Here's the description of the Black Oak property

Here's a good description of the land:

To wit: the West half of the North East quarter of section 2 in township 13 of range 3 east also the East half of the North West quarter of section 2 in township 13 of range 3 east, also the East half of the North West quarter of section 2 in township 13 of range 3 east, also all of the land lying East and being a part of the West half of the North West quarter of the same section township and range as above. Beginning at a stake on the township line and running Southwardly to a white oak near William Wards house thence west to the spring including ½ of said spring thence Southwardly to a black oak thence Eastwardly to a Sweet Gum thence Southwardly to the open line thence East to the South West corner of the East half of the North West quarter of section 2 thence North to a stake on the township line thence West to the beginning, containing 200 acres more or less.

The Black Oak Tree

Just got back from St Clair county. I can't thank Charlene Simpson (from the Ashville Museum and Archives) enough for her help. So, having talked to her about the property owned by Joseph and William, I have determined the following:
-The William Phillips in Shelby County was most likely the same William I'm related to. Shelby County was a part of St Clair county before 1821ish, and that would be why William has no other records other than the jury roll call in Shelby.

-On 2 Jan 1829, Golder Fields sells a piece of land to Samuel Boyd for $570. The property is described as having half of a creek, a Black Oak, and a White Oak as part of its borders.
-On 28 September 1835 Samuel Boyd sells the property, referring to a White Oak in the description, to William Phillips for $500
-On 29 March 1839, William sells the property to Brazil Wooley for $800. Brazil was likely a tax collector, and this could have been for a debt owed to the government.
-On 28 August 1846, Pinckney Woolley and Minor Woolley sell the same property to a William D. Washburn for $400. Both would have been children of Brazil (Basil).
-On 12 August 1856, William D. Washburn sells the property to James Phillips (who married Dorcas Crawford) for $500.
-On 12 August 1856, James Phillips takes out a mortgage for $814.41 on the property, and on this we get a reference to Canoe Creek, giving a better idea where this property is located today
-On 14 September 1857 James Phillips and Dorcas Crawford (his wife) sell the property to Joseph Phillips for $1200. A huge sum of money, but with enough interest could have been used to pay off the debt.

What does this mean? Likely William bought the property, lived there for a while, and Joseph ended up with it. Seems like Joseph would have to be William's son to be willing to do that.

Civil War Records

Since my last post I've been trying to piece together records of my family in the Civil War. Currently I'm using Footnote.com for the records and the site is extremely useful. So far I've been able to learn that my Grandfather White was actually a part of the battle over Mobile Bay and was a prisoner of war for a few months! Others in my family have been anything from privates in the infantry to lieutenants, and even a few in calvary units! Very useful, and I have even found physical descriptions of them from time to time. One uncle apparently had gray eyes, which I'm not so sure about honestly. Still, if you find relatives living in this time, try to look for war records. It adds a bunch of color to the family history.

Family bibles

It's been a while since I updated this blog, but lately I haven't been working on the Phillips line. I've been instead working on my paternal grandmothers family, the Whites. Turns out all I needed to do was put in the information I got from Bible pages from Nancy White and I would have been able to do a bunch more. I have all the kids of Thomas Phillips (1791-??) who married an Elizabeth in Ancestry.com now, and it's now easier to figure out where my direct line lived from 1850 and after. Thomas' son, Thomas Jefferson "TJ" White, was living in Arkansas in 1850, then disappears, and shows up in 1861 in Jefferson County, Alabama to marry Sarah E. Morrison. Turns out he was living with his brother Russel in Coosa County in 1860, and somehow decided to marry in Jefferson County. Now to just find out where Thomas was back in 1840...his son/family may have been involved in a murder, and I'll post that when I get back home

Fixing a common misconception

William Phillips who married Sarah Hays or Sarah Burleson was not born in Wilkinson County, Georgia. We know his family was living in the Wilkes County area in the late 1700s, and most likely he would not have moved too far from them, at least not moving south and then north east.
Also, the best proof of it is that the county of Wilkinson was not in existence in 1788. The county was formed in 1805, well after 1788. The area Wilkinson County was formed from wasn't another county, it was claimed land from Indians most likely.

The new timeline with William and Sarah

Here's the new trail he left his family:
1807: Warren County Deed Book A William buys 200 acres from Daniel/Danyl Middleton
1812: Warren County Deed Book A William sells 100 acres to John Durham
1813: Warren County Deed Book A William sells 100 acres to Levi Rodin
1813: Warren County Deed Book A William buys 140 acres from Thomas Lowry
1814: Warren County Deed Book B William sells land to James Cain
Aug 1814: Warren County Deed Book C William sells 130 acres to Thomas Lowry, Jr.
1819: Shelby County Jury List
1820: Shelby County census
1820s: Overseer of the building of a road
1832: Mortgage taken out in St Clair County
Beyond this: He has many different land transactions in St Clair.

Now we need to fill the gap between 1820 and 1832, and something between August 1814 and 1819. However, this does show that Joseph was in fact born in Shelby County, Alabama.

Hints on researching Shelby County, Alabama

Here's a few pointers on researching Shelby County:
1) The county probate court does not allow cameras or any recording devices at all. Frustrating, but true.
2) Most of the old records are located at the Historical building located about 3 blocks down on Main Street from the probate office. They are VERY nice over there, and can do a lot to help you locate records. They have most of the records you need as hard copies or on microfilm. Best to start your research here if you have research to do in the county area.

Back from Shelby County

So now William has been located in Shelby County. I’ve never had higher hopes of finding someone in the records and been let down so much! You really need to temper your attitude when traveling and researching. It can be an emotional rollercoaster if you let it.
Now, about what I was able to find. 2 records contain the name William Phillips: A call for jury duty on July/August 1819 and an order to be an overseer of a road construction (No date that I could find, but likely in the 1820s). As Debra pointed out, that means that we have records of him living here starting in 1819. Now, we have a record of William Phillips buying land in Shelby County in 1824, but at the same time there is no record of that land being sold in Shelby County. What happened to the land? Looking at the image of where that property was located, and it was right on the border of Jefferson County and Shelby County. I’m going to double-check in Jefferson County to see if not only there are records in Jefferson County, but if it shows that land being sold.

Putting together deed records

Sure, it doesn't say outright I don't have a life, but it is sure implied. I was excited for spring break because it means I have time to go do genealogy research! I've started transcribing deed records from St Clair county, which leads me to a hint for beginning genealogists: Take photo's of the records, and write down the citation information. This means you can cover more ground later on, and you always have verification that the record is real. You need a good camera to do this (more than 2 megapixel for sure), because the records are really tough to read as is, but if it's blurry that makes it even worse.
Another hint when getting into deed records, don't just record the names of your relatives. There is lots of genealogical data that can be found in deed records, but they always show up in weird, or not predictable, ways. This week I found the probate of my ggggrandfather Phillips' will, confirmed that his wife remarried, and found new records that linked his kids to him.
Now that we have the records for Joseph and his kids, the next step is to find out where Joseph got the property. Looking through the other records, it appears that Joseph bought the property from his probable brother James Phillips (who married Dorcas Crawford) in 1857. This is looking good now. The record even has Dorcas' signature (not her real one, but it's noted there)! Next step: find out where James got the property.
Looking back through the records, James appears to have bought the land a year earlier (1856) from a William D. Washburn & wife (Lucinda Belcher based on a cursory Ancestry.com search). From the records I have, there doesn't appear to be a transaction between William Phillips and William Washburn. That's something that needs to be solved to see if that land has been the Phillips' land for a long time.
It appears that William has been found, in all places, Shelby County. His name shows up in the orphans court! It makes sense, because he shows up in the US Census in 1820 before he ends up in St Clair in 1830. Like I've said before, the county lines changed so much he may not have actually moved, the county lines may have moved around him. Charlene Simpson did say that Shelby County was near the area that William may have been living, at least for a while. And William may have not known where the new court house was. Either way the only way to find out is to look in the court house!

My brickwall

Well, you always hear about them, but never think it will happen to you. I'm now facing my first brick wall. Trying to connect Joseph Phillips to William Phillips is about as tough a job as I've ever endured. Debra Cochran has been a great deal of help here, because she claims to have a deed record implying that one of Joseph's kids bought up all the land his grandfather (William) owned. This appears to be the best option for me. The will does not appear to be easy to find (not that years looking for it wouldn't help), so if we can find that record it would make this a lot simpler.

If I'm lucky and Debra is correct, then the will exists, but no one knows where its located. Most likely, it's in Tennessee, but there's no guarantee. That grandchild may be the best chance I have to prove the link. Otherwise, the chances are limited. Still, I have all the records of Phillips' before 1900 in St Clair. I'm going to review what I have and see what I produce. Let's hope for the best!

My research trip yesterday

I was able to make two trips yesterday, one trip to St Clair county and one trip to the LDS center here in Birmingham. First the St Clair findings.

There appear to be a number of different mentions of Phillips' in the deed books. The first mention of William, however, appears to be in 1834. This is a fairly large gap from 1814, when the theory is he left for Alabama from Tennessee. However, this appears to be the right William, because out of the 11 William Phillips/Philips in Alabama in 1830, there is only one in St. Clair county. The same applies in 1840. On a side note, I wish I had thought to look up that statistic earlier than today, because that means that all the work I did trying to find out if this William was the same William I'm related to was worthless. I suppose there are bigger problems to have, like not finding his will! After talking with Charlene Simpson in the Ashville Historical Building (A VERY helpful genealogist and very nice lady), the next trip will be to the Shelby County probate court. Apparently Shelby county in the 1810s included a large tract around the area William was living, which also explains why he was in Shelby county in 1820, and why my grandfather was born in 1820 in Shelby county, not St. Clair. He ends up in Blount County in 1850, which is likely due to the changing county lines in Alabama. He appears to own a lot of land in the area in the first half of the 1800s.

From the LDS trip, I found records of William Phillips in the first Deed books of Warren County (Books A-C). Fittingly, he sells off most of his property in 1813/1814. He originally got the land from a Daniel/Danyl Middleton, who fought for North Carolina in the Revolutionary War. Not too sure about whether or not he actually knew William, or just sold off his land rights because he did not want to move. We may not know about that at all. He appears to first get to Warren county in 1807, the next trip to LDS will have to cover White County deed records, and the criminal court of White/Warren counties to see what those records will uncover about the murder, and if this is the same William we are related to! Certainly does put a little bit of color in to the family tree!

Where is William's Phillips' will?

That's the mystery. I need proof he was Joseph Phillips' father, and the will is the best way to prove it. It's definitely not in St. Clair county, or Blount. It looks like Warren county or White county is my last great hope. The next trip is to the LDS center to look through those records! That will happen this week for sure!

Review of my trip yesterday

According to the Phillipsdnaproject.com, the next grandfather on my Phillips line is a William Phillips who either married a Sarah Hays or Sarah Burleson. I'm not quite sure why there is a debate, since no one can produce a marriage license for either woman! Still, I'm very sure that he is the right person to look for, so most of my research is done to find him. Here's the story that Debra Cochran and I have been looking at:
William was born most likely in Georgia, possibly in one of the Carolinas. It appears that he moved to Tennessee, which is evidenced by one of his children noting they had been born in Tennessee in 1809 (John Phillips who married Dorcas Crawford). We believe he moved to White County, or Warren County, Tennessee. According to records, he was elected as Sheriff of White county, Tennessee. Then, according to this story on pages 2-3, he apparently murdered William Quarles, then escaped from jail in Nashville. This happened in 1814/1815, and then we believe he left for Alabama, which was at that time part of Mississippi territory. Alabama became a territory in 1817, then a state in 1819. Alabama would have been a great place to live in hiding, not many people lived here at the time, and no one would know about what you had done in another state. The real question is if this William Phillips is the same one I'm looking for. William appears to be in Shelby County in 1820, which goes along with my story so far. The question is: Where are the first records with William Phillips in the state of Alabama? When we find that, we will be able to ascertain if this is the same William Phillips.
While he is living in Alabama, he is found in St. Clair, Alabama in 1830 and 1840, then in Blount county in 1860, then St. Clair again in 1860. Thanks to findagrave.com, we now know that William and Sara left for Warren County, Tennessee before they died. Why did they do this? The community may have forgiven, or more likely forgotten, the murder. It doesn't appear to be a choice most people would make, but perhaps Sarah was homesick? We will likely never know that answer, but if you have an idea, let me know!

Phew!

Just finished putting up my family tree's as separate pages on the left. There is a great deal of overlap with many branches, and these are not my mother's side. I'm hoping to post my mom's side ASAP!

My first post

Hello all!

I've decided to start this blog as a way to keep track of my day-to-day activities I perform while searching for my ancestors. I've been doing this for about 2 years now, and I feel like I'm ready to start this blog. I hope that everyone can benefit from what I write down, whether it's hints about searching or learning about a new relative. I'm going to try to put links to each branch of my family somewhere on the homepage, and I hope to put cites at the bottom of each of those pages. Just bear with me while I get it all sorted out! Have a great day!

James