Phillips, Alexander

Flourished: White County, Illinois

Alternate name: Philips

Phillips was a soldier in the War of 1812, and sometime after his service he settled in Illinois, likely taking advantage of his soldier's warrant for land. From 1817 to 1819, he purchased 480 acres of public land in White County, Illinois, for $960. Major Phillips was the first Illinois state representative from White County, and he served in that body from 1818-1826 and again from 1838-1841. He was a Whig. In 1840, the town of Victoria changed its name to Phillipstown in his honor.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, White County, 86:221, 87:307, 312, 88:770, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 185, 194, 205, 215, 234, 314, 337; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 197, 198, 199, 207, 209; History of White County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1883), 921; A Bill to Change the Name of the Town of Victoria in the County of White, to That of Phillipstown.