Jehu Phillips
Jehu Phillips (1821-1910) was an early elected official in Scott County. He was the first Scott County Trustee after the Civil War, and served in that capacity for six years. In 1904 he wrote a series of articles for the Cumberland Chronicle that provide intimate insight into early Scott County.
Biography
Born Sept. 14, 1821, Jehu Phillips was the son of Joseph Phillips (1787-1881) and Elizabeth “Millie” Lawson (1786-1838) of the Bull Creek area south of Huntsville.
Joseph Phillips moved to Tennessee prior to Jehu’s birth and were among the first permanent settlers of present-day Scott County, though that area was part of Campbell County prior to 1849.
Like many of Scott County’s early settlers, the Phillips family was originally from Virginia, where his paternal grandfather, Tobias Phillips Sr., owned a plantation and was a slaveholder. Jehu Phillips’ paternal grandfather was a Revolutionary War veteran. His maternal grandfather, Randolph Lawson, was also a Revolutionary War veteran. Lawson and two of his brothers who served in the war moved to present-day Scott County afterward. He purchased five acres of land on Paint Rock Creek near Huntsville.
Joseph Phillips moved to present-day Scott County around 1803, when he was about 15. He made the move with his older brother, Tommy Phillips, Tommy’s son, Jonathan Phillips, and Joshua Goad. They settled on what is now known as the Vanderpool Place on New River south of Huntsville.
Joseph Phillips married Millie Lawson, daughter of Randolph Lawson, who lived and operated a grist mill near the mouth of Paint Rock Creek not far from the Vanderpool Place. They were married about 1805. Soon thereafter, Joseph and Millie moved to Bull Creek, a little further south along New River. Jehu was their third child. Writing for the Cumberland Chronicle in 1904, Jehu Phillips stated that a “Reynold Lawson” built the first grist mill in Scott County. This is believed to have been a mistake in his old age; it is likely that he was referring to his grandfather, Randolph Lawson.
Jehu Phillips married Rebecca Sexton (1823-1905), the daughter of Moses Sexton and Leander “Laura” Hatfield, about 1841. Both of her grandfathers, Timothy Sexton Sr. and Joseph Hatfield Sr., were also Revolutionary War veterans.
Jehu and Rebecca had 11 children. Among them: Fountain (1842-1911), Riley (1843-1910), Almira, Melvina, Jane Thomas (1853-1926), Martha Hughett (1868-1955), James, Harvy, Olive, Milla and Caldonia.
Civil War service
Jehu Phillips and two of his sons served in the Union army during the Civil War. Jehu was 42 when he enlisted for 60 days in September 1863. He was quickly promoted to sergeant. He was assigned to Co. C of the 1st East Tennessee National Guard.
Writing for the Cumberland Chronicle in 1904, Phillips said that he and his unit helped clear the roads from Williamsburg, Ky. to Clinton, Tenn. That would have been as part of Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s 12,000-man-strong army that marched through Scott County en route to seize Knoxville from the Confederacy in 1863.
Fountain Phillips was 18 when he enlisted on Oct. 26, 1861. He served until April 24, 1865 and was among the many Union soldiers captured at the Battle of Rogersville, Tenn. in November 1863. He was imprisoned at Bell Isle in Richmond, Va.
Riley Phillips was also 18 when he enlisted on June 1, 1862. He was assigned to Co. A of the 1st Tennessee Infantry Volunteers and served until June 4, 1865. He developed a lung disease while training at Camp Dick Robinson in Kentucky and was granted an invalid’s pension after the war.
See Also: Scott County’s Civil War soldiers
After the war
Surprisingly little is known about Jehu Phillips’ post-war life. However, he served as a Baptist preacher, as Scott County Trustee for six years, a chain carrier, and helped survey Scott County’s original boundary lines in 1849. In 1904 he wrote an article for the Cumberland Chronicle that provided valuable insight into early Scott County.
On Indians in the early days of Scott County: “I can remember seeing Indians in this country. There were two families living up New River near the mouth of Bull Creek and one family lived near where the town of New River now stands. There was an old Indian trail leading by where the town of New River now stands and on up the river. The Indians wore, both summer and winter, caps made of fox skins, with tail hanging down behind and they also wore moccasins. I have talked with Indians in this county who said that they had never eaten bread made from corn ground on a water mill. The Indians had what was called a sweep pole with which to beat the corn. They also had sifters made out of a hide and would split the crushed corn through these and then crush again.”
On early education: “I suppose the first house in what is now Scott County, was built about the year 1826 at the mouth of Buffalo Creek. It was a one room log house. The first teacher was a man named Brawhill who came here from Virginia. I never went to school a day in my life and yet was elected the first Trustee of Scott County after the Civil War of 1861-65. I held this office six years.”
On early religion and health care: “When I was a boy there were no doctors in this country, and I never saw a doctor until I was grown. There were no preachers living here then. Occasionally a few preachers would come from Powell’s Valley and stay three or four days. I remember going to meeting in a log house which did not have the cracks stopped and which had no floor or door, I have been to many a meeting where the seats were just split logs which did not even have legs in them In those days the preachers were all Baptist. I suppose the first preacher raised in this county was a man named Cutbearth (Cuthbert) Webb who lived on Brimstone Creek.”
On early commerce: “Perhaps the first store in the county was put up by a man named Jim Williams. When I was a boy he had a store on Buffalo Creek near where Alec Chambers now lives. When I was about 10 years old I went with father to this store and Williams had a few men’s shoes (but no boy’s shoes) some calico and a few other dry goods. I believe John L. Smith was the first merchant in Huntsville. About the year 1852 or 1853 he put up a store where Dan Chambers now lives. He only had a few dry goods and shoes and bought them from a retail merchant at Jacksboro. He bought and sold home made jeans and linsey.” … “I remember that when the Civil War broke out there were three stores in Huntsville and they were owned by Carland, Cain, and John L. Smith. There were also three saloons here and they were run by Abe Hatfield, Jim McDonald, and Looper.”
On early entertainment: “Before the Civil War the people in this county had many interesting and exciting horse races. There used to be a race track where Allen McDonald now lives about two miles south of Huntsville and another track where Rob Sexton now lives near Brimstone. The tracks were straight and about one-fourth of a mile long. Only two horses could run at the same time. The horses used in the races were a breed of small horses called Brenens. You never see that kind of horse here now. The women attended the races as well as the men. The men could often bet saddles, bridles, hats and clothing as well as money on their favorite horse and often the races were very exciting.
“When I was a young man, it was the custom to have log rollings, house raisings and corn shuckings. These would always be followed at night by a frolic and I tell you the people used to have some good old times in those days. At the frolics there was always one or more fiddles. The fiddles were home made but I tell you they were good ones.
“Let a fiddle start and I tell you somebody was out dancing. I never saw a banjo until I was grown. I never saw a drunk rowdy man at a frolic or log rolling. People always had peach brandy which was home made and it was fine.”
Death
Jehu Phillips died on June 2, 1910, at age 88. He was buried at Huntsville Cemetery. His wife, Rebecca, died in 1905 and was also buried at the cemetery.
Phillips had remarried to Sarah Eder Phillips in 1907. She, too, was buried at Huntsville Cemetery in 1941.