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, which 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. It is specifically stated that Mary, James, Elijah and Stephen were under twenty-one years of age. NOTE: In his will, John Phillips names "my beloved wife Diannah Phillips and my friend Lewis Hicks" as Executrix and Executor of his estate. Web postings assigning the maiden name of Hicks to Diannah Phillips are unproven and inappropriate. If Lewis Hicks was related by marriage to John Phillips, he likely would have said so. NOTE: The married name of Sarah Buyley is misspelled. 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, brother of John, was married in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Both Gabriel and John appear recurrently in the Loudoun County, Virginia Tithables. Two sons of John Phillips, Ezra and John Jr., were married in Greene County, Tennessee.
