Editor's Note:
In 1993, Tommie LaCavera is serving as President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. In unrelated correspondence she writes that "I have ties to Texas as well as every other Southern state, I think. My great grandpa (William David Phillips) and his brother (Edgar Monroe Phillips) moved to Texas in 1891. Grandpa Will ended up coming back to GA. but Edgar stayed. Once I put a notice in a newspaper out there trying to find out more info on him and as you can see from the attached letter, I was very lucky. If you ever run up on anything on this family, remember me."
Attached was a copy of letter from Mildred Dulaney of Mart, Tex. Writte in 1977, it contained the following information about Mrs. LaCavera's Phillips line extracted from the microfilm of the Mart Herald, weekly edition dated April 6, 1933:
"E.M. Phillips was a prominent farmer and citizen of the Hart community for more than forty years. His death occurred at the family residence about a mile east of town, Sunday afternoon, April 2, following an illness. Edgar Monroe Phillips ws born in Douglassville, GA., Aug. 29, 1869. He came to Texas in 1891 and lived here the rest of his life. He was a trustee of the Methodist Church, a Mason, and President of Mart Federal Farm Loan Association, since its organization. He married Dec. 31, 1894, Miss Ardell Frazell. She died July 8, 1928. They had five children, four of whom are living: Edgar Phillips of Marlin, Texas; Carl Phillips of Houston; Mrs. C.C. Fitzhugh, Mart Route 2; and Mrs. Gay Kirkland, Mart. He married Miss Annie Lee Hawthorne, June 11, 1930, who survives him. Other relatives included 5 sisters and 1 brother, all living in Georgia."
Carl Phillips, Mrs. Dulaney continues, "Carl Phillips rang a bell, so I called Mrs. Lyman Hardeman and asked her if her sister married Carl Phillips and the answer was that her sister, Ruby Applegate, did marry Carl. Carl was the youngest of the Phillips children and died March 20, 1974. Mrs. Hardeman said she would send the clipping to her sister in Houston. She also said that Edgar and Mrs. Fitzhugh were also dead, but Mrs. Gay Kirkland is still living. She is in a nursing home and her condition is such that she could not write a letter because of palsy or something that makes her hand shake. Her name is Ruby and the dates on her husband are (from cemetery book) Gay Kirkland 21 June 1897-Apr. 15, 1962. Their son, D.R. Kirkland, lives at 113 So. Smyth St., Mart, Tex."
Source: Stirpes, Texas State Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 33, No. 3, September, 1993; Pg. 47
