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Thomas W. Phillips Jr.

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Thomas W. Phillips Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 26th district
In office
1923–1927
Preceded byWilliam H. Kirkpatrick
Succeeded byJ. Howard Swick
Personal details
Born(1874-11-21)November 21, 1874
New Castle, Pennsylvania
DiedJanuary 2, 1956(1956-01-02) (aged 81)
Penn Township, Pennsylvania
Spouses
Alma Janet Sherman
​
(died 1945)​
Greta W. Schoenwald
​
(m. 1946)​
Children6
ParentThomas Wharton Phillips
EducationPhillips Academy
Alma materYale University

Thomas Wharton Phillips Jr. (November 21, 1874 – January 2, 1956) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Early life

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Phillips was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania on November 21, 1874. He was the son of Pamphila (née Hardman) Phillips (1844–1933) and Thomas Wharton Phillips (1835–1912),[1] who also served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, and later, was appointed a member of the United States Industrial Commission by President William McKinley.[2]

Through his father, he was a descendant of a pastor who founded the Congregational Church in New England in the 18th century.[3]

He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1894 and from the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University in 1897, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity.[4]

Career

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He was engaged in the petroleum, natural gas, and coal businesses, taking over his father's business in 1912.[3] He was a delegate to the 1916 Republican National Convention.[4]

Phillips was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth Congresses, and did not seek renomination for Congress in 1926. While in Congress, he was a bitter opponent of Prohibition.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor in 1926, 1930, and 1934.

Post Congress

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After his service in Congress, he resumed his former occupation and was president of the Phillips Gas and Oil Co., serving for forty-four years.[5] He was also a director of the Butler Consolidated Coal Co., and the Pennsylvania Investment and Real Estate Corp., of Butler, Pennsylvania.[4]

Personal life

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Phillips was married to Alma Janet Sherman (1882–1945). Alma was the daughter of Roger Sherman, a noted lawyer in Western Pennsylvania, and Alma Caroline (née Seymour) Sherman. Together, they were the parents of six children, five of whom lived to maturity:

  • Janet Sherman Phillips (b. 1909), who married Leander McCormick-Goodhart (1884–1965), son of Frederick E. McCormick-Goodhart and grandson of Leander J. McCormick,[6] in 1928.[7][8]
  • Katherine Phillips (b. 1910), who married Lucien Gerard van Hoorn, the Dutch chargé d'affaires to Austria and Hungary, in 1932.[9] She later married British doctor Frederick L. Rutgers in 1942.[10][11]
  • Alma Phillips (1913–1913), who died in infancy.
  • Margaret Sherman Phillips (1914–1990), who married Augustus Craig Succop in 1934.[12]
  • Thomas Wharton Phillips III (b. c. 1915).[13]
  • Roger Sherman Phillips (1922–1969), who married Virginia Dickson (1922–2011) in 1943.[14] He later married Jeannie Kay DeKlyn (1938–2008), a daughter of Dr. Ward Benedict DeKlyn.[15]

After the death of his first wife in 1945, he remarried the following year to Greta W. Schoenwald.[3] Greta, a mezzo-soprano soloist,[16] was a faculty member at Bethany College in West Virginia from 1955 to 1958.[17]

He died at his mansion, Phillips Hall, on Butler Plank Road in Penn Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania on January 2, 1956.[4] After a funeral at the North Street Church of Christ, where he was a member, he was buried in North Cemetery in Butler, Pennsylvania.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Phillips, Alexander Van Cleve (1942). The Lott family in America, including the allied families: Cassell, Davis, Graybeal, Haring, Hegeman, Hogg, Kerley, Phillips, Thompson, Walter and others. Edwards Brothers. p. 92. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  2. ^ "PHILLIPS, Thomas Wharton - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Oil Leader, Ex-Lawmaker -- Funeral Tomorrow for T. W. Phillips". The Pittsburgh Press. 3 Jan 1956. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d "PHILLIPS, Thomas Wharton, Jr. - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  5. ^ a b "Phillips Rites Today In Butler -- Oil-Gas Tycoon Was Bitter Foe Of Prohibition". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 4 Jan 1956. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  6. ^ "L. GOODHART, McCORMICK KIN, DIES AT 81". Chicago Tribune. 17 Dec 1965. p. 45. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  7. ^ "MISS HELEN NEILSON TO WED T.B. RUDD; Member of Junior League, a Settlement Worker, Is toMarry Lawyer.MISS M. STURGES ENGAGEDSmith College Graduate Is to MarryTruxton Homans Parsons-- Other Betrothals. Sturges--Parsons. Weston--Weston. Jesser--Billingham. Woodhull--Sayward. Mulford--Throop. Butterick--Rogers. Phillips--McCormick-Goodhart. Edwards--Alliger" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 March 1928. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  8. ^ "MISS JANET PHILLIPS IS WED IN WASHINGTON; Becomes the Bride of Leander McCormick-Goodhart--British Ambassador and Staff Attend" (PDF). The New York Times. 29 April 1928. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Phillips Family Come for Wedding". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 7 Nov 1932. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  10. ^ "International Import Attached To Nuptials -- Daughter of Butler Family Becomes Bride of London Doctor in New York; Mother Attends Ceremony". The Pittsburgh Press. 3 Feb 1942. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  11. ^ Lee, Cuthbert (1968). Portrait Register. Biltmore Press. p. 350. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Girl of Colonial Ancestry Becomes Bride In Ceremony at Phillips' Hall Near Butler -- Nuptial Service Takes Place in Living Room Of Home". The Pittsburgh Press. 6 May 1934. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  13. ^ Principal Women of America. Mitre Press. 1936. p. 428. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Virginia Dickson Is Engaged to Marry Roger S. Phillips". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 29 Jan 1943. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  15. ^ "ROGER S. PHILLIPS SERVICES TOMORROW". The Bridgeport Post. 14 Feb 1969. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  16. ^ Music Clubs Magazine. National Federation of Music Clubs. 1954. p. 106. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  17. ^ Bethany College: A Liberal Arts Odyssey. Chalice Press. 2014. p. 356. ISBN 9780827202962. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 26th congressional district
1923−1927 		Succeeded by
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