In the 1880 census of Tarboro, Edgecombe County, N.C.: minister H.C. Philips, 37, wife Emma, 34, and children Louisa, 12, Hood, 9, Walton, 6, and Cornelius, 3.

On 6 January 1887, Methodist minister H.C. Phillips united Charles Williamson, 21, and Clara Vick, 18, in marriage at the A.M.E. Zion Church in Wilson. Witnesses were S.H. Vick, H.C. Rountree, and Daniel Vick. This is the earliest marriage recorded in Wilson performed by Rev. Phillips.

On 23 January 1891, Henry Clay Phillips and Emma Elizabeth Moore Phillips obtained a $300 loan from Wilson Building & Loan Association, secured with a property on Green Street. A note on the mortgage deed shows the Phillipses paid off the loan in January 1897.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Emma Phillips,  and sons Alonzo, 17, and William, 16. [Though Emma Phillips was listed as married, H.C. Phillips was not listed in the household. Records show that he continued to perform marriages in Wilson after the turn of the century and was named on a 1903 deed as a trustee of Saint Stephen’s A.M.E. Zion Church.]

Rev. Henry C. Phillips died circa 1907, probably in Wilson. As death certificates were not yet required by the State of North Carolina, and no cemetery ledgers survive for any of the African-American cemeteries active at the time, we have no firm record of his death.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, Cornelius Phillips and Elizabeth Phillips are listed at 608 East Green Street.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Elizabeth Phillips, 66, laundress; son Rhemus [Cornelius], 30, express office laborer, and daughter-in-law Sallie, 28, cook.

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, Alonzo, Cornelius and his wife Sallie, and Lizzie B. Phillips are listed at 608 East Green.

Emily [Emma] Elizabeth Phillips died 27 August 1918 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born January 1845 in North Carolina; was the widow of H.C. Phillips; and was buried in Wilson County [likely, Vick Cemetery.] William Phillips was informant.

Eldest son Hood S. Phillips died in 1919. He and his brothers William, Cornelius, Alonzo R., and Walter Phillips held an undivided interest in the lot on Green Street, and his widow Phillis Gay Phillips claimed a dower interest in her husband’s share. As dividing the small property would not have benefitted anyone, a petition was filed and granted to sell the lot and divide the proceeds.