PHILLIPS, SARAH JANE BRASHEARS Born: 29 October 1825 Tennessee Died: 11 June 1917 Houston County, Texas Buried: Wesley Chapel Cemetery, Houston County Spouse: Henry Johnson Phillips, m. 15 June 1840 Parents: Absalom & Eleanor (Ross) Brashears Pension: #09812 Comments: Owned 70 acres of land and a buggy in 1903. Sources: Pension Application; Houston County History, p. 532; Houston County Cemeteries, p. 811; Houston County Census: 1860, p. 82; 1880; 1900, p. 31; 1910, p. 118; Ancestry.com.WAR SOLDIERS

OF HOUSTON COUNTY TEXAS COMPILED by Kathryn Hooper Davis & Carolyn Reeves Ericson Henry and Sarah Jane Phillips, with four small daughters, migrated to TX from TN in 1852. They settled on eight acres of land in Houston County west of Crockett. The community in which they homesteaded is now known as Wesley Chapel. This couple were married in 1840. Henry Phillips was born in 1821 in TN. Sarah Jane was born in TN. Absalom and Eleanor Brashears in 1823?. Eleanor was the daughter of George Ross thought to be from Georgia, and who fought as a soldier in the Revolutionary war.

Children born to Henry and Sarah Jane Phillips were Caronelia (Nancy), 1846; Permelia Elizabeth, 1847; Isabella, 1848; Sarah Ann, 1850; Phenelphia, 1853; Margaret, 1856; Sara, 1858; Emma Rinthea, 1860; Absalom, 1862; Ida, 1866; and Johnson, 1869. Most lived to become adults and most to advanced age. The children attended school in log buildings which was used also as the community church on Sundays. The Wesley Chapel Cemetery is now located there. Henry Phillips was a farmer. Chief crop was cotton. Fiber was pulled from the seed by hand and spun into thread by the mother and daughter. The thread was dyed with berries, leaves and bark gathered by children. The thread was woven into cloth on a loom in the home to make their clothes. Some of the home-spun fabric remained with a granddaughter until her home was destroyed by fire about 1940. Sheep were also raised and sheared. Wool was combed, carded and spun into yarn. Socks were knitted from the yarn. Pairs of this were sent to Confederate soldiers during Civil War.

Children and grandchildren contributed to the growth and wellbeing of Houston County and Crockett. Son, Absalom, served Houston County as sheriff and in other positions in law enforcement a greater part of his adult life. Johnson Phillips was engaged in grocery business for many years. He was elected to the office of City Marshall of Crockett just before his death in 1929. A grandson of Henry and Sarah Jane Phillips established a funeral home in Crockett the last part of this century. Descendants were merchants, farmers, ranchers, educators, in medical and many other positions that make Houston County the wonderful place it is today.

Wadell Jennings Harrison History of Houston County.