Following is one of the Biographies and Stories which where gathered by Charles Sumner McKamy in the 1950s for publication in a Crawford County History Book. Unfortunately he passed away before the book was published.
Martin Phillippi, my grandfather, when a boy 14 years old, left Virginia near Withville, a small town where they left traveling by oxen wagon, he walking most of the way to Bicknell, Indiana where they settled. My grandfather later married Lavisa Steffy, and to them were born three sons, namely: James, Henry and Joseph. When my father, Joseph, was 14 years old, they moved to Illinois, locating in Lawrence County near a place called Martin's Mill. Later, my father married Lavina Lindsay and the located in Montgomery Township where I, Martin Phillippi, was born in the year 1882. I attended school at Canaan School and my second term of school was taught by Lawrence S. Heath of Robinson now. I married Minnie Simons who also lived in Montgomery Township.
We moved to Robinson in 1925, to us were born five children, namely: Esther Crocker, Ruby Higgins, Lloyd Phillippi, Reba York and Janet Clements.
I visited the town of Phillippi in West Virginia last year where they have a covered bridge built in 1852 and is still in operation.
My great grandfather William Phillippi, my grandfather Thomas Phillippi, were both living in or near Withville, Virginia when they departed for the northwest and located in Bicknell, Indiana in 1838. The Phillippi's have a reunion every year at Bicknell, Indiana and they have a Family Tree Record they keep. I have not been to the reunion for two years, but at that time they had 3500 names. I asked at that time how many had been in prison or seized at any time and they said none. They took up a collection every year and spent $3800 tracing our family record back to Lewis Phillippi when he was the last King of France and found he had three brothers when he was in the United States. He spent six months in the Governor's mansion at Knoxville, Tennessee.