James Phillips (1759-1831) Bible record

From:-

"History of Henry County, AL" pages 401-403

by Mrs. Marvin Scott

This is a reorganized listing of the Bible of James Phillips and wife, Margaret Holbrook;s Stereatyped Edition - Bible printed and sold By John Holbrook - Battleborough, Vermont, 1816

All events (births, deaths, and marriages) have been reassembled in chronological order by Thomas Hutchison, Jr., with complier notes to clarify any confusing issues.

Births

Margaret Sillivant(Sullivant) [i], the daughter of Davy Sillivant(Sullivant), was born February 20, 1759.

James Phillips, the son of Thomas Phillips, was born August 14, 1759.

Nancy Phillips, the daughter of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born April 17, 1780.

Lewis Phillips, the son of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born April 28, 1782.

Naomi Phillips, the daughter of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born July 14, 1784.

Nathan Phillips, the son of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born December 21, 1786.

Daniel Phillips, the son of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born August 4, 1789.

Wiley Phillips, the son of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born September 19, 1791.

Rhoda Phillips, the daughter of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born December 18, 1793.

Thomas Green Phillips, the son of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born December 27, 1795.

Argin Phillips, the daughter of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, was born July 3, 1798.

Marriages

James Phillips and Margaret Sillivant [i] were married January 21, 1779.

Lewis Phillips and Tabitha Sammewellvat were married March 19, 1807.(son of James Phillips)

James Phillips and Phillis Callaway were married August 7, 1817.

Caty Phillips and Pickerson Parish were married August 15, 1820. (daughter of Lewis Phillips)

Nancy Phillips and John S. Wilson were married April 19, 1832. (daughter of Lewis Phillips)

Palmer R. Phillips[ii] and Mary Martha Gibson [iii] were married July 11, 1839. (son of Lewis Phillips)

Lewis Phillips and Mama Hutcherson were married January 13, 1842.

Deaths

Nancy Phillips, daughter of James Phillips and Margaret, his wife, died Monday morning the 8th of November 1784. She was four years, six months, and twenty-two days old.

Thomas Phillips died January 29, 1782. (father of James Phillips [iv])

David Phillips died June 30, 1802. (this is believed to be the brother of James Phillips)

Margaret Phillips, the wife of James Phillips, died Saturday morning about five o'clock on April 12, 1817. She was fifty-eight years, one month, and twenty-two days old.

James Phillips died March 7, 1830 (I believe this is a transcription error should be 1831, considering the will for James dated February 25, 1831), about 3:30 in the afternoon. He was 72 years of age.

Unknown

The following names below have yet to be identified as to where they fit into the James Phillips family:

Dr. R.L. Phillips b. December 3, 1822, d. March 20, 1915; m Martha J. Chambers on February 20, 1859.

W. M. Phillips b. July 16, 1840, d. January 13, 1901; m Lucy P. Harris on September 28, 1866. She was b. August 18, 1834, d. November 9, 1937.

Robert C. Phillips b. July 18, 1867, d. September 24, 1946; m Anna Ora Phillips b. March 12 1870, d. December 23 1939.

Abraham Phillips b. 1820 in Ga. Sarah b. 1820 in Ala. Henry Co., William b. 1840 in Ala., Mary E. b. 1845 in Ala.: Fanny b. 1847 in Ala., Joseph T. b. 1848 in Ala., Martha b. 1850 in Ala.

Wilder Phillips b. 1823 in Fla. CHRISTIAN b. 1830 in Ga., Elizabeth b. 1842 in Ala., Henry Co., Lucy A. b. 1843 in Ala., Allen J. b. 1845 in Ala. James A. b. 1848 in Ala.

References

[i] There seems to have been quite a bit of confusion of the spelling of Margaret's last name. Some references refer to her last name as Sullivant. In a letter from James McCallay, II(son of William and Susan (nee. Fish) McCallay) to his son Nathan E. McCallay, he referred to her as Margaret Swettwant . James McCallay,II was the grandson of Naomi Phillips and Nathan Fish. Nathan had requested this information from his father and James McCallay replied on August 7, 1890. Personally, I have to agree with Claudine Dollar’s statements in her book that James McCallay more than likely copied the information out of his Great Grandfather James Phillips's Bible. However, he must have made an error on interpreting how her name was spelled. Sullivant or Swillivant are the two most likely choices I would make from my research of the James Phillips Family. The James Phillips Bible burned in a house fire at the turn of the century, i.e. about 1900. According to the will of James Phillips, the bible went to the hands of his son Lewis Phillips.

[ii] Palmer R. Phillips is possibly a transcription error as his name was Parmer R. Phillips.

[iii] James Sessions bible record states Parmer Phillips married Mary Martha Sessions daughter of Argin Phillips and James Sessions, making Mary Martha a 1st cousin to Parmer R. Phillips. Two possibilities exist (1) Mary Martha was a Gibson and adopted by James and Argin Sessions, perhaps a daughter of James Sessions sister if she married a Gibson. (2)The James Phillips family was trying to hide the fact that Parmer and Mary Martha were 1st cousins marrying. Parmer R. Phillips did move from Jasper Co., GA to Tallapoosa Co., AL and resided next door to his Aunt Argin and Uncle James Sessions. This would be a strong indication that Mary Martha was somehow tied to the James Sessions family.

[iv] Thomas Phillips death date notes: The date of 1782 seems to be another transcription error. The Thomas Phillips who most Phillips researchers believe is the father of James Phillips had a will dated 1791, listing his son James Phillips as one of the executors. James Phillips came to Open Court as an Executor of his father’s will on March 17, l792. The James Sessions Bible Record does confirm that James Phillips was the son of a Thomas Phillips as it so states, “James Phillips - son of Thomas Phillips born Aug 16, 1759.” The birth date of James is off by 2 days which is probably attributed to memory of the recorder of the information in the James Sessions Bible.

Lineage submitted: Phillips DNA Family Group 5