Hayden Covington was born in Hopkins County, Texas, in 1911. Around the time that he was studying for his law degree, he became involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses. He defended some Witnesses in the San Antonio area and was eventually invited by the Witness leadership to New York. He joined the organization's legal counsel in 1939 and served until 1963. In that time as the Witnesses' attorney, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court, and he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. Later in his career Covington assisted prize-fighter Muhammad Ali in obtaining a draft exemption as a Muslim minister.
- www.firstamendmentcenter.org
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Covington was attracted to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and impressed by the dedication and character of the members, defending several of them in Texas courts prior to formally joining the group himself. His first exposure to their teachings was through listening to the broadcast sermons of Watch Tower Society President Joseph F. Rutherford on radio station KTSA in San Antonio.
Word of Covington's successes in defending the Witnesses reached the New York headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, and he was asked by President Rutherford to join him in representing the Society on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was then invited to join headquarters staff as general counsel in 1939, succeeding Olin R. Moyle, who had been ousted that year in a dispute with Rutherford over Rutherford's alleged heavy drinking and cursing.
When Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Covington. Honoring Rutherford's deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the Watch Tower Society succeeding the newly elected President, Nathan H. Knorr, despite having been a Jehovah's Witnesses for only five years. Throughout most of its history, appointment to the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society, and thus by implication to the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses, has been limited to those professing to be of the "anointed class" within the group; the "spirit begotten" sons of God who would "rule as Kings" in heaven with Christ. To date, the one exception has been Hayden C. Covington. A subsequent policy change resulted in Covington's resignation from the Vice Presidency and departure from the board in 1945, although remaining on staff as legal counsel.
In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history. During his tenure as the head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court; he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. He eventually resigned as Head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, April 26, 2010
__________________________________________________________
Additional Watchtower History can be seen at:
pastorrussell.blogspot.com and http://www.jw.org/en
- www.firstamendmentcenter.org
___________________________________________________________
Covington was attracted to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and impressed by the dedication and character of the members, defending several of them in Texas courts prior to formally joining the group himself. His first exposure to their teachings was through listening to the broadcast sermons of Watch Tower Society President Joseph F. Rutherford on radio station KTSA in San Antonio.
Word of Covington's successes in defending the Witnesses reached the New York headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, and he was asked by President Rutherford to join him in representing the Society on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was then invited to join headquarters staff as general counsel in 1939, succeeding Olin R. Moyle, who had been ousted that year in a dispute with Rutherford over Rutherford's alleged heavy drinking and cursing.
When Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Covington. Honoring Rutherford's deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the Watch Tower Society succeeding the newly elected President, Nathan H. Knorr, despite having been a Jehovah's Witnesses for only five years. Throughout most of its history, appointment to the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society, and thus by implication to the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses, has been limited to those professing to be of the "anointed class" within the group; the "spirit begotten" sons of God who would "rule as Kings" in heaven with Christ. To date, the one exception has been Hayden C. Covington. A subsequent policy change resulted in Covington's resignation from the Vice Presidency and departure from the board in 1945, although remaining on staff as legal counsel.
In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history. During his tenure as the head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court; he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. He eventually resigned as Head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, April 26, 2010
__________________________________________________________
Additional Watchtower History can be seen at:
pastorrussell.blogspot.com and http://www.jw.org/en
Hayden Covington was born in Hopkins County, Texas, in 1911. Around the time that he was studying for his law degree, he became involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses. He defended some Witnesses in the San Antonio area and was eventually invited by the Witness leadership to New York. He joined the organization's legal counsel in 1939 and served until 1963. In that time as the Witnesses' attorney, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court, and he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. Later in his career Covington assisted prize-fighter Muhammad Ali in obtaining a draft exemption as a Muslim minister.
- www.firstamendmentcenter.org
___________________________________________________________
Covington was attracted to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and impressed by the dedication and character of the members, defending several of them in Texas courts prior to formally joining the group himself. His first exposure to their teachings was through listening to the broadcast sermons of Watch Tower Society President Joseph F. Rutherford on radio station KTSA in San Antonio.
Word of Covington's successes in defending the Witnesses reached the New York headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, and he was asked by President Rutherford to join him in representing the Society on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was then invited to join headquarters staff as general counsel in 1939, succeeding Olin R. Moyle, who had been ousted that year in a dispute with Rutherford over Rutherford's alleged heavy drinking and cursing.
When Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Covington. Honoring Rutherford's deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the Watch Tower Society succeeding the newly elected President, Nathan H. Knorr, despite having been a Jehovah's Witnesses for only five years. Throughout most of its history, appointment to the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society, and thus by implication to the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses, has been limited to those professing to be of the "anointed class" within the group; the "spirit begotten" sons of God who would "rule as Kings" in heaven with Christ. To date, the one exception has been Hayden C. Covington. A subsequent policy change resulted in Covington's resignation from the Vice Presidency and departure from the board in 1945, although remaining on staff as legal counsel.
In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history. During his tenure as the head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court; he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. He eventually resigned as Head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, April 26, 2010
__________________________________________________________
Additional Watchtower History can be seen at:
pastorrussell.blogspot.com and http://www.jw.org/en
- www.firstamendmentcenter.org
___________________________________________________________
Covington was attracted to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and impressed by the dedication and character of the members, defending several of them in Texas courts prior to formally joining the group himself. His first exposure to their teachings was through listening to the broadcast sermons of Watch Tower Society President Joseph F. Rutherford on radio station KTSA in San Antonio.
Word of Covington's successes in defending the Witnesses reached the New York headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, and he was asked by President Rutherford to join him in representing the Society on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was then invited to join headquarters staff as general counsel in 1939, succeeding Olin R. Moyle, who had been ousted that year in a dispute with Rutherford over Rutherford's alleged heavy drinking and cursing.
When Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Covington. Honoring Rutherford's deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the Watch Tower Society succeeding the newly elected President, Nathan H. Knorr, despite having been a Jehovah's Witnesses for only five years. Throughout most of its history, appointment to the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society, and thus by implication to the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses, has been limited to those professing to be of the "anointed class" within the group; the "spirit begotten" sons of God who would "rule as Kings" in heaven with Christ. To date, the one exception has been Hayden C. Covington. A subsequent policy change resulted in Covington's resignation from the Vice Presidency and departure from the board in 1945, although remaining on staff as legal counsel.
In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history. During his tenure as the head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court; he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. He eventually resigned as Head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, April 26, 2010
__________________________________________________________
Additional Watchtower History can be seen at:
pastorrussell.blogspot.com and http://www.jw.org/en
Gravesite Details
Covington's role as lawyer for the Jehovah's Witnesses is recounted in Shawn Francis Peters' Judging Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution (2002).
Family Members
Children
