The John lineage traces back from Ohio to Pennsylvania during its early period of settlement. The immigrant to America was said to have come from Haverford West (Pembroke) and carried the patronymic of Phillips. A story that has survived in the John family is that the Phillips pedigree as a surname under British influence traces back so as to include a knight who participated in the first crusade (11th Century). There are a number of illegitimate branches in the later generations of this particular Philips family, but how the immigrant might be connected remains to be documented. A curious thing that is never explained is why the Phillips surname would have been abandoned. It seems much more likely that the lineage was actually from the rural class that would still have used the patronymic system.
