The surname Phipps is an ancient name that first appeared in England around 1050 AD. History says that the Phipps name is derived from an ancient Greek word meaning “one who works with horses”. The Phipps’ settled in an English county named Wiltshire, in the southern portion of England, about 80 miles from London, in an area best known for Stonehenge. Our ancient ancestors were granted political positions and land from the royalty in the area since they helped England win a war at that time.
Faced with economic chaos during the 1600’s, many English families looked for a chance to escape oppression and starvation. Families left England primarily for North America, Australia and Ireland.
The lineage of our family of Phipps’ has been traced to the mid 1500’s to Wiltshire County, England. In the late 1600’s Joseph Phipps Sr, his wife and 9 kids left England for America and settled in an area near Philadelphia.
About 1750 his grandson, Joseph Phipps III was living in an area near Roanoke, VA. His son, Joshua Phipps Sr, moved from the Roanoke area to an area south of Lexington, KY. By 1800 Joshua Sr had moved his family again to Hawkins County, Tennessee, near Knoxville. His son, Edward Phipps Sr moved his family from TN to the Maysfield area in the 1850’s. He had 4 kids, one of which was William Tivis (B. 1825) father of William Clay, our G’Pa Phipps.
Tivis married Martha Thomas in Maysfield area in 1854. William Clay (our G’Pa Phipps) married Mary Elizabeth Morris (our G’Ma Phipps) whose family had moved from Georgia. Beginning in 1890, she gave birth to 10 kids over the next 17 years.
The Phipps Family Reunion 