Lt. Col. Theophilus Phillips

Parents not proven. - He has been linked by some as a son of Joseph Phillips (b. 1698 in Maidenhead, NJ) and a descendant of Rev. George Phillips of Watertown. Rev. George Phillips, of Watertown

However, that Joseph Phillips had a son Theophilus who was 8 years old when the father died in 1748 (b. 1740), and he lived until 1823, married to a wife named Abigail. This is his profile Theophilus Phillips

Some sources have the father as John Phillips.

The Watertown Phillips family went from MA to Long Island, NY to NJ, so it is plausible that some went on to PA. A number of the men in all lines in each generation were named Theophilus.

HOWEVER,, he might instead be from an unrelated family from PA. On page 53 of Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County New Jersey, Vol 1, Francis Bazley Lee, 1907, It says 'There are two distinct Phillips families, who have lived many years in old Hunterdon and present Mercer counties. One is descended as herein set out. [from Watertown, MA] The other is descended from Thomas Phillips, an early settler of Pennsylvania, whose son John owned the large grain mills at Ingham's Springs, PA. John settled in Ewing and married Rebecca, daughter of Joseph Fish. The descendants of this family have resided almost exclusively in the township of Ewing, and some of them in recent years in the city of Trenton. This family is in no way related to the Maidenhead family."

See the Phillips section starting on page 53 - which goes into much details about the Phillips in Mass to NJ (what was thought in 1907).

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qaf8B-M4D...

The text below the line was not edited 7/22/2021 with the comments above.
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Ann (Joanna) PRATHER & husband, Theophilus PHILLIPS (b.174?NJ d.1789.OCEAN s/o John SEE HUNT File), emigrated to Fayette CO. PA in MAY1767 in company with Theo's brother-in-law, Rev. James DUNLAP, squatting on land on Dunlap's Creek where they farmed in partnership(according to Ellis).

He died and is buried at sea.

Find A Grave Memorial# 25624568

• PHILLIPS, THEOPHILUS Ancestor #: A090737
• Service: PENNSYLVANIA Rank: LIEUTENANT COLONEL
• Birth: ANTE 1751
• Death: ANTE 10-10-1789 AT SEA
• Service Source: PA ARCH, 6TH SER, VOL 2, P 295
• Service Description: 1) 5TH BATT WESTMORELAND CO MILITIA

Other records indicate that he was born before 1751, possibly as early as 1735.

Lieutenant Colonel of the Fifth Battalion during the Revolutionary War (Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, Vol. 2, p. 295)