Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Phillips, John S

title	Phillips Family Business records, 1793-1838.
repository	Hagley Museum and Library
description	The records consist of four volumes of William Phillips and a day book from the firm of Lewis, Phillips & Co., plus an unrelated receipt book of Philadelphia wine merchant Francis Coppinger (1794-1795). The personal account book of William Phillips (1793-1807) details his numerous merchant ventures, including voyages to the Caribbean, Canton, Dunkirk, Morocco and Calcutta. It records profits and losses for individual voyages and wages paid to seamen, his transactions in Philadelphia real estate and speculations in frontier lands. William’s household expense book (1808-1818) records payments to servants and farm laborers, with names, occupations, days worked, and wages. The volume also records payments for household provisions, some of which came from his own farm. It also contains accounts for a trading voyage with the ship Margaret to Guernsey and London in 1795-1796. William’s Riversdale Farm accounts (1821-1830) document the commercial production of butter, eggs, pork and cider, as well as the purchase of manure from the city streets, the raising of livestock and the cutting of firewood. A second personal account book (1826-1838) documents William’s activities after he ceased to be an active trader and transferred his money into real estate and stocks. The accounts record house and ground rent on his sizeable holdings within Philadelphia County and as far away as Virginia. Non-real estate investments include several turnpike companies, banks and insurance companies. The volume includes 30 pages of accounts documenting William’s involvement in his son’s textile firm and the losses sustained in the sugar refinery. The day book of Lewis, Phillips & Co. (1825-1830), documents the operation of the Rockdale cotton factory with occasional references to the operation at Holmesburg. It includes the construction costs for the Rockdale mill, the purchase of raw materials and the shipment of products, including shirting, sheeting, ticks, calicoes, etc. One entry records an expense for advertising for weavers in Philadelphia. The receipt book of Francis Coppinger (1795-1796) documents his personal expenses as well as his mercantile trade in wine, sugar and cotton with the brig Nancy. Transactions include board and lodging for Coppinger and his servants, servant’s wages, cellar rent, laundry bills, wharfage, etc. The Coppinger family was apparently associated with William Phillips in several ventures. History: The Phillips family were important Philadelphia merchants and manufacturers over four generations. John Phillips (1702-1762), the founder of the family in America, was the son of a Welsh curate. He ran away to sea and by his ability rose to be a successful merchant captain. Quarrelling with his wife’s family, he determined to emigrate to America. He sailed to Barbadoes, and with the profits of the voyage purchased some sick slaves from the captain of a slave ship. These he restored to health and sailed to Philadelphia, where he established a rope-walk with his mate as foreman and the slaves as laborers. His son, John Phillips (1739-1806), continued the business. William Phillips (1771-1845) clerked in the counting house of George Meade and became a merchant and importer. He began in the French trade, but later extended his operations to the West Indies, the Mediterranean and the Far East, generally trading Pennsylvania foodstuffs for rum, wine , spices and cloth. He maintained a large house in Philadelphia and a farm and summer home on the Delaware River north of the city. He also invested in city real estate and speculated in land in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Kentucky. John Smith Phillips (1800-1876), the eldest son of William, was a skilled mechanic and manufacturer. His first venture was a partnership with Joseph S. Lovering in a sugar refinery, and he later joined his brother-in-law, David Lewis, in operating a cotton-weaving mill in Holmesburg. In 1825 Lewis, Phillips & Co. took a ten-year lease of the Old Sable Forge and Nail Works at Rockdale on Chester Creek and built a cotton mill with 200 power looms. The sugar refinery failed in 1826, and William, who had endorsed his sons notes, lost a portion of his fortune, while Lovering was briefly jailed for debt. By contributing his expertise to the textile business, John Phillips overcame his reverses. In 1835, when the Rockdale lease expired, he removed the operation to Fairmount in Philadelphia. John S. Phillips was a founding member of the Franklin Institute in 1824. He was also a leading member of the Academy of Natural Sciences and an accomplished conchologist. In later life he invented a slide lathe to cut screws of irregular sizes and engaged in the manufacture of fine ivory turnings. He privately supported the technical training of young mechanics and assembled a large collection of Old Master prints and engravings, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Location: SODA HOUSE - Manuscripts & Archives Call Number or Accession Number: 1924
extent	6 v.
formats	Business Papers Financial Records
access	No restrictions on use.
record source	http://www.hagley.org/library/
finding aid	Part I. Records of William Phillips (1793-1838), Part II. Records of Lewis, Phillips & Co. (1825-1830), Part III. Francis Coppinger receipt book.
updated	02/14/2025 10:07:41
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title	Phillips File
repository	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
description	Vertical file The Phillips file was cited several times in the book Italian Master Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, by Percy, Ann (essay) and Mimi Cazort (catalog), 2000, published by Pennsylvania State University Press, pgs. 95, 96.
extent	See Repository for details
formats	Clippings
access	See Repository for details
updated	02/14/2025 10:07:41
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