under General Washington, and as attested by his son Stephen and also by Stephen’s children, he crossed the Delaware in the boat with General George Washington.

He died in Troy, New York on December 26, 1820 at the age of 67.

NOTE: Death notice for Covell was published in The Troy Post on January 2, 1821.