William David Phillips Bible

Thanks, cousin, for the info about why Robert Clifford went back to GA, and about Ardelle Frazelle, wife of Edgar Phillips, my greatgrandparents.

Robert Clifford was William David Phillips' son, and they all came back here to Georgia, together. Was their information about your g-grandmother Ardelle right, was she of american indian descent?

On the Phillips side of the family, there is a legend that on our grandmother Ellen Virginia's side of the family Through William Coleman Wright's wife (Ellender) there was american indian blood, but no proof--unless we can find out through mitochrondial DNA testing.

I got my generations backwards when I wrote you-- Wm David Phillips and Edgar Monroe Phillips were the brothers who traveled to Texas together. Robert Clifford and Carl Gilbert were their respective sons, making our granddads first cousins.

Altho I doubt very much Ardelle Frazelle was native American-- going by physical apperance alone, she nor her children all 4 of whom I knew, displayed any Indian traits, and although she and my mom had raven hair, my granddad and his siblings were sandy-haired, almost redheads and freckled with fair Scottish complections and deep tans
-- BUT Robt Clifford's mention of her as presumabaly Indian, plus your conjecture that there was Indian blood in the Wright line of the Phillips resonates with the predominant family story passed down by Carl Gilbert Phillips, one I heard from him and at one time even had in writing from him, but have never been able to source otherwise.

The Frazelles were a large extended Scottish family with hereditary ties to France. (Ardelle's father was one of many "Napoleons" in the family) They were in the Carolinas during colonial times,and several went west. N.B. Frazelle and his first wife had two children, Ardelle and Oscar. (Ardelle's mother is one of my mystery ancestors, but is likely Sarah Ann McPhail from the Scottish McKay colonial line. It is possible, but again, unlikely, she was part native American; they married in NC. NB's second wife is also a Sarah, and they had several children.)

Although this message is populated with Frazelles, bear with me, because it may link indirectly to Ellen/ Ellender Wright's people and thus to your Phillips line.

As the family yarn goes, NB Frazelle had gone on ahead to settle in Texas, where several extended family members were already living. When I heard this story told, I always presumed he'd gone from Cape Fear, where the original Frazelle family was rooted, but now, I believe he was already in Texas, possibly the Navasota area, and then relocated to the area around Waco because of Indian depredations in the 1880's. He then sent for his wife (Ardelle's mother)and their two children.
Again, I originally imagined this woman traveling halfway across the country with two small children. Now, I think she travelled across a couple of wild and woolly counties in central and east Texas. Still no small feat, but this Texas journey makes more sense, and also fits census and birth records.
They were passing thru "Indian territory" (the story always used the terms "Indian territory") when young Oscar became deathly ill with ---(this disease was named in the story, but I don't remember what it was... diptheria, I think, but possibly whooping cough...one of the deadly ones for children of those times.)And the story closes, and
"The Indians took them in and nursed the boy back to health." Part of this story has Mrs Frazelle and the children traveling as part of a group. The group abandoned them when Oscar got so sick, leaving them with the Indians for quite some time. When Oscar was completely recovered, the trio resumed their journey. They ultimately rejoined NB Frazelle in their new home, where Ardelle grew up and married Edgar Monroe Phillips, who became a prominent farmer outside Mart, TX.
The Indians they fled were fierce and warring. The Indians who took them in were not only friendly, they risked their lives for this small family. Makes me wonder if part of Ellen Wright's (Indian???) family was either traveling with them and remained with Mrs Frazelle and her sick child, or if they were already living in the territory she passed thru... makes more sense than a sympathetic tribe of strangers in those days. Could these family stories of ours connect somehow?

I've never heard about the jewelry, and because she had two daughters, I have no heirlooms from Ardelle. I do have a photograph of she and Ed.

One reason I haven't discounted this story is that my granddad Carl wasn't a spinner of tales. We were extremely close, and this story about his mother's childhood, and another story of how he had to shoot his favorite dog after a rabid raccoon bit her were the ONLY family history stories he ever told.

My grandfather, Robert Clifford Phillips, must have heard some version of your story about being saved by indians and remembered it in some form, and that is partly why our family was under the impression your gr. grandmother was of indian descent.

Ellen Virginia Wright was the daughter of Isaac Capers Wright and his first wife, whose name I can't find. Isaac's dad was William Coleman Wright and his wife was Ellender--and that is all we know about her. But William Coleman Wright was the son of William Wright and his second wife, Mary "Polly" Tucker, whose parents, Joseph Tucker and Lucy Bueford Tucker, came from Virginia ancestry. The families came from VA, NC, to Newberry and Union Counties SC, then to GA.

I think Ellender is the ancestor of reputed indian heritage, but it may have been Isaac's wife--Ellen Virginia's mom. It is possible that connection got the families to go west, but my grandfather said another Douglas County, Ga. family the Phillips were friends with, and perhaps related by marriage--the Vansant family, who had already gone to Texas. I'm sorry I forgot to mention that earlier.

Interesting to compare family stories! (Another apology for typing from memory--probably doesn't matter to you, but Ardelle Frazelle's mother Sarah (??) was the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte Frazelle; his first wife and mother of most of his children was Sarah Strange, from Onslow NC. He married Sarah #2 after Sarah #1's death in the mid 1870s.
I think it is likely many of these families with colonial roots not only followed the same paths west, but remained in contact with one another as they moved. So I follow up on extended family lineages even if they aren't in my direct line, and have made some pertinent discoveries that way. Thanks for the tip about the Vansants.