The beginning...a very good place to start

My name is Aimee Phillips.  I am a 7th generation Phillips, descendant of George & Marie Christine Volp.  The purpose of this blog is to gather family information into one place for the whole family to access.  I will from time to time add news and information.  While the Volp/Phillips finally settled in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, we are now a large, meandering family, spread over various parts of North America.  I am part of the "Ohio" contingent, and in 2011 I had the great fortune to find and make contact with several of my "PA" cousins.  This blog is inspired by a wonderful collaboration with information shared by Don & Lois Phillips, Peggy Phillips, Tom & Carolyn Phillips, Lester Phillips, and Larry Phillips to name a few.  I'm so grateful to have found relations so interested, as I am, in the family genealogy.  It is my hope to include information pertinent to many of our ancestors, including the stories of the women in our family.  As such, my Great-Great Grandmother, Alice (nee Baker) Phillips' family plays a significant role not just in our family history, but also in Pennsylvanian (and American) history.  

An Introduction:  The Volp Family arrived at the Port of New York on June 15, 1838.  Ellis Island wouldn't open until 1892, another 54 years later.  Of Hessian descent, George Volp (age 37), his wife Marie Christine (37), three of their eventual five children, Henry Ludwig (7), George Peter (5) and Simon Carl (2), along with George's sister, Philippine Volp (26), boarded the Schooner Matador and braved the sail from the Port of Bremen across the unpredictable and often harsh Atlantic Ocean.

Circa unknown - believed to be Marie Christine (Albohn) Volp Phillips

It is believed the tax man or a census taker changed our name to Phillips from Volp, though we have not been able to verify the certainty of that story.  They eventually settled in Beaver County, Pennsylvania and became farmers, where we find them in the 1860 U.S. Census.  Son Simon Carl and his wife Elizabeth (nee Miller) eventually took over the farm and some of those "PA" cousins mentioned above are still established on the property in Pennsylvania.  Below is the earliest portion - the beginning - of our ever expanding family tree.   I will add sections as I add background stories.

1  George (Volp) Phillips –  B: 06/01/1799 (Germany) – D: 03/18/1886 (Beaver County, PA)

….+ Marie Christine (Catherine?) (Albohn) – B: 1800 (Germany) – D: 1872 (Beaver County, PA)

………2  Henry Ludwig Phillips – B: 04/11/1831 (Germany)

………2  George Peter Phillips – B: 08/07/1833 (Germany) – D: 05/19/1907 (IA)

…………..+ Elizabeth (Apple) – B: 08/31/1837 – D: 05/01/1913 (IA)                                         M: 1861
………2  Simon Carl Phillips – B: 06/24/1836 (or 06/26/1836) (Germany) – D: 12/31/1906 (PA)

…………+ Margaret E. Miller – B: 08/08/1841 (PA) – D: 07/01/1895 (PA)
………2  Mathilda Phillips – B: 1839 (PA) – D: 1922 (PA)

…………+ George H. Miller – B: 1839 – D: 1924 (PA)
………2  Ferdinand Phillips – B: 1841 (PA) – D: 1906

…………+ Maria Dunlap Woods – B: 06/26/1851 – D: 09/08/1880