THE PHILIPS family (numerous branches of it) coming up out of Kentucky in pioneer times became widely diffused
and intermingled in the population of the great valley. Members of this family were in the region originally included
in Pike county even before Illinois became a state. Three separate Philips families were enumerated in the census
of 1818, which was taken to determine whether Illinois had sufficient population to qualify for statehood. These
families, all related and members of the pioneer stock under consideration here, resided in what was then Madison
county, one of the three counties out of which Pike was later erected.
In former chapters we have dealt with that branch of the Philips family which intermarried with the pioneer Hornbacks,
another family that was represented here in the days of the Territory and which was already established in what
is now Derry township when Illinois made her first bow among the states of the Union. As we have seen, it was Sarah
(Sally) Philips who married pioneer Solomon Hornback (she being Solomon's second wife), they coming to this region
and settling in present Derry more than a hundred years ago.
Another Philips, Samuel, brother of Sally and a son of the first Nimrod of record (who died in Virginia), married
Mrs. Nancy M. Heath, who taught the first school in the pioneer town of Pittsfield in the winter of 1834, her log
school being on or near the site of the present Rainbow restaurant on the south side of Pittsfield's public square.
This marriage of Nancy Heath with a scion of the Philips family appears never to have become known in Pike county
but is a matter of official record in old Morgan county where the marriage was consummated on July 18, 1830.
The Philips families originally settled in that part of old Morgan which is now included in Scott county and it
is in the yellowed and frayed records of old Morgan that we find the first mention of the Philips family in the
Illinois country.
Samuel Philips, at the time of his marriage to Mrs. Nancy Heath, was a resident of the now vanished town of Columbus,
which stood near Naples. Nancy Heath was at the time teaching a pioneer school at Naples, to which place she had
ridden horseback, alone, from her home in Urbana, Ohio, in 1825. Her first husband, Dr. William Jackson Heath,
had died. He was a kinsman of Peleg and Laban Carpenter Heath, who were majors under General Washington in the
Revolution. Known as "Major" or "Commodore" Heath in the early Pittsfield community, Nancy
had interesting recollections of the great backwoodsman, Daniel Boone, whom she had met as a child in her father's
clearing on or near the site of present Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was born in 1791, the first white child born
at that place. She died in Pittsfield November 16, 1880, in her 90th year. She always in Pike county bore the name
of her first husband. Her daughter, Rachel Heath, who married Abner Vine Wills, uncle of Abner Vine of the present
day, taught school with her mother in Pittsfield in early days.
Thomas R. Philips, a brother of Samuel, also married while a resident of old Morgan county, in that part that is
now Scott. On June 27, 1833, he married Rebecca Pulliam, member of a family that later became widely known in Pike
county and whose descendants are still resident here.
Another of the Philips family, William Riley Philips, in Pike county on December 11, 1843, married Amanda Kincaid
(or Kinkead, Kinkaid, Kinkade, Kingkaid, or Kincade), a family whose name is variously spelled in the records of
Pike and old Morgan counties.
The Kincaid or Kinkead family, early settlers in Pennsylvania and in Augusta county, Virginia, and intimately associated
through friendship and marriage with the Scholl family, whose history has been related in previous chapters, sent
numerous representatives to the Illinois country in early times. Many of their descendants still reside in Pike
and Scott counties.
Amanda Kincaid was a descendant of Elizabeth Noe, a sister of Tabitha Noe, who on December 15, 1803 married Abraham
Scholl, pioneer settler where now is Griggsville, Abraham's cabin, erected in 1825, being the first white habitation
on the site of the present town. The Noes were originally from Hagerstown, Maryland, but settled in an early day
in Augusta county, Virginia, going thence in about 1800 to Kentucky. Peter Noe, in a will dated January 16, 1802,
and probated in Clark county, Kentucky, November 22, 1802, left "five shillings and no more" to his daughter,
‘Bytha Noe" (who married Abraham Scholl). In his will he mentions his other children, among them "Elisabeth
Kincaird," who was the wife of John Kinkead or Kincaid, he a son (or possibly a nephew, the record being obscure)
of Thomas Kinkead, an early settler and compatriot of the first Peter Scholl in Augusta county, Virginia, where
also lived the forebears of the early Lewises at Pleasant Hill. It appears from the records that two Kinkeads,
David and Thomas, settled in Augusta county, Virginia, having migrated from western Pennsylvania to that wilderness
country some time prior to 1750 (according to one record November 19, 1747).
W. C. Weaks of Terre Haute, Indiana, who was recently in Pittsfield on a visit to the Green family and who is seeking
information relative to the Pike county Gants (early settlers around Nebo), is descended from Thomas Kinkead of
the above reference, through Guy Kinkead, Sr. (son of William and grandson of Thomas), whose daughter, Rebecca
Kinkead, was Mr. Weaks' great grandmother. It is not clear whether Amanda Kincaid (who married Riley Philips) was
a great granddaughter of Thomas or David Kinkead. Her father, it would appear, was either a grandson or a grand
nephew of Thomas Kinkead.
It appears that the family name in Virginia was usually written as "Kinkead," but here in the west the
spelling adopted by their Scottish ancestors was generally used by the family descendants and the name as it appears
on official documents is usually "Kincaid." Members of the family, however, in signing deeds and other
documents, employed both spellings.
The ancestors of the Kincaids left Scotland after the battle of Bothwell Bridge and went to Ireland, settling in
the northern part of that country. They were devout Presbyterians, but did not side with either of the extreme
parties of that day. King William represented their ideas, and they held him in highest admiration.
Clarke, in "Old King Homes and Families," states: "The Kincaid family, having its seat and origin
in Stirlingshire, is one of the oldest in Scotland. The following is taken from Nisbet's Heraldry: "The Kincaids
were in possession of Kincaid in 1280, as is proved by a charter extant. Kincaid, Laird of Kincaid, of Stirlingshire,
for his gallant service in rescuing the Castle of Edinburgh from the English in the time of Edward I, was made
Constable of said Castle, and his posterity enjoyed that office for a long period, carrying the Castle in their
Armorial Bearings in memory thereof to this day.' The family from which the American branch descends left Scotland
after the troublous times of 1688 and settled first in the North of Ireland, from whence several brothers came
to America in 1707, settling at or about Carlisle, Penn., and their descendants scattered through Virginia, Kentucky,
Ohio and Tennessee."
In Kentucky, the Kincaids or Kinkeads are identified with the counties of Clark, Woodford and Christian.
The Kinkeads, in the Virginia wilderness, shared the hardships and horrors of Indian atrocity that have been recounted
in connection with the early Scholls. On April 14, 1764, Eleanor (Guy) Kinkead, wife of William who was the son
of Thomas, was taken captive, along with her three children, at her home in Augusta county. Virginia, near the
source of the Big Calfpasture river. The following letter from her son, John Kinkead, to his son Blackburn, dated
April 2, 1847, at Cane Spring (on the Elkhorn river), Kentucky, is from a copy of said letter kindly furnished
us by Mr. Weaks, who is a great great grandson of the captive, Eleanor Guy Kinkead.
"You request that I should give some of your grandmother's early history. I am at a loss where you wish me
to begin; but I suppose I may go back as far as I have any dates. She was born (this refers to Eleanor Guy who
married William Kinkead, the son of Thomas) August 17, 1740; was married to your grandfather November 30, 1756.
Was taken captive by the Indians April 14, 1764, from Augusta county, Virginia, 20 miles from Staunton, on the
road to Warm Springs. She had, when she was taken, three children, the oldest a daughter 7 years of age, the second
a son 4 years old, the youngest, your aunt Hamilton, 2 years old.
"When the Indians came to the house, your grandfather had but a short time left. He had eaten his dinner,
and went to the field, out of sight of the house, to plough. Your grandmother was sitting just inside the door,
spinning. The children were playing at the door, when suddenly they screamed as though alarmed, and before she
had time to rise an Indian jumped in at the door. There were five of them, four men and a boy. They immediately
went to packing up the clothing; they cut open the beds, throwing out the feathers. Several persons had brought
of their clothing there, believing it to be the most secure place in the neighborhood, and intending to come and
build a fort there. They took all their clothing. There were two guns in the house, and a new saddle; they took
all. She said it was astonishing, the loads that they carried. The Indians had never come so early in the season
before, and their visit was utterly unlooked for at the time.
"Your grandfather did not return to the house until night. You may imagine his feeling when he came and found
things as they were. He immediately turned out to raise a company to pursue them and started the next morning and
followed them two or three days, but had difficulty in keeping on the trail. They were very careful to leave as
little (clue) as possible. She said she frequently broke limbs of brushes, until the Indians noticed it and made
her quit. When they left the house they went up the side of a high hill, in view of the house, and stopped, sat
down on a log, stayed some time, and fixed her and the children for traveling. Made her pull off her shoes, and
put moccasins on her, and the two oldest children. She was within three months of having an infant.
"When they got all fixed, one of the Indians that spoke good English, turn to her and said it was the Great
Spirit that put her in their hands. She told him she knew it; but the thought instantly passed her mind that that
same Great Spirit was able to take her out of their hands before six months.
"When they started, she had the child two years old to carry. The little boy gave out after traveling several
days. Two of the Indians stopped behind with him; when they came up, he was not with them, and she saw him no more.
After traveling some days, going up a very high and steep mountain, she fell, and was not able to get up. The Indians
called to her to come along, but she lay still. One of them came, broke a switch, and whipped her severely. She
said she never felt it. While he was whipping her, she turned her head and looked at him; he instantly drew his
tomahawk. She turned her face from him, and waited to receive the blow, but he did not strike.
"She made an exertion and got up, and went to the other Indians. Then they took the child from her, set her
on a log, and sat on each side of it and appeared to hold a consultation whether to kill it or not. After talking
for some time, they asked if the child would have black eyes. She told them it would. She remarked her hair was
very black. They immediately decided. The one of them that had the saddle fixed it on your grandmother's back,
so that it gave her the use of her arms, which was a great relief to her. He set the child on top of his pack,
which she said was a very heavy one, and carried it to the towns.
"In two days after they got home, he gave it to one of his sisters who had lost a child, and she saw it no
more until it was given up about six months after. When it was taken from her, it spoke English remarkably well
for one of its age, and when she next saw it, it could not speak a word of English, and spoke Indian well. Nothing
very material transpired until they got to the Indian town. They went through the mountains to the Kanawha (river),
where they had left their canoes, and went by water the most of the way after.
"Soon after getting home, she was adopted into the family of King Beaver, and was treated as one of them.
She was a large portion of the time with them, at Zanesville (in the Ohio country). When the time arrived for her
to be confined, they would not let her stay in town, but sent her to the woods, the squaws attending her, and carried
her food. Her infant was born July 25, 1764.
"The fall after, an army was sent against the Indians, commanded by General Boquette (I think his name is
spelled). The Indians were alarmed, and agreed to make peace, and bring in all the persons that they had, when
upwards of 200 persons were given up; and among them your grandmother, her infant, three months old, and the one
two years old, the oldest having taken sick and died during the summer (1764).
"Your grandfather (William Kinkead) was with the army, and when the little girl was given up, your grandmother
knew her immediately, but he could not recognize her, and was in great uneasiness, until her mother asked him if
he did not recollect having bled her in the foot. He said he did, and stripping off her moccasin, there was the
mark. The Great Spirit was kind to her, and delivered her out of their hands in just six months from the time she
was taken captive. They returned to Augusta county, from where she was taken and remained there until 1789, and
then remained here until her death."
Miss Elizabeth Stites' mother, Mrs. Mary (Gant) Stites, kinswoman of the Pike county Gants, says the copy of the
above letter was obtained from her cousin, William Glass. John Kinkead, writer of the letter, was the son of William
Kinkead and Eleanor Guy (the latter of whom was the captive described in the letter). The letter was copied from
a typewritten copy loaned to Ludie J. Kinkead by Miss Elizabeth Stites, formerly of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but
living on Crescent Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, in January, 1930. Miss Ludie J. Kinkead is curator of the Filsom
Club at Louisville.
In Joseph A. Waddell's "Notes from Annals of Augusta County, Virginia (1726-1871)," it is stated that
"the neighbors had brought their possessions to Kinkead's house, it being larger and a safer hiding place
than their own dwellings, and that this fact became known and led to the attack by the Indians." these notes
also relate that "his wife, finding that escape was impossible, with extraordinary heroism, assisted the Indians
in their hurried preparations to leave, so that they might get off before her husband's return, and danger to his
life be avoided."
Waddell's Annals also relate that "nothing was heard of the captives (Eleanor Kinkead and her children) till
after Boquet's treaty of November, 1764, when Mrs. Kinkead, with other prisoners, was delivered in pursuance of
the stipulations. She carried in her arms an infant daughter born during her captivity, July 25, 1764. Her account
of the two older children was that the boy kept up with the party on their trip to Ohio for several days; but he
was put in the immediate charge of a young Indian, who seemed to take pleasure in tormenting the child, often pushing
him back and forcing him to reclimb banks and steep places. By this system of treatment the little captive became
unable to proceed as at first. He was tomahawked and killed in his mother's presence, one of the Indians, however,
having the humanity to cover her eyes that she might not witness the spectacle. The little daughter was separated
from her mother about the time the infant was born. Her name was Isabella."
Waddell states also that Isabella "was not recovered by per parents until some time after her mother's release.
When brought to the rendezvous she was dressed in skins and clung to the skirts of a squaw. So changed was she
in appearance that even her mother failed to recognize her at first, but finally identified her by a scar on her
foot where she had been bled. She grew up and married Andrew Hamilton and has many descendants."
Present and a companion in arms with William Kinkead when the Indians surrendered and released Kinkead's wife and
children, was John Lewis, father of Samuel Hardin Lewis, who is buried at Pleasant Hill. They were members of Captain
Charles Lewis' company in Boquet's Expedition in 1764. Charles Lewis was Samuel Hardin Lewis' uncle, a brother
of Samuel Hardin's father.
Again, from these accounts, we gain some idea of the peril and the suffering endured by the forebears of Pike county's
pioneer families.