George Lee Phillips
Agency patch
Sheriff

George Lee Phillips

Ashe County Sheriff's Office — Jefferson, NC
Accident
End of Watch September 23, 1843
Age 38
The Vigil Panel 1 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sheriff George Phillips drowned after being washed off of his horse while crossing the flooded Yadkin River. Sheriff Phillips was traveling to Raleigh to turn in the county's taxes when the incident occurred.

Sheriff Phillips was survived by his wife and two children.

Survivors

Sheriff Phillips was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-0B14E354
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

183 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Sheriff Phillips served with the Ashe County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Jefferson community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Type Sheriff's Office
Location Jefferson, Ashe County, NC
Platform Identity acso.ashe.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 23, 1843
Age 38
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sheriff George Lee Phillips is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In NC, 205 of 664 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30.9% of this state's fallen. That is 30.9 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

Ashe County Sheriff's Office
1
of 1 officers
100% Accident
NC — Statewide
205
of 664 officers
30.9% Accident
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. George Lee Phillips's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How George Lee Phillips Compares

Age at Death
38
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. George Lee Phillips is highlighted in Sep.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
708
May
848
Jun
797
Jul
899
Aug
938
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location

Others Who Wore This Badge

0 officers from Ashe County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.