Onva Phillips

Onva Kaywood Phillips (April 10, 1894 – Jan. 21, 1919) was a Norma man who fought in World War I and was killed in an accident in France just after the war.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born April 10, 1894, Onva K. Phillips was the son of Maynard Harrison Phillips (1874-1925) and Martha Jane Hill (1874-1918). This was a different line of Phillips from Lawrence Phillips and Robert Hughett, grandsons of Jehu Phillips and first cousins who died on the same day in World War I. Onva Phillips’ family dates back to John S. Phillips (1803-1876) and Kissiah Thomas (1803-1888), Onva Phillips’ second-great-grandaprents.

Onva had 11 siblings; he was the oldest of 12 children. His brothers and sisters included: Dewey Josiah Phillips (1899-1924), Willard J. Phillips (1901-1983), Vira L. Sexton (1903-1989), Frank Phillips (1905-1983), Nina Imogene Phillips (1910-1911), Alice L. Phillips (1912-1986), Martin B. Phillips (1921-2010), Maynard Harrison Phillips Jr. (1925-1972) Erma Wanda Walker (1927-2015) and Wilda Phillips.

Following the death of Onva’s mother in 1918, his father remarried to Ida Mae Sexton (1900-1982). Her grandfather, Hiram Sexton, was a Union veteran of the Civil War who died at the Confederate prison camp at Belle Isle in 1864. She was the mother of Martin, Maynard Jr. and Erma.

World War I

Waggoner Phillips enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 18, 1917 at Camp Gordon in Chamblee, Ga. He was assigned to the 114th Field Artillery, 30th Tennessee Division, Supply Company and fought in the battles of St. Mihiel, Argonne Forest and Wouvre. He survived the battle that claimed the lives of several other Scott Countians in October 1918 at the Argonne Forest.

After the war ended, Waggoner Phillips’ regiment was preparing to return home, and was moving from Trondes to Le Mans in France. The train crashed due to a lack of air brakes, and 19 soldiers were killed, including Waggoner Phillips. He died on Jan. 21, 1919.

Aftermath

Phillips’ body was returned to Scott County for burial at the Phillips Cemetery at Norma. The Army informed his mother, Martha Hill Phillips, of her son’s death. She died on Nov. 25, 1918, at age 44, and was also buried at Phillips Cemetery. Onva’s father died in 1925 and was buried there, as well. In 1924, Onva’s 25-year-old brother, Dewey Josiah, was buried at the cemetery. There’s also a stone at the cemetery for their baby sister, Nina Imogene, who died in 1910, but it appears she was buried at Reed Cemetery in New River.