Emanuel Phillips
Emanuel Phillips (Nov. 24, 1813 – Feb. 12, 1864) was a Union soldier from Scott County who died during the Civil War. He may have been one of Scott County’s earliest circuit court clerks, and the man who donated the land where the Town of Huntsville was built. He had two nephews, John R. Phillips and Timothy Phillips, who also died during the war.
See Also: Scott Countians killed in war
Biography
Born Nov. 24, 1813, Emanuel Phillips was the son of Thomas Phillips (1768-1841) and Mary Goad (1770-1840). His siblings included Johnathan Phillips (1800-1893) and Elijah Phillips (1816-1879). His grandfathers were Revolutionary War veterans Tobias Phillips (1750-1808) and Abraham Goad (1740-1816). Tobias Phillips did not move to Scott County, but Abraham Goad did. Thomas and Mary were already married when the move to Scott County took place, though it was before Emanuel was born. Also making the move was Thomas’s 15-year-old brother, Joseph, who married the daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Randolph Lawson. Many members of the Phillips family served in the Civil War, and they were all cousins.
Emanuel married Leanner Sexton (1820-1858) on Feb. 11, 1838. She was the daughter of Timothy Sexton (1783-1850) and Nancy Ellis (1800-1860). They had at least six children: James Phillips (born 1841), Nancy Ann West (1841-1883), Lucy Banks (1844-1942), Martha Ann West (1847-1929), Ephraim Phillips (1849-1939) and Arlene Marcum (1853-1945). According to Paul Roy’s Scott County in the Civil War, other children were Winfield Scott, born 1851, and Emeline, born in 1856.
Following Leanner’s death in 1858, Emanuel married Jinsey Jane Stephens on March 7, 1859.
Professional Life
Emanuel Phillips is said to have been one of Scott County’s first circuit court clerks after the county was formed in 1849. (However, he doesn’t appear on historian Esther Sharp Sanderson’s list in her County Scott and Its Mountain Folk.) He also donated 25 acres of land where the Town of Huntsville is located, after it was chosen as the site for the county seat in 1850.
Civil War
Emanuel Phillips enlisted in the Union army at Chitwood (Winfield) on June 7, 1862, and was assigned to Co. G, 8th Tennessee Volunteers. He died of smallpox at Knoxville, Tenn. on Feb. 12, 1864, and was buried at Knoxville National Cemetery in Grave No. 454.
Emanuel’s son, James Phillips, also served in the Union army. He enlisted on Sept. 29, 1861 and was assigned to Co. E, 12th Kentucky Infantry.
Aftermath
Jinsey Jane remarried to William Carroll on Jan. 2, 1870. In November 1865, Scott County Court named James Phillips as guardian for Emanuel Phillips’ minor children. In April 1866, Scott Phillips was bound to Jefferson Pemberton until he reached the age of 21. The court ordered Pemberton to provide 12 months of schooling, a horse, bridle and saddle worth $100, a cow or heifer worth $10, and pigs worth $5, to keep him “well fed and clothed” and give him two suits of clothes.
(While Paul Roy’s book lists Winfield Scott Phillips as being Emanuel’s son, the 1860 census shows Scott and Emeline living with Elijah Phillips and Margaret Sexton. Elijah was Emanuel’s brother. However, the 1860 census also found Emanuel and his second wife living alone in 1860. And Elijah Phillips didn’t die until 1879.)
Other members of the Phillips family who fought in the Civil War included Abner Phillips (Co. C, East Tennessee National Guard), Abraham Phillips (1st Tennessee Infantry), Fountain Phillips (Co. F, 2nd Tennessee Infantry), Jehu Phillips (Co. A, East Tennessee National Guard), John Phillips (Co. C, East Tennessee National Guard), John R. Phillips (Co. G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry), Josiah Phillips (Home Guard), Levi Phillips (Co. A, East Tennessee National Guard), Riley Phillips (Co. A, 1st Tennessee Infantry Volunteers), Timothy Phillips (Co. G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry), Thomas L. Phillips (Co. C, East Tennessee National Guard), and William Phillips (Co. H, 9th Tennessee Cavalry).
Riley Phillips and Fountain Phillips were brothers, the sons of Jehu Phillips. Jehu was the son of Joseph Phillips and Millie Lawson, and was Emanuel’s first cousin.
John R. Phillips and Timothy Phillips were among the Scott Countians who died in Confederate prison camps after being captured during the Battle of Rogersville on Nov. 6, 1863 as members of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry. They were brothers, the sons of Elijah and Margarett Phillips. They were Emanuel’s nephews.
Abner Phillips was the son of John S. Phillips and Kissiah Thomas. John S. Phillips may have been a brother to Emanuel Phillips, though that cannot be confirmed. If not, he was part of a separate family of Phillips that migrated to Scott County around 1800, which seems unusual. (Abner was buried at Vanderpool Cemetery near New River, which is where the family of Thomas Phillips settled down.) Abner was a brother to Thomas L. Phillips.
Abraham Phillips was the son of Jesse and Nancy Phillips. It’s not clear what his relation was to the rest of the Phillips in Scott County.
John Phillips may be Jonathan Phillips who is buried at Vanderpool Cemetery in Huntsville, but his relationship to the rest of the family is also unknown.
Josiah Phillips was the son of Thomas L. Phillips and Easter (Esther) Terry. He was a grandson of John S. Phillips and Kissiah Thomas, and a nephew to Abner Phillips.
Levi Phillips was a cousin to Emanuel Phillips, though his parents aren’t clear.
Like Abner and and Jonathan, William Phillips is buried at Vanderpool Cemetery. It’s not clear who his parents were.