The Life and Times of William (Abt. 1785 – ?) and Sarah Phillips (1788 – 1877)

2024 update – it’s fun to re-read what I was thinking at different points in time. I can say I’ve done enough research that I think I have a better story for what all William and Sarah did in their lives! Based on the FAN club research, I believe William was probably born closer to 1785 than 1787 as you had to be 21 or order to sign the petition to create Warren County, Tennessee in 1806. Based on peers that also moved from Warren County, Tennessee to Shelby County, Alabama, this looks to be a normal occurrence, with some peers even moving to St Clair around the same time!

William and Sarah have been the focus of my research for the better part of a decade 2 decades. My eldest confirmed grandfather is Joseph F Phillips (Born 1820). We have confirmed through DNA that John Phillips (Born Abt. 1817) was a likely brother to Joseph F. Phillips. As mentioned in my other blog posts, we can limit the number of possible fathers to 2: William and one other Phillips family. We can feel fairly confident William is the likely father to Joseph.

St Clair/Blount County Records

William appears to be a land/farm developer where he would take raw land, build it up to a working farm and sell it.

William is living in Blount County in 1850,

and St Clair County in1830,

The 1830 US Federal Census has a William Phillips who is between 40 – 49 years of age. William has 1 male under 5, 1 male 5-10, 2 males 10-15, and 2 males 15-20. There are 2 females under 5, 1 female 5 to 10, 1 female 15 to 20, and 1 female 50 to 60 (Sarah). Sarah would be 42, so I think one of the kids was interviewed for this or the census taker got the wrong column.

1840, and

In the 1840 US Federal Census, we find William living in St Clair County. He is living next door to his likely son John (married Dorcas Crawford). William has 1 male between 10 and 15, and he is listed as 60 to 70. There are 2 females between 5 to 10, 2 females between 10 and 15, 1 female between 15 and 20, and Sarah (Female 50 to 60). We can verify William Carrol Phillips was born about 1826, which would put him at 14 years old. Based on the 1830 census, there should be one more male, but they appear to have died or a cousin was living in William’s home in 1830. We know Milberry was born in 1834 (6 years old), Rachel was born in 1832 (8 years old), Elizabeth in 1827 (13 years old) , and Charity was born in 1822 (18 years old). Based on this, there is one unknown female born in around 1829 that does not appear to survive past 1850.

1860

according to the US census. William is living in Blount County in 1855 according to the Alabama state census.

The last record of William is the 1860 census – he is living next door to his likely son James (married Dorcas Crawford). He’s living with Charity, Millbury, and Elizabeth, as well as his wife Sarah. He notes his birthplace as Georgia, and he owns no real estate but has about $110 in personal property. It appears that he is living on his son James’ land, which is valued at $1,000.

In 1855, William is located in Blount County.

There are 5 individuals in the home – 1 male over 21 (William), 1 female over 21 (Sarah) and 3 women under 21 (Charity, Millbury, and Elizabeth). It looks like William moved to Blount County in 1850, because the family is noted in the 1850 census, with the addition of Rachel Phillips (Abt. 1832 – ) and Carrol (Abt. 1826 – ).

Further research should go into learning the fate of Rachel.

It appears that (Thomas) Carrol marries Martha Ellen Reid (Abt. 1827 – ) in 1851, so it makes sense he would not be in the household in 1855. The only other record I have of William in Blount county is on 6 Dec 1853 when he pays for the marriage bond for William C. Phillips, his grandchild through Zach.

William is a bit easier to track in St Clair. William Phillips starts showing up in probate records starting in January 1828. His first record is an order to appraise neighbor Burwell Green’s estate with other neighbors Vinyard Crawford and William Montgomery.

In the 1830s, William is called up and interacts with the court system many times, including paying for using George Hardwicks’s land and repaying a debt to C. A. Green.

On 11 Jan 1840, I have found a deed record between Silas Crump and A & AW Byers, where William and Joseph both witness a deed. Joseph would be the eldest male in the house and would marry his wife Anna Copeland later that year. This is the earliest record that puts any connection between William and Joseph – at the least they were aware of each other.

The earliest record associated with William is for the west 1/2 of the southeast 1/4 of section 15, Township 13, range 3 east. It was originally purchased in 1819 by Andrew Greer, but it is assigned to Burwell Green and later assigned to William Phillips.

Land Records

My understanding is that you would live on the land a few years before you got a patent, allowing farmers to be sure they got good land before paying for it. This land was purchased under the Relief Act of 1821 rules, allowing people to purchase in 80 acre increments at a reduced price. Receiving a patent in 1831 would mean that William was could have been living on that land in 1828, when William appears in the probate records.

We know this is our William because his wife Sarah gives up her dower to sell the land.

Shelby County Connection

Beyond January 1828, we find ourselves running into road blocks. We know both Joseph and John are born in Alabama, according to the census records after 1850. Assuming John was correct on his birthplace, we can put the family moving to Alabama in 1817. While we do have the 1820 Alabama census, the counties that survive are just a portion of the whole state.

William purchased the west half of the southeast quarter of section 15, township 13 south, range 2 east – his patent was granted on 1 Nov 1832. Land was purchased after the family was able to use the land/improve the land – so likely he was living on this parcel when he is first mentioned in the St Clair County probate records (Jan 1828).

Per later census records, we know that Thomas Carrol was born in 1826 in Alabama, and Charity was born in Alabama 18 Feb 1822. Joseph and John we also born in Alabama, Joseph in 1820 and John in 1817. The only other likely child of William and Sarah is James, who is born in Tennessee. It appears that William and Sarah likely were in Alabama by at least 1817, likely 1816 or 1815.

According to the Alabama 1820 census, there are 15 Phillips or Philips families in Alabama. There are also many other Phillips/Philips in Alabama by 1830 according to land records. Future research should focus on proving these other Phillips’ were unlikely to be Joseph and John’s parents. In the meanwhile, we have narrowed down the likely father to William, who is living in Shelby County in 1820.

William purchased the east 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Section 28, Township 18 south, Range 1 west on 16 January 1822. He received the patent for this land on 28 Apr 1824. I have never found the deed selling this land – future research should run the land backwards to see if it can be found that way.

Probate records show William was called up for Jury duty on 31 Aug 1819 in Shelby County, Alabama.

Further research should focus on the Alabama territory records or other early records to narrow down when William likely moved to Shelby County.

Warren County, Tennessee Connection

Prior to John’s birth in 1817, there’s little to nothing in Alabama that references William. This would have been Alabama territory/Mississippi territory times, so records would necessarily be harder to find.

By pure luck, I found grandmother Sarah’s gravestone, as well as her daughters Milberry, Charity and Elizabeth! They were buried in Smyrna Cemetery – no sign on William’s grave, for the record. Later, I was given a copy of the last will of Charity Barnes, who owned the land they were living on before they passed away. Charity Barnes was likely born Charity Phillips, the sister of William. That has not been proven yet, but does fit with what I have guessed happened.

So, to be living in Alabama in 1860, but be buried in Tennessee in 1877, there has to be a reason to move. I believe the most likely story is that William and Sarah moved to Warren county, Tennessee in around 1808, where they lived until they caught Alabama fever and moved down in 1815 or 1816. Then Sarah moved back when William passed (my assumption) after 1860.

There happens to be a William Phillips in Warren County, Tennessee around that time. The first record shows him purchasing Daniel Middleton’s War Warrant (200 acres) on 25 Aug 1808. William would have been 21 years old at that time – old enough to purchase land (technically anyone could buy/sell, but if you were too young you could get out of a contract by saying you were a minor so sellers would wait until someone was clearly of age!) There are a few land deeds that occur between 1808 and August 1814, the last deed I find for William. William sells 130 acres to Thomas Lowry, who would have been a neighbor at this time. I have not been able to find the release of dower rights, so I can’t confirm it’s William and Sarah, but the timeline does match with the children’s birth years.

William purchases land in 1808, around the following year his son James is born. Zach is born about 1811, and we can determine William likely had 2 more children in around 1813. The last record is in August 1814. The next child is born in 1817 in Shelby County, Alabama. We can assume that they moved between August 1814 and 1816/1817.

I would bet that William and Sarah were married around 1807, likely in Warren County or somewhere close by.

Future research should focus on adding records from the Warren County collection. There are 87 acres that William purchases but I can’t find a sale deed for. Finding dower rights would also be helpful.

One project is to map out Section 41 in the 3rd Surveyor’s District, so I can “track” where William and Sarah would have been living. The land is very close to their ultimate burial location.

At this point, we are left wondering where William and Sarah came from. William and Sarah both claim Georgia as their birth state. Did they make the journey with family? One person claimed that Charity Phillips was forbidden to marry William Barnes, and when they did they moved to Warren County with William and Sarah Phillips.

Only time will tell!