Jacob F. Phillips. With the passing years the descendants of the and in course of time even greater respect will be paid to those who fought for the integrity of the Union during the dark days of the '60s. One of the fine old soldiers who still survive from that dark and stormy time of civil strife is Jacob F. Phillips, a prominent citizen and farmer of Davis Township in Caldwell County.
Jacob F. Phillips was born in Washington County, Indiana, February 27, 1840. His birthplace was a log cabin, located on an early farm in that section of Indiana. His father was Andrew Phillips, who came from North Carolina and was one of the first settlers in Indiana. Grandfather Phillips died in Caldwell County, Missouri, in about 1870. Andrew Phillips was reared in Indiana, and was married there to Jemima Ratts, who died in Illinois in about 1901. She was born in North Carolina, a daughter of Rinehart Ratts, who died in Indiana. Andrew Phillips in 1854 moved to Logan County, Illinois, settling on a farm near Atlanta, and he died there in 1856, at the age of thirty-seven, leaving his widow with seven sons, whose names are: Jacob F.; Rinehart, who was a soldier of the Twenty-eighth Illinois Infantry, died in 1863, in Mississippi, and was buried at Oxford, that state; Ransom, who was also a soldier, now lives at Atlanta, Illinois; Abraham, who died at Kingfisher, Oklahoma; John M., who died at Atlanta, Illinois; Thomas F., whose home is in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and who was also a soldier; and George A., who died in Illinois when but five months old.
Jacob F. Phillips was reared in Illinois and was educated in the schools of Logan County. He was twenty-one years of age when the war came on, and in August of 1861 he enlisted for service in Company F, Thirty-eighth Illinois Infantry. He went with the regiment to Missouri, took part in some operations around Pilot Knob, and at different
times was under the command of General Scofield, General Grant, General Rosecrans and others of the great leaders of the Union Army. He fought at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at Rome, Georgia, in the various battles and skirmishes about Chickamauga, and during that campaign was taken prisoner. He endured all the hardships and sufferings of life
in the Southern prisons, was confined in the notorious Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia, and then the no less famous Andersonville, and was confined at five different places before his exchange. When he went into prison he weighed 190 pounds and about one hundred and twenty-five when he came out. He was exchanged in December, 1864. In one of his battles, that of Chickamauga, he was wounded in the left leg. He served in the Missouri Militia in 1866, as a non-commissioned officer, with the rank of orderly sergeant.
As a Missouri farmer Mr. Phillips has been unusually successful and owns a fine place of 320 acres, a part of which is bottom land well situated for alfalfa. His industry has been largely stock raising, and he keeps about one hundred and fifty hogs and horses, mules and cattle. Mr. Phillips married, February 21, 1867, Martha Rathbun, a sister of Samuel Rathbun, a prominent Caldwell County farmer whose history will be found on other pages of this work. Her father was Allen Rathbun, one of the early pioneers of Caldwell County. Mrs. Phillips died March 11, 1909, at the age of sixty-three. She was a member of the Church of Christ. They became the parents of nine children, three of whom died in infancy, and five are now living. Mary M., who is living in Kansas, is married and has two children; James A., who is on the old homestead farm, married and has three children; Edgar L.; Effie and Eva May, all at home; Dora A. died at the age of twenty-eight years. Since the death of his wife, Mr. Phillips has lived with his children and grandchildren. Politically he is a republican, and has supported that party since war times. He is also active in the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a member of and an elder in the Church of Christ. He is devoted to his home and family, but is also a man of popular character in the community, and has hosts of friends in this section of Northwest Missouri.
Source: A History of Northwest Missouri, edited by Walter Williams, Volume III, published by The Lewis Publishing Company, 1915; Pgs. 1916-1918
