The Lovelace/Loveless family was reviewed some years earlier, but currently more information has become available on the descendants who lived in Covington County. The earlier column focused on the families of Daniel H. Lovelace and Benjamin B. Lovelace, and today other lines related to Daniel H. will be featured.

Again, it is helpful to clarify the different forms of the name: Lovelace, Loveless, Loveliss and Lovelass. One reference source attempts to define the name as one having no love, but that does not seem appropriate for this family’s heritage. Anyone researching this family must cautiously watch for the different spellings to include all relevant records.

The first Lovelaces to be identified in Covington County appear to have arrived during the early 1850s. Daniel H. Lovelace purchased about 280 acres of land in the Gantt community in 1854 and 1855. With such land holdings he obviously became a large farmer, and in 1860, he owned seven slaves to help with his operations. Daniel was born in 1834 in Hitchcock, Livingston, S.C., and must have come to Alabama with a young family before 1854.

Daniel H. became a leader in his church as he represented the Bethany Missionary Baptist Church in 1859 at the Zion Association meeting. The 1860 census listed him as being 52 years old and having the following individuals in his household: Helen, 35; James M., 25; Menton Jones, 75 (invalid); and Helen Johnson, 12. One would imagine that Helen is a second wife, and that Helen Johnson could be her child by an earlier marriage.

In 1864, a D.R. Loveliss, probably Daniel H. Lovelace, was serving in Company A, Covington County Reserves (First Class) for the Confederate Army. Following the war, he continued to reside in Covington County and was listed as a registered voter in 1867 along with G.W. and J.M. Lovelace. These two appear to be George Washington and James M. who were most likely brothers and maybe the sons of Daniel H.

The date of Daniel H. Lovelace’s death is not known, and no record of him in the 1870 census has been found. The households of the above James M. and George W. were enumerated in the county. Also Elizabeth (Lovelace) and her husband, William Randolph Jones, had come to Covington County about the same time as Daniel H. They purchased land that adjoined that of Daniel H. in 1855, so it appears that she would have been his sister.

In the 1870 census, James M. Lovelace, who was born in 1834 in South Carolina, was 36 years old, and his wife Susan, was 30. They had two children with them at the time, George Ann, 9; and Henry, 3.

Also in the 1870 census, there was a household in the area headed by Caroline Lovelace, who was 24 years old. She had two children with her, Elizabeth, 9; and Mary, 4, and an older lady, Elizabeth Sellers, 62. Elizabeth is most likely Caroline’s mother. One would think that Caroline could be a widowed daughter-in-law of Daniel H., but there are no records to confirm this.

Also enumerated in the 1870 census was the household of George W. Lovelace who is 34 years of age. With him is his wife, Victoria at 24 years of age and one child, Lora A., 1.

The remainder of this writing will focus on the family and descendants of this George Washington Loveless (Lovelace) who was born in 1834 in Hitchcock, Livingston, South Carolina. He appears to have been the son of the above Daniel H. Lovelace, but someone has suggested that he was the son of Buck Lovelace and wife, Victoria (Quatlebumn), from Lexington County, South Carolina. He appears to have come to Covington County during the mid-1850s when Daniel H. and other relatives came.

After arriving in this area, George W. met and married Victoria Dixon, who was born in 1842 in Conecuh County. She was the daughter of Wiley Beauregard and Elsie H. (May), Dixon (1807-1877) and the granddaughter of Jeremiah Dixon (1746-1835) and his wife, Elizabeth (Goff). Jeremiah Dixon, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, was an early and well-known settler in the county.

When the War for Southern Independence erupted, George W. enlisted on April 26, 1861, in the Confederate Army in Montgomery. Another record shows that occurred in Bullock County. He served as a private in Company D, 3rd. Alabama Infantry, called “Southern Rifles.” He was wounded twice with one time being in the Battle of Gettysburg. He was discharged on April 14, 1865, in Atlanta. There is a record on file of his widow applying for a pension based upon his service, which was approved. One of the witnesses of her application was her son-in-law, John D. Garvin.

George W. and Victoria Loveless reared the following children: Letha, m. John Hart; James Wesley, b. 1870, d. 1943, m. 1901 Mary Victoria Burk(e); George; William; Luther D., b. 1882; and Sallie L., b. 1900 John D. Garvin. Not much is known about the children’s families with the exception of James Wesley and Sallie L. Letha and her husband, John Hart, resided in the Florala area.

George W. Loveless acquired 79.95 acres of land in the Patsaliga Township in 1870, but it was later canceled. In 1880, he was listed as residing as a farmer in the Pine Grove community of Escambia County, Alabama. He was 40 years of age, and his wife, Victoria, was 37. They had their first four children by then: Letha, 11; James, 7; George, 3; and William, 7 months. Then in 1900, he homesteaded 159.65 acres in the Blue Pond Township.

In the 1900 census, George W. was listed as residing in the Hart community of Covington County at 65 years of age. With him were his wife, Victoria, 58; and two children: Luther D., 17; and Sallie L., 13. Six years later, in 1906 when he would have been 71, George W. was injured when he was thrown from a mule, which broke three ribs. This incident was reported in The Andalusia Times. It is believed that he died in 1911 at the home of one of his sons, and he was buried in the Bethany Baptist Church Cemetery at Heath in Covington County. His widow, Victoria, shows up in 1920 at 79 years of age in the household of their daughter, Sallie L. and son-in-law, John D. Garvin, in South Carolina.

Sallie L. (Loveless) and John D. Garvin had returned to make their home in that state and to rear their family there, but they visited their relatives regularly in Covington County. Their family was listed in the 1920 census as follows. John D., 44; Sallie L., 33; James, 18; George, 15; Ander, 12; John D. Jr., 9; and Rufus, 7.

By 1930, Victoria, at 89 years of age, is back in this area in the home of her older daughter, Letha and husband, John Hart. They were residing in Laurel Hill of Okaloosa County, Fla.

George W.’s son, James Wesley, is listed as having been born in 1870 in Desoto Parrish, Louisiana.. In 1901, he was married to Mary Victoria Burk(e), daughter of Robert Ferrin and Margaret Elizabeth (Linton) Burk. Mary was born in 1880 in Santa Rosa County, Florida. They lived most of their married lives on a farm on the Brewton Highway, about 12 miles south of Andalusia.

James and Mary reared a large family of children with most of them being daughters: Maggie May, b. 1902, d. 1967, m. Able Marshall Garvin; Mary Esther, b. 1903, d. as infant; Infant boy, b.&d. 1905; Pearl Elizabeth, b. 1906, m. John Russell; Ruby Lee “Babe,” b. 1909, m. (1) ? Hobson (2) Fonsil Powell; Myrtle Lou, b. 1911, d. 1976, m. (1) Odis Clarence Powell (2) Willie Livings (3) Ped Wallace (4) Rusty McLeod; Eva Victoria, b. 1912, m. O. Eugene Crittenden; James Washington, b. 1913, d. 1942 from hit and run truck, single; Aria Ethel, b. 1915, m. (1) Jackson Lewis McGowin (2) Claude McMillan; Daisy Inez, b. 1916, single; Edna Earlene, b. 1919, m. Charles Couch; and Stella V., b. 1922, m. Joe Parham. At his death in 1943, James W. Lovelace was buried in the Carolina Baptist Church Cemetery, located several miles south of Andalusia. Most of his children and families are buried in this cemetery as well.

Although the Loveless name has about disappeared from the area, there are a number of descendants who still reside in Covington County. Some of these served as resources for this writing. Appreciation is expressed to Wade McMillan and his father, Jerry McMillan, of Van, Texas and Mary Wilson and Van Garvin of Andalusia for sharing their family information and records.

Anyone who might have any correction to the above or who might have additional information on these families is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; 334-222-6467; or E-mail: cthomasson@centurytel.net.