Death 2 OCTOBER 1866 • Spurger, Tyler County, TX
I liked the story I wrote several years ago, about the home she and her family shared in Fort Gaines, GA.
Mary Phillips Gainer and John Dill in Fort Gaines GA
Blog posted
Thursday, January 19, 2017
We know Mary Phillips Gainer's birth year of 1803, and her sons: Marion Phillips, born in 1823, and William Philllips Jr. born in 1832.
Before he died as a Confederate Soldier during the Civil War, William Phillips Jr had two daughters. One of these daughters became my great-grandmother.
There are quite a few William Phillips' in Georgia in the 19th century, but by looking closely at birth years, I have determined one of them was the father William and one the son. I've added the sufix Sr. and Jr. to their names for my own clarification.
Mary C. Phillips married in 1841 to her second husband, Samuel Gainer (a lawyer as stated occupation on the census.)
They lived in the town limits of Fort Gaines. How do I know this? A neighbor listed 2 away from their household on the census is General John Dill. (I had thought they were out on a plantation in my mind's visualization all these years, but there they are in the town itself. This of course doesn't mean they didn't also have a plantation.)
General John Dill had been the farsighted man (with his mercantile partner) who purchased all the lots that became Fort Gaines. His home still stands.. There is a very interesting story associated with how he built this home, having married a widow who had been captured by Indians. Elizabeth Stewart Dill lived with the Indians 4 months before being "recaptured" by American troops. The "story" says she collected paper money while she had been captive, that the Indians didn't know its value, and following her return and then marrying John Dill, they built their beautiful home.
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| John Dill house |
DILL HOUSE ~ John Dill (1788-1856) of S.C., military aide to Gen. Gaines, commander of Fort Gaines, and leading pioneer citizen, is said to have built this, “the finest home on the frontier,” with money his wife had saved while a captive of the Indians. Hoarding and hiding paper money, which her captors discarded after raids, she took it with her when she fled to freedom. The original part of the house, now a hotel, contains elaborate mantles and intricate carvings. Gen. Dill established a mercantile business with his partner, John W. Sutlive, in 1821. He added a tannery, one of the finest harness and shoe businesses in the South, a brick kiln, and cotton warehouses to his interests. He and his wife are buried in a cemetery on Carroll Street.
Later General Dill's partnership dissolved. The "tall tale" about her windfall during her Indian capture continues as seen in the paragraph quoted above. Toward the end of his life, General Dill tried to establish a lottery, which contributed to his losing his long term business partner. General Dill apparently lost everything and became empoverished before he died in 1856, all his properties being auctioned by the sheriff.according to land records.
This information as posted in Ancestry, is from a 1986 letter from a Fort Gaines attorney, with sources of various books. He and others have published evidence that the Indians by the 1830s had been trading for a long time with Europeans and knew the value of paper money, thus exposing the paper money windfall legend as bogus.
US Census, 1850, Early County, GA
Great great grandpa William Phillips was just 18 at that time, and listed as a student. His older brother Marion was 27 and his occupation was merchant. I'm not sure what the following values represent in the column named "Real Estate." Marion has 1000. And his step father Samuel Gainer has 4975. But look at General John Dill. He lists 10,000. I would guess this was before the fall of the Dill empire.
A question did occur to me, if the story about the Indians and paper money is false, how did the Dills obtain the money to build that beautiful house? I'm thinking a man who did so much real estate wheeling and dealing, and who promoted lotteries, might have obtained the money in another way, which might not have been as colorful, or perhaps was more colorful.
I am trying to give the history as accurately as possible, but my own viewpoints will come through some of the time. I am grateful to the historic society of Fort Gaines for having placed many historic markers about the town to provide much of the information I share with you here.
Sources:
Letter from P.C. King, Jr, Attorney, Fort Gaines, Georgia dated Feb. 27, 1986, to Ms. Thelma Stevens of Barnwell, Alberta Canada following a telephone inquiry by her, in which he lists his sources. He also talks about how the legend of Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart Dill and the Indians is being used to help sell the house when it was in need of rennovation.
Fort Gaines and Environs, by Mr. P. C. King, published 1976
The Legend of Mrs. John Dill, Builder of Fort Gaines Dill House, by Mrs. Elizabeth King Folger, (sister of P.C. King.)
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Here's the post for Mary C. Gainer's birthday last year.
There's a family with William Phillips in Early County, GA in the 1830 census:| Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9 | 1 (Uncle Marion b. 1823?) |
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| Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29 | 1 (Head or?) |
| Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39 | 1 (Head ?) |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 5 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29 | 1 (Wife) |
And yes, they also had slaves.
This William Phillips is the father of William Jr. who married Mary Hull Granger from Massachusetts when they met in Galveston Texas in 1855...on my grandmother, Ada Phillips Swasey Rogers family tree. I blogged about Uncle Marion a few years ago Here,
And I told some of the story of Mary Granger and William Phillips Jr. here. and here and HERE.
and Here about some pre-Civil War and post-Civil War correspondence.
And this is my post about William Phillips Jr. during the Civil War.
But back to Mary C. Phillips Gainer. The C. might stand for her maiden name which is still unknown.
The 1860 census would have her birth year as 1804...which is still possible.
I just have searched a bit more for info on Ancestry about William Phillips Sr. and found that indeed he died around 1836, and Mary C. Phillips was administrator for his estate probated from 1837-38. She was very adept at counting the value of everything her husband had left. And since the probate records are in Early County, GA, it is clear that the census of the family in 1830 must be the same one.
In 1841, Jan 5, she is listed on a marriage license to Samuel Gainer. Their wedding was Jan. 7. He had been married previously also, in 1838, but doesn't have a female living in his household in the 1840 census. At that time he lived with 2 young men (20-29) and was probably the elder of the household (40-49). It also states "Persons Employed in Learned Professional - Engineers 2."
It is listed that Samuel Gainer had been born in North Carolina, in 1896. I have no further information on his family of origin. But I do know he was considered a Judge.
In 1850 the Early County Georgia census says (though it transcribed his name as Griner)
| Samuel Gainer | 54 occupation Lawyer, born NC | |||||||
| May C Gainer | 47 born Ga | |||||||
| William Phillips | 18 | |||||||
| Marion Phillips | 27 |
There is no mention of a daughter...though one appeared to the family and claimed to be William and Marion's sister, Ghidora Phillips, born around 1841, following the Civil War. I have a copy of a letter she wrote asking for aid. That was after Grandpa William Phillips had died about 1836, and before Grandma Mary Phillips married Samuel Gainer in 1841.
That 1850 census is also the one that led me to understand that the Gainer/Phillips family lived in the town of Fort Gaines, Early County, GA
By 1860, the Phillips/Gainer family lived in Woodville, Tyler County, Texas.
| W Phillips | 27 Farmer (William JR) worth:640 real estate |
| M H Phillips | 27 wife (Mary Hull) |
| M G Phillips | 2 female (daughter named Zulieka Granger Phillips) |
| Sam Gainer | 65 Farmer worth: 5000 real estate |
| M C Gainer | 56 (Mary C) |
| C A Mills 14 male (?) |
So I don't have any further information on Mary C.'s family of origin, nor of William Phillips Sr. It's one of those branches that doesn't go any further back.
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Here's the background post on Fort Gaines, GA.
Fort Gaines GA ancestors
Blog posted Sunday, January 15, 2017
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| The Queen City loaded with bales of cotton, near a covered bridge, Chattahoochee River at Fort Gaines |
I've been researching how my ancestors from the south lived and died during the years of the Civil War and following.
So to talk a bit about Fort Gaines GA, where my ancestors the William Phillips Sr. and Samuel Gainer family lived as of 1850. Before looking at 1850, here's some background of the location.
History lesson about Fort Gaines Georgia:
Located in southwest Georgia, on the
Chattahoochee River in Fort Gaines was a smallish city where cotton
had been shipped down river to the Gulf of Mexico prior to the Civil
War. There were three forts built at that location, with the earliest
having been a frontier fort
to protect settlers from Indians. (The Indian culture had been
established in that area for 2000 years, and included building Kolomoki
Mounds nearby.) 
The First Fort: Fort Gaines was established in 1816 by order of
Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, commander of a large district, who used this as his
headquarters. Containing two blockhouses, the 100-foot square fort was enclosed
by a stockade eight feet high. During 1817, when Indians were active in the
area, settlers look refuge in the fort, garrisoned by Federal troops under Gen.
John Dill. (Incidentally, a 100-foot square is 100 feet on each side, not 10 feet which brings a 100-square foot size.)
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| The Fort at Fort Gaines, and to the right, the railing overlooking the Chatahoochee River/ |
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| Frontier village restoration at Fort Gaines GA |
The Second Fort: In May of 1836 the 88th Regiment of the Georgia Militia built a small fort in anticipation of an attack by the Creek Indians. The Steamer Georgian had arrived crowded with women and children fleeing from the Indian uprising at Roanoke upriver. The Steamer, Anna Calhoun was pressed for 5,000 pounds of bacon and 8 barrels of flour in order to feed the refugees and militia.
The uprising was quelled before the fighting reached Fort Gaines. This was one of the last major insurgences of the Creeks before their removal to the West by Andrew Jackson. That was also known as the Trail of Tears.
Two Covered Bridges
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| A covered bridge near The Queen City loaded with bales of cotton |
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| Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge, Early County GA |
There's an interesting video HERE about an old house (Toll House) that still exists, near where the original covered bridge crossed over the Chattahoochee River. I found a few good pictures of the Toll House, but they are copyrighted, so go here to see them.
Fort Gaines GA now has a dam across the Chattahoochee River, forming a big lake of course.
The other Fort Gaines that I found in my brief search, is in Mobile Bay, Alabama...and was part of the big battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. This wasn't the same Fort Gaines at all.
Map of Fort Gaines, GA today
This document of 1858 shows Mary Gainer was well educated, and could write a legal document, where she gave her 15 year old slave, Frances, to her granddaughter Zulieka Phillips who was born in Fort Gaines GA, but her parents lived in Texas. Her parents were William Phillips and Mary Granger Phillips, my great times two grandparents. Zulieka was my great grandmother. Though I have no correspondence about the slave, Frances, I am glad that she was freed following the Civil War, while she was still young enough to start a new life.
