Dallas County AlArchives Biographies.....Phillips, George April 7 1846 - living in 1893 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 20, 2004, 3:35 pm Author: Brant & Fuller (1893) GEORGE PHILLIPS, the present popular and efficient tax collector of Dallas county, was born April 7, 1846, on the old Phillips homestead, six miles northeast of Selma. He was reared on the home farm, and remained there until 1880, when he removed to Selma. He secured a fair common school education in the county, and spent two years in Prof. Tutwiler's Green Springs school, from October, 1859, to July, 1861. In the fall of 1861 he went to Tuscaloosa, and there, in April, 1862, he was examined for military service in the army, and with other cadets, on April 8, 1862, he was ordered to Loachapoka, as drill master, where he drilled soldiers for a few months for the field. In August, 1863, he entered company G, Sixth Alabama cavalry, as a private soldier, and remained in this company until the close of the war. From a non-commissioned officer he was promoted, in January, 1865 to the rank of brigade commissary sergeant, which position he held the rest of the war. His command surrendered at Starkville, Miss., in May, 1865. He then aided his father on the plantation till his father's death, and continued on the farm until 1880. During this time he was in the cotton warehouse business for three seasons at Selma. In 1880 he removed to Selma, and has continued in the cotton warehouse business ever since. In August, 1888, he was elected tax collector of Dallas county, and was re-elected in 1892. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, of the Odd Fellows, and also of the Knights of Honor. He was married, in 1867, to Miss S. E. McIlwain, of Dallas county, who still lives, and is an elegant and accomplished lady. In this connection it is proper to introduce a sketch of the father of Mr. Phillips, George Crawford Phillips, who was born in Georgia May 15, 1815, and who died in Dallas county, Ala., on August 30, 187 2. His father, George Phillips, was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and settled in Madison county when George Crawford Phillips was a small boy, but in 1819 he removed to Dallas county, and there died in 1835. He was a planter and was also a physician, and had a large and extensive practice. He was a man of sterling qualities and was prominent in politics in his day. He was a member of the first constitutional convention of Alabama, and afterward was a member of the state legislature. His son, George Crawford Phillips, was for the most part raised in Dallas county, where he lived and died. He was a planter by occupation. He received his education at the Alabama State university at Tuscaloosa, though he did not graduate. He studied medicine under his father, and was about to leave for a medical college when the death of his father occurred. He then became administrator of his father's estate, and his course of life was turned. He became a planter instead of a student. He held several positions of honor and trust. For twenty-one years he was a member of the board of county commissioners for Dallas county, holding the office until the beginning of "radical rule." Before the Civil war Mr. Phillips was a whig, and as such was elected to the legislature from a democratic county, his election being due to the confidence in and esteem for him personally. He was several times a member of the legislature, and during the Civil war he was a colonel of militia, but participated in the war only to the extent of aiding in the defense of Selma. On the question of secession he was conservative, really of the Alexander H. Stephens type. He voted for Bell and Everett, but during the war he gave his entire support to the Confederacy. His sympathy and support were always freely extended toward the Confederate soldier, whether friend or stranger, and to all he was always kind-hearted and hospitable. He was one of those who love their fellow men. He was a devout Christian, and for many years was a deacon in the Presbyterian church. He was a friend of material progress, and assisted in bringing in the Alabama & Tennessee River railroad; was a stockholder in the company and a director for several years. On February 25, 1835, he was married to Miss Adeline D. Crawford, of Dallas county, Ala., and a daughter of John Crawford, who came to Dallas county, in 1817, from Tennessee, where his daughter was born. By this marriage he had eight children, four sons and four daughters. Two of these children died in early life, and a son, John C., was a member of Forty-fourth Alabama regiment, and died in camp during the Civil war, near Drewry's Bluff, Va. The surviving children are as follows: Mrs. L. A. Privett; Mrs. Frank H. Bates; Miss E. R. Phillips; Dr. W. C. Phillips, and George Phillips. The mother of these children died May 10, 1882, at the age of sixty-seven years. Additional Comments: from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 905-906 Published by Brant & Fuller (1893) Madison, WI This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 5.3 Kb