A man born over 95 years ago in northern Franklin County who spent the second half of his life dedicated to preserving the history of his adopted hometown of Bristol, Tennessee after decades of serving in what he later termed a "conflicted ministry".
Victor N. "Bud" Phillips was born on a Sunday night at 11:00 PM on August 25, 1929, in the Big Piney Valley, Beech Grove Community, near the Ft. Douglas post office in Northeastern Johnson County. He was the youngest of seven children born to J. W. Phillips and Susannah Maggard Phillips.
On April 7, 1945, Bud made a profession of faith in Christ during a revival meeting preached by Rev. James Card in the Ft. Douglas schoolhouse. He was baptized in Clarksville on the night of July 4, 1945. Bud began his ministry on May 20, 1945, delivering his first sermon at about 2:00 PM, standing under a scrub oak tree near the gate of the old Ft. Douglas Cemetery during the annual memorial service.
In late June 1945, Bud left home and began working at the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, at the age of fifteen. He continued preaching and traveled extensively as an evangelist, conducting revival campaigns wherever opportunities arose. His services were held in country schools, various churches, open-air arbors, and even a county courthouse. Despite early success, he later admitted he wasn't truly converted until January 1949, during a revival at Vendor in Newton County
Following his genuine conversion, Bud was baptized again by Rev. Den Montgomery in the War Eagle River, near McMurray Bridge, between Huntsville and Alabam, in Madison County. He referred to the period from April 1945 to January 1949 as the “dark years” and used his experience to encourage others to ensure their salvation.
Bud's evangelistic work expanded significantly after 1949. He operated a tract society distributing Christian literature across America and to several foreign countries. In the early 1950s, he was connected with the Evangelical Mountain Mission in Hazard, Kentucky, ministering to the mining areas of the Hazard coal field and other rural areas.
In Clarksville, Phillips became deeply involved in the community. He operated the Bus Station Café, a local gathering spot that became a hub for residents and travelers alike. His time in Clarksville allowed him to connect with many people and gather stories that would later inspire his writings.
In August, he moved to Bristol joining the Graham Institute and Evangelistic Association and the Bristol Salvation Army. He later pursued further education in Texas and was ordained at Blackey, Kentucky, on November 3, 1956.
Throughout his life, Bud engaged in various jobs and businesses. In 1957, he founded the Hudson Realty Company in Hudson, North Carolina, and later operated the Bus Station Café in Clarksville. Despite these pursuits, he found true peace and purpose in his counseling ministry.
In June 1957, Bud began his first pastoral ministry at Poovey Church near Hudson, North Carolina. His later pastorates included Valley Springs, Everton, Omaha, Bergman, and Valley View in Boone County.
In 1965, he became pastor of New Hope Church near Batesville. He also pastored the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Arkansas, and the nearby Capps Presbyterian Church for nearly five years. In March 1974, he took on the pastorate of Greendale Chapel in Abingdon until September 1976.
Bud first came to Bristol in 1953 and quickly fell in love with the twin cities. Though he left the area several times, he always returned. In 1975, he moved from Greendale to East State Street in Bristol, and in November 1982, he relocated to 214 Johnson Street, where he began renovating an old house he named “Pleasant Hill.”
Over the next 32 years, he pursued his lifelong passion for writing, gathering information from early Bristol residents and researching the area's history. His extensive writing included several books, a popular newspaper column, television and radio shows, numerous speeches, and tours dedicated to Bristol's history.
“Bud Phillips Day” was celebrated in Bristol on May 5, 2004. He received the Mayor’s Outstanding Citizens Award on April 27, 2008, and in 2006, he was named the Official Historian of Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee. His early writings include "Maggard Family History," "Ozark Cousins," and "Miracle On Greendale Creek."
Victor N. "Bud" Phillips passed away on January 9, 2017, at the age of 87. He is buried in East Hill Cemetery in Bristol, Tennessee, a place he often toured and spotlighted on his local access television show "Antiquities of Bristol with Bud Philipps".
