Moreau J. Phillips, Sr.

His name was spelled various ways in many public records including Moreau, Merue, Marean, Monreau, and Morieu on his gravestone at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Sangamon. Following is from Find A Grave.com: Aged 69 years, married Melissa B. Lee, who died in Springfield April 3, 1887. "Moreau Phillips, an old and esteemed resident of this city, died yesterday morning at 2:30 after a lingering illness. He was born in 1811, and has resided in Springfield for many years. The funeral will take place from the late residence of the deceased at 2 p.m. today." From the Illinois State Register newspaper, February 9, 1881.

"Merue Phillips, an old resident of Sangamon county, died yesterday morning at his residence, corner of Jackson and Fifteenth Streets, after a lingering illness. Deceased was 69 years old, and came to this county from Greene county, Kentucky. He served in the Black Hawk War, and since then has lived, until his death, in Springfield." From the Illinois State Journal newspaper, February 9, 1881.

Moreau Phillips was born in Green County, Kentucky, May 26, 1811, and came with his parents to Sangamon County, Illinois in about 1829. There is a U.S. General Land Office Record (1796-1907), which shows Moreau Phillips purchased 80 acres in Springfield, Illinois on May 11, 1831. He would have been about 20 years old at the time. The land is described as Section 8, Twp. 16-N, Meridian 3rd PM, and is located in Sangamon County.

The 1840 U.S. Census shows a Merian Phillips is living in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, along with 3 free white males under the age of 5, one free white male between the ages of 15-19, one free white male between the ages of 20-29, and one free white female between the ages 20-29. This may have been Moreau and his wife Melissa B. and some of their children and other family members.

The 1850 U.S. Census enumerated on 10/31/1850, shows a Morean Phillips, age 39, a carpenter living in Springfield, Sangamon county, Illinois, with his wife Malissa, age 30, and their children. The value of their real estate is shown as $350.00. Their children were listed as:

Francis Mortimer, age 13, born in 1837

Thomas Jefferson, age 10, born in 1839

Moreau J., age 7, born in 1843

William Oscar, age 5, born in 1845

Charles J., age 4, born in 1846

The 1860 U.S. Census shows Monreau Phillips, age 47, with wife Melvina, age 43, and children, and the value of their real estate was $2,000. Moreau was still listed as a carpenter, as was his son Martin, which is probably Francis Mortimer. Here are the children listed at that time:

Martin (probably Mortimer), age 23, carpenter

Thomas Jefferson, age 20

Montreau, age 17

Oscar (William Oscar), age 14

Charles, age 12

Edwin (Uriah Edwin), age 10

Mary, age 8

Emit (Robert Emmett) age 2

and Margaret Eubank(s), age 20

Margaret Eubank was the daughter of Moreau Phillips' sister, Mary Ann Phillips Eubank, who died in 1841 of consumption after she and her husband, Stephen Green Eubank, had two daughters, Mary Susannah in 1836 in Peoria, and Margaret Green Eubank in 1838 or 1839 in Springfield, Illinois. Stephen and Mary Ann were married March 10, 1834, in Schuyler County, Illinois.

Supposedly Margaret Green Eubank came to stay with her uncle Moreau Phillips after her mother died in 1841. Although she was listed with her father and step-mother in the 1850 census. But they moved to Kansas in 1859, and Margaret may have gone to stay with her uncle Moreau again because she was scheduled to marry William Hawkins Wickersham in Illinois in January of 1861, which she did on January 30th that year.

The 1870 U.S. Census for Springfield, Illinois, shows Moreau Phillips, 60 and his wife Melisa B., 50, living with their children, Moreau, 26, Mary, 17, and Robert Emmett, 12. Moreau was listed as a carpenter and his son as a harness maker. On April 28, 1870, Moreau and Melissa's son, Thomas Jefferson Phillips, 30, died of consumption. He was buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery.

The 1880 U.S. Census for Springfield showed Moreau, 67, carpenter, Melissa B., 61, sons William Oscar, 34, Charles J., 32, Edwin Uriah, 30, all listed as trunk makers, and Robert F., working as a painter. Living with them were grandchildren, Bertha Phillips and Etta Snow Phillips, both 5 years old, plus Alice Eubank, 34, who was listed as a servant in their home.

Alice Orille Eubank was one of Stephen Green Eubank's daughters with his third wife, Sarah Armstrong Waggoner. Alice was born in Springfield in about 1856. She married William Oscar Phillips in about 1889, and their son, Frederick Thomas Phillips was born in Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, in 1893.

According to a post on Ancestry.com, Moreau J. Phillips father was Francis Phillips, born 1785 in Maryland, and his mother was Margaret Dudgeon, born in 1788. Moreau's siblings were Jefferson, born 1813, died 1845; Mary Ann, born 1815 (the second wife of Stephen Green Eubank), who died in 1841; and William Cope Phillips, born 1826, and died 1852.

However, according to records found in an application for membership in The Indiana Society of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution by one of Mary Ann Phillips descendants, Allen Mayer Davidson, Mary Ann Phillips parents were William Phillips, born in 1793 Kentucky and died in Springfield, Illinois, and Peggy Sublett Phillips, born 1793 in Lincoln, Kentucky, and died in Springfield, Illinois. I don't know which record is correct! The application continues to show that line as follows: Peggy Sublette Phillips was the daughter of Phillip Sublette and his wife, Isabel Whitley Sublette, and she was the daughter of William Whitley and wife Ester Fuller Whitley. However, the application contains a few other errors, so perhaps his research was not completely accurate.

There was a court case tried by Abraham Lincoln who represented Mary Ann Phillips' minor heir, her younger brother William Cope Phillips, after her death, in which a Mr. Thayer sues because he never received a deed for land sold to him by Mary Ann Phillips before her death. The court case records indicate that Mary Ann Phillips father was Francis Phillips, and other family members named in the case were Moreau, Jefferson, and William C., and Mary's mother Elizabeth, who was from Kentucky. Perhaps her mother's middle name was Elizabeth.

In the case of Thayer vs. Phillips records state Thayer bought 15 acres of land from Mary Ann Phillips for $1,050. The property was described as Lot 7, Block 27, Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, which was sold March 12, 1836. Thayer paid for the property but Phillips failed to convey deed for the land to Thayer. Phillips died and Thayer sued her heirs to acquire a deed to the land. The court appointed Abraham Lincoln, the Phillips' family attorney, to act as guardian ad litem for Mary Ann Phillips' minor heir, her brother, William Cope Phillips.

The court ruled for Thayer and appointed a commissioner to give Thayer a deed for the 15 acres. The beginning date of the case was March, 1837 and the end date is July 18, 1838, which doesn't make sense, since records indicate Mary Ann Phillips did not die until 1841. People from the Phillips family named in the case were Elizabeth, Mary Ann's mother, Francis, her father, her brother, William (who was the minor heir) and other brothers Jefferson, and Moreau. So the mystery of the Eubank and Phillips families continues!

The following information is from a book entitled, History of Sangamon County, Illinois, History of Illinois, Chicago Inter-State Publishing Company, 1881, page 700: Moreau J. Phillips, deceased, was born in Green County, Kentucky, May 26, 1811, and came with his parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1829. His father was Francis Phillips (1785-1837) and mother was Margaret Dudgeon Phillips (1789-1832).

In 1831, he enlisted in the Black Hawk war as a member of the company from Sangamon county. In 1836, returned to Kentucky and married Malissa Lee, whom he brought back to Sangamon, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in Springfield, February 8, 1881. He was a carpenter by trade, and spent the last years of his active life in superintending the wood department of the trunk factory of his sons.

His marriage with Miss Lee resulted in a family of ten children, four of whom are deceased, and six sons alive. Mr. Phillips combined in his character firmness and decision, with strong sympathy and kindness of heart. He was greatly attached to his home and family, whose associations formed the chief enjoyment of his life.

Four of the six sons, Charles J., Edwin U., William O., and Moreau F. Phillips, are associated in the Phillips Brothers' trunk manufacturing company, and are doing a thriving business. Their mother resides in Springfield, aged sixty-four years.

Moreau's wife, Malissa B. Lee, passed away April 3, 1887, in Sangamon county, Illinois.