Whipple Van Buren Phillips
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 Whipple Van Buren Phillips |
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| Born | Whipple Van Buren Phillips November 22, 1833 Moosup Valley, Foster, Rhode Island |
| Died | March 28, 1904 (aged 70) Providence, Rhode Island |
| Cause of death | "paralytic shock" (stroke) |
| Resting place | Swan Point Cemetery [1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | businessman, grandfather of H. P. Lovecraft |
Whipple Van Buren Phillips (22 November 1833 - 28 March 1904[2]) was an American businessman from Providence, Rhode Island who also had mining interests in Idaho. He was most notable as the grandfather of H. P. Lovecraft whom he raised with his daughters[3] and encouraged to have an appreciation of literature especially classical literature and English poetry.
[edit] Life
At the age of 14, he was orphaned when his father Jeremiah was killed in an industrial accident.[4] He ran a store in Moosup Valley. He invented a fringe-trimming machine and made a good deal of money from it.
Phillips married Robie (or Roby) Alzada Place on 27 Jan 1856[5], and left to seek his fortune. He operated a successful sawmill in the village of Greene, named by him for a hero of the American Revolution, Nathanael Greene. In 1874, he sold out and settled in Providence. He served in several public offices and joined every organization in Providence, including the Masons.
The two had five children,
- Lillian Delora Phillips (1856-1932)
- Sarah Susan Phillips (1857-1921)
- Emeline Estella Phillips (1859-1865)
- Edwin Everett Phillips (1864-1918)
- Annie Emeline Phillips (1866-1941)
Whipple ran the successful Owyhee Land and Irrigation Company[6]. In 1900, however, a dam built by his company on the Snake River in Idaho failed, as did a replacement dam. He was forced to sell off personal property to avoid complete ruin.
On Sunday evening, March 27, 1904, while he was visiting the home of a crony, Alderman Gray, he was seized by a “paralytic shock”, likely a stroke. He died the following day, near midnight at his home at 454 Angell Street.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Whipple Van Buren Phillips at Find a Grave
- ^ Loucks, Donovan K. (24 April 2007). "H.P. Lovecraft’s Family". The H. P. Lovecraft Archive. http://hplovecraft.com/life/family.asp. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
- ^ Phillips Lovecraft, Howard; Joshi, S. T. (1 October 1999). The call of Cthulhu and other weird stories. Penguin. p. vii. ISBN 0141182342. http://books.google.com/books?id=tNmCBPX7S3sC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- ^ De Camp, L. Sprague (1975). Lovecraft: a biography (1st ed.). Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. p. 11. ISBN 0385005784. "... a mill accident; he caught his coattails in the machinery."
- ^ http://whipple.org/11254
- ^ Faig, Jr, Kenneth W. (2009). "Whipple V. Phillips and the Owyhee Land and Irrigation Company". The Unknown Lovecraft (1st ed.). New York: Hippocampus Press. ISBN 978-0-9814888-7-5.
- ^ De Camp, L. Sprague (1975). Lovecraft : a biography (1st ed.). Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. p. 38. ISBN 0385005784.
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