Deed to John Philips' Original Farm

c:" .., (13 ~ ~ Phillirs Familj Historj ~ ~ ~ ~ .. 4 ~ A Brief History of the Phillips Family, beginning with the emigration from Wales, and a detailed genealogy of ~ the descendants of John and Benjamin Philips, ~ ~ pioneer citizens of Wilson County, Tenn. ~ D □ ~ by ~ HARRY PHILLIPS WATERTOWN, TENN. ~ A member of the eighth generation ~ ~ 1935 ~ ~ ~ Published by THE LEBANON DEMOCRAT, Inc. ~ Lebanon, Tennessee ~ ~ t::I C ~ Copywright, 1935 By Harry Phillips TO THE MEMORY OF Jlurhiu i\.lnuin Jltillips A Christian Gentleman. Grand father of the Author This Volume Is Reverently Dedicated. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I _______________ ---··- ____ Joseph Philips and His Valiant Sons CHAPTER II ________________________________________ Rev. David Philips CHAPTER III ____________ John and Benjamin Philips, Tennessee Pioneers CHAPTER IV ___________________________________________ Joseph Philips CHAPTER V --------------- _____________________________ .William Philips CHAPTER VI ____________________________________________ David Philips CHAPTER VII ______________________ David Phillips III, Confederate Hero CHAPTER VIII ____________________ Rachel Philips (Mrs. AI1chamack Bass) CHAPTER IX ---------------··----- ___________________ ,____ Josiah Philips CHAPTER X __________________________ Sarah Philips (Mrs. John Oakley) CHAPTER XI ____________ Margaret Ann Philips (Mrs. David Grandstaff) CHAPTER XII ---------··-------·-----------------------Benjamin Philips CHAPTER XIII ____________________ Francina Philips (Mrs. Henry Bass) CHAPTER XIV _______________________ Nancy Philips (Mrs. William Bass) CHAPTER XV _________________________ Martha Philips (Mrs. Cadar Bass) CHAPTER XVI __________________________ Sallie Philips (Mrs. Sion Bass) CHAPTER XVII _________________________________________ Thomas Philips CHAPTER XVIII ___________________ Polly Philips (Mrs. Nicholas Cassetty) CHAPTER XIX _______________________________________________ Postlude INTRODUCTION The inspiration for this volume was a birthday dinner held in honor of a great-unc!e of the author, David Brandon Phillips, now deceased, o'n Au gust 1, 1933. The original plan was to compile a brief genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Phillips, great-grandfather of the author, and to publish it in pam phlet form. Investigation in gathering data for this line uncovered inter esting facts which induced the writer to go back another generation; further discoveries successfully tempted him to include still another, and finally the plan of this volume was adopted: To give a history of the Phi:lips Family from the emigration from Wales to the present, and to compile a genealogy of the descendants of John and Benjamin Philips, Tennessee pioneers. It would be an enormous undertaking, but a fascinating one, to carry the gene alogy back two generations further, and include all of the descendants of Jo seph Phi:ips, who probably number over 20,000. Nineteen months have been spent in gathering data for this book and in the preparation of the manuscript. Every available source of information has been exhausted, including: Deed, wills and inventories, marriage, Circuit Court, Chancery Court and County Court records of Wi:so'n and Davidson counties, Tennessee; a brief history of the Philips family compiled after the Philips reunion at Vincent Baptist church, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1877; D. A. R. Lineag·e Books; History of Washington County, Pennsylvania; History of Chester County, Pennsylvania; war records of the War Between the States and the War of 1812 in the Tennessee State Library; various edi tions of Tennessee History; viar.ious authorities on American genealogy; tombstones in dozens of cemeteries; and personal interviews with older mem· bers of the respective branchea of the family. The author has written 287 personal letters and sent 1,084 form ;,etters, as well as 487 postal cards. The material for biographies of living members has been collected by mailing out over 1,300 questionnaires to aU heads of families. Every plausible effort has been expended to make the genealogy accu rate and complete, and to eliminate errors in names and dates. The biographies were dictated direct from the questionnaires, and the manuscript carefully revised and re-checked. Three proof-readings have been given evel{y chapter of the book. However, many questionnaires have never been returned, and the information pertaining to some of the branches of the family is therefore necessarily curtailed. Other questionnaires were re turned with essential information lacking, and consequently many dates and names are omitted which should have been included; other questionnaires were filled out with pencil, in handwrliting which the author had great dif- 2 PHILLIPS FAMILY HISTORY fi.culty in deciphering, and some errors may be attributed to this fact; also, in spite of the earnest request of the author that no member of the family be modest in relating his own accomplishments, many descendants failed to nar rate personal honors and achievements, and, no doubt, the biographies of a number of distinguished members of the present generation do not include important facts of this nature. To compile the vast number of names and dates included in the gene alogy with perfect accuracy would be almost a physicial impossibi:ity, and for any errors which may have been made the author offers sincere apologies. The 1·espective generations are classified at the beginning of each para g:daph by outline, for the convenience of the reader. The fourteen branches of the genealogy are divided by chapters. The first generation under each branch is classified by Roma:v numera:s "I", "II", ete·.·;· the next bly capital letters, "A", "B", etc.; the next by Arabian numerals, "1", "2", etc., and on through "a", "(1)", and "(a)" respectively. An alphabetical index is given at the end of the book. Photographs of the members of the early generations are not to be found and economy has required that few pictur/es of any kind be used in the pub lication. The author has written and published the volume on an economical basis, in order that copies may be conveniently available to ev:ery member of the family. The writer gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following: L. A. Phillips of Nashville, who furnished a copy of the minutes of the reunion of 1877, which is the basis of much of the early historical data hlcluded in this book, and who gave inV'aluab:e assistance in furnishing leads on many branches of the family; Miss Julia Frances P'hil:ips of Watertown for assis tance in compiling the David Grandstaff line; Mrs. Charles Phillips of No rene for aid on David Phillips' line; Mrs. George Courtney of Brush Creek for aid on the Nathan Ph1llips' line; and to the dozens of other members of the family who responded generously with information concer;ning the re spective branches. HARRY PHILLIPS. Watertown, Tennessee April 1, 1935. Chapte1" I JOSEPH PHILIPS AND HIS VALIANT SONS It was in Wales, rugged little province of the British Isles, that Joseph Philips was born and reared. A good place to grow men is Wales. On her barren hillsides and in her secluded valleys, a brave and hardy race has lived since a day earlier th;m the history of man is recorded; a race of tena,cious people, thrifty, sturdy and industrious. For ages the Welsh resisted each successive attempt to invade their country and subject the inhabitants, and even today, although for seven cen turies a principality of the British Empire, in Ip.any localities they still cling to their native tongue and customs. Even the might of the Roman Empire was futile in its effort to subject this little country, although the Romans dominated the rest of Great B,ritain for over four hundred years; during the period of Roman domination, Wales remained a haven of refuge to the na tives and their Celtic kinsmen who fled there from other parts of the island. After the Romans abandoned the island in 408 A. D., England was over Tun with savage Picts and Scotts from the North, but again Wales was im pregnable. Then: came barbarous tribes from Continental Europe-the Jutes, Angles and Saxons, and although these fierce warriors subdued the Britons, they were unable to pierce the dogged little country to the West. For 600 years following the Anglo-Saxon invasion, English princes sought vainly to overcome their Celtic neighbors. William the Conqueror subdued England after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but the Welsh contin ued to resist him. The mighty. William' in'vaded the tiny province and com pelled the Welsh princes to do him homage, but the natives continued in vir tual independence. William and his successors made repeated attempts to break the spirit of the tenacious pe'ople, and Henry I, Henry II, Richard I, John and Henry III all made various attempts to reduce the Welsh to sub.1 m1ss10n. Llewellyn, a Welsh prince, rebelled against Edward I in the thir teenth century but Edward was finally able to annex the stubborn country to his domain. Edward I created for his eldest son the title "Prince of Wales " and since that time the successor to the. British throne has been so known'. Even though under the intimate influence of England, the Welsh have in many respects preserved their .. mother tongue and customs even to the pres ent day. The race is very fond of music and poetry, and the language is 3 4 PHILLIPS FAMILY HISTORY said to be peculiarly adapted to poetic harmony and rhythm. It was from this stock of hardy people that Joseph Philips was descend ed, and it was in this land of legend that he was borµ and reared. He was born in 1716. Of his birthplace and early life we know nothing. However, it is recorded ·that his eldest son, David, was born in Pembrokeshire, so it is probable that the father was born and reared in that section of Southern Wales. It is also known that Joseph Philips was a weaver after he immi grated to America, so it is logical to presume that he learned this trade in boyhood and practiced it during the years he lived in the old country.

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