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    THE COVINGTON WOOLEN MILLS

    THE COVINGTON WOOLEN MILLS, which are owned and operated by W. J. and C .E. Lewis, is the leading Industry of Covington, and was established in about 1850 by William VanGorden, the mill which then stood on the site of the present mills having burned in 1852.

    Alfred J. Lewis, father. of W. T. and C. E., was born near Richmond, Indiana, reared in Hillsboro, and in January, 1865, came with his stepfather, Samuel Nixon, a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Covington and purchased the Covington Mills, which have since that time been owned and operated by the Lewis family. Alfred J. Lewis married Barbara Ruppert, a native of Bavaria, Germany, who came to this country when eight years old with her parents, who located on a farm near Pleasant Hill, Miami County, Ohio. Two children blessed their union: W. J. and C. E. Lewis, proprietors of the Covington Woolen Mills, both of whom were born in the house now occupied by W. J. Lewis. Mrs. Lewis died September 5, 1908. W. J. Lewis married Susie Grove and has two children, Alfred J. and Ruth M. C. E. Lewis was united in marriage with Carry Byrd and their union resulted in the birth of two children, Waldo and Helen Jeanette.

    After the death of their father, W. J. and C. E. Lewis, then aged seventeen and fifteen respectively, took charge of the mills, which they have since that time operated with uninterrupted success. They employ an average of fifteen hands and make a specialty of all fine wool blankets, the quality and durability of their goods finding them a ready market all over the United States.

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