Biography - J W Phillips
Of
the many leading and successful business men of Tuscola who have
fought their way successfully through life and who have been the architect
of their own fortune of this sketch. He is a dealer in poultry, produce,
fish, etc., and is also interested in the ice business. He founded his
present business in Tuscola in 1896, constructing a building 80x20 feet, and
one and one-half stories high. This building burned in August of the
following year, and he immediately erected on the same site a more
commodious one, 120x30 feet. It is safe to say that Mr. Phillips' poultry
business is one of the very largest in the state outside of Chicago. He has
about twenty-five men traveling buying poultry and produce throughout the
year. For fifteen years previous to his coming to Tuscola he was engaged in
the same line in Arthur.
Mr. Phillips was born in Clay county, Tennessee, April 18, 1861, his parents removing when he was quite young to Hawkins county, some fifty-five miles east of Knoxville, in the same state. He is a son of William Phillips, who was a native of Hawkins county, Tennessee. William married Miss Emily Phillips (no relation, though bearing the same name). The father died in 1863, and his mother in 1898, aged seventy-seven years. In February, 1881, Mr. Phillips wedded Miss Nellie M. Fitch, of Coles County, Illinois. They have four children: Vena, Dona, E.W., and Herald. Mr. Phillips is a member of the Woodmen and Redmen.
Extracted by Linda Lang from the Historical and Biographical Record of Douglas County, Illinois, page 225. Portrait added 22 Jul 2019.
