Phillips county carries .Sylvanus Phillips name and is his monument.
Born in the United States, he was in early life attracted to the West and in 1797 built a log cabin near the mouth of the St. Francis river in Arkansas, and was, as he said, the only settler for miles around.
Where Phillips came from and where he was buried are questions that remain unknown.
His nearest neighbors were Antoine Tessier and Joseph De Plasse, who lived at the mouth of the Cache. Beyond their residences there were no other settlements in that direction.
In 1798 he explored the Arkansas river for some distance above Arkansas Post, but found no settlement in that direction.
In 1799 the commandant of the post, fearing an uprising of the natives, warned Phillips to remove to the post. He did so and remained there for many years, and was joined by J. B. Mooney and the Pattersons, all related by marriage, and who with him made extensive explorations for mineral and timber wealth.
He gained in this way a great knowledge of the territory, a knowledge which Sam C. Roane, in later years, was enabled to use as an effective club in breaking up the gigantic land frauds which threatened to despoil the State of hundreds of thousands of acres of land.
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