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Great Grandpa Phillips’ Lost Gold

My Great Grandpa Alexander Phillips was one of the early settlers in Washington Township, he purchased property in 1820 or there about, from The United States of America under the sale of Public Land Act. . He built the “Home Place” where the Phillips Reunion is always held the third Sunday in August. The Phillips family and the Kolb family had several brothers and sisters marry, so the families are very close. The Phillips family also has ties to the McRoberts, Ford, Pauley & Hunt families. and really just about everyone that lives in the area.

The Phillips home place was built in the very early days of Washington Township, as a matter of fact it may have been White River Township at that time. Washington Township was created by dividing White River Township into two parts the eastern part becoming Washington Township. Like many early homes the original part of the house was constructed with logs. The second story of the house was for the sleeping area for the boys and hired men.

In those days there were groups and individuals who came through a community stealing and plundering. The upstairs room was equipped with racks for guns and small windows that had a quick release to drop down to allow the men to respond to attack by marauders. From the stories told about those early days, the better prepared a home was the less likely the thieves were to attempt a theft. The home place still stands and you can see the log construction and go upstairs and flip open the narrow windows imagining that you had heard the dogs barking and with rifle in hand you are scanning the yard for intruders.

When I have ask if any American Indians were in the area at that time, my grandparents said they were told by their parents that an occasional Indian was seen, but they were usually asking for food and were not a threat to anyone.

The home was heated by one of the largest fireplaces anyone had ever seen, it took two men to bring in the night log. There originally were two log houses, a smaller one for cooking and washing and the larger one for living quarters. The theory was that the cooking area was often subject to fires and if the cooking area burned the family’s possession would be saved. There was always a pot on the huge crane in the fireplace of the big house that had soup or stew for meals and a teakettle hung on a smaller crane for hot water.

Great Grandpa Phillips had considerable farm ground and was thought of as person with some wealth. People in that day did not take money to banks because of the inconvenience and mistrust of banks going broke. Grandpa Phillips supposedly had gold buried on his property.

Great Grandpa Phillips in his older years had the misfortune of having his team of horses spooked near the Goose Creek Bridge and the team ran away throwing him from the buggy. He was injured severely and spent most of his remaining days in bed or in a chair, he was unable to speak after his accident.

Reportedly Great Grandpa Phillips realized his life ending and by signaling those in the house they helped him stand and he pointed through the window to an area near what was later called the” Buttermilk”. Many interpreted this to be a signal as to where his gold was buried, Needless to say this brought on a flurry of digging and speculating where the gold was buried. If any one ever found Great Grandpa Phillips’ gold they never told anyone about it. I suppose the legend of the buried gold will live on for some time.