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JOHN AND DIANNAH PHILLIPS OF ROWAN COUNTY
Last Revised January 6, 2012
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
Stephen Phillips and Delilah Allred of Randolph County, North Carolina were my
great-great-great-grandparents. Naturally, I searched for the parents of Stephen
Phillips. We knew from the 1850 census that Stephen was born c. 1798 in North
Carolina. For years, the only known record of a Stephen Phillips born anywhere
in North Carolina between the years of 1766 and 1804 was that of a child born to
John and Diannah Phillips of Rowan County. Stephen is the last son, and presumably
the youngest son, named in the will of John Phillips.
Our Stephen was not the son of John and Diannah Phillips of Rowan County, nor
was the Jas. Philips who appears in the 1810 census for Randolph County. After
the death of John Phillips (whose will is dated 8 November 1800), his widow
Diannah Phillips married Asa Messer, on 2 August 1803, in Rowan County.
Asa Messer is found in the 1820 census for Jackson County, Tennessee, listed
consecutively with Stephen Philips and Elijah Philips. On the very next page
is James Philips. These are the three sons of Diannah, named in John's will.
The Last Will and Testament of John Phillips of Rowan County, North Carolina, dated
8 November 1800, admitted to probate August 1801, on file at the State Archives in
Raleigh, North Carolina, names his “beloved wife Diannah” and the following
children, in this order: Thomas Phillips, John Phillips, Gabriel Phillips, Ezra
Phillips, Jonathan Phillips, Robert Phillips, Sarah Buyley, Ruth Spiers, Elizabeth
Perry, Ann Cummins, Rebecah Williams, James Phillips, Elijah Phillips, Stephen
Phillips, and Mary Phillips. Note the sequence of the names. There are two sets
of children. First listed are six boys and five girls, who are the children of
John's first wife. These are followed by three boys and one girl – James, Elijah,
Stephen and Mary – each of whom, it is specifically stated, were under twenty-one
years of age. These are the children of John's second wife, Diannah.
The married name of "Buyley" is misspelled in John's will. Sarah "Sallie" Phillips
married George "Anthony" Bewley (Buley) of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bewley
family records state that the marriage took place in Loudon County, Virginia, and
that they settled in Greene County, Tennessee. This migration route matches that
of the Phillips family. Gabriel Phillips, probable brother of John, was married
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Both Gabriel and John appear recurrently in the
List of Tithables for Loudoun County, Virginia. Two sons of John Phillips, Ezra
and John Jr., were married in Greene County, Tennessee. (More on this below).
John Phillips appears on the List of Tithables for Loudoun County, Virginia, in
1769, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1777, 1778, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784 and 1785.
Transcriptions, in bound books, are at the Virginia State Archives in Richmond.
The John Phillips who died c. 1801 in Rowan County, North Carolina can be
distinguished from the other men named John in the Loudon County Tithables by his
location in Shelburn or Shelburne Parish, and, more importantly, by the appearance
of his first five sons, at various times, in John's household – Thomas in 1771,
1772, and 1773; John Jr. in 1774; Gabriel in 1775; Ezra in 1782; and Jonathan in
1784. This is the same sequence in which the first five sons are listed in John's
will, the conclusion being that they are listed in order of birth.
For an abstract of the Loudoun County Tithables click HERE
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