Andrew Jackson Covell was the eldest son of Calvin Townsend Covell and was a leading pioneer and prominent citizen of Whitehall for many years. He was born July 18, 1833 in Ridgebury, Bradford, Pennsylvania. He attended school in his home district and worked on his father’s farm and around the sawmill that his father owned. When he was only 16 or 17 years old, he was sufficiently educated in the mill business that he was able to be head sawyer.
In 1856 he came to the White Lake area, a step of great importance in the history of this region, as it was the means of bringing the whole family of Covells, five sons and three daughters, who were a great service in developing the area. He embarked on the propeller Faust in Chicago bound for Muskegon, put on his blue overalls, and got three dollars for working on the vessel. Bound to do something, he engaged to drive a balky mule, but on the ninth day when the kicking animal took off his hat, he resigned and drew $9.00. Upon finally reaching Whitehall, he engaged in J. P. Brown’s mill, near where the Wilcox mill was. He worked there about a year before he was called home by the illness and death of his mother.
Andrew returned to White Lake in December 1857. He went into business with C. C. Thompson and took the job of logging. In the spring, the firm of Thompson and Covell rented a mill at what was called “the Head” – now Whitehall. They eventually purchased the property and continued to run the mill. After some time, he sold his interest in the mill to his partner and returned to Pennsylvania for a year.
Around 1863, he brought out his brothers Lyman and Charles E. and two others, Seth Baldwin and W. Gonzales. They went to work getting out ties and shingles, living in a log shanty and doing their own housework. He and his brothers formed the firm of A. J. and C. E. Covell, lumbermen.
The next year, A.J. and his brother-in-law Joseph Hinchman bought the interest in the former Thompson and Covell mill, and the firm was reinstated. The business was enlarged and proved very successful doing large amounts of shipping. In the winter of 1867-68 the schooner Maggie Thompson was built for owners Hayward, Thompson and Covell.
He married Eunice Parsons in McHenry, Illinois, Oct. 22, 1867. They had a son Charles Thompson (1869-1940).
In 1868 he left the firm of Thompson & Covell and went to Illinois for two years. Upon his return he actively engaged in the lumber business as the Senior member of the firm A.J. and C. E. Covell.
Andrew Covell was also Superintendent of the Harbor improvements at the mouth of the lake.
Andrew died April 21, 1885 at his home in Whitehall. Shortly after his death, his wife Eunice moved to California where ther son was living and where she died Sept. 13, 1938. A. J. and Eunice are buried in Oakhurst Cemetery in Whitehall.
