Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 560] the widow of the late Ephraim Phillip, is a woman whose influence for all that is good has been long felt and recognized in and about North Beaver township. For many years she and her devoted husband lived in harmony, rearing a well-trained family, and doing good to all who came within the range of their Christian influence.
Mrs. Florence L. (Gilmore) Phillip was a daughter of highly-respected parents, Joseph and Sarah (Pitts) Gilmore. She married the late Ephraim Phillip, nobly assuming the care of several children born to him by his first wife, who died at an early age. Ephraim Phillip was the son of Ephraim and Anna (Newton) Phillip. Ephraim Phillip, Sr., was a native of the State of New Jersey, as was his wife; after their marriage they journeyed to Lawrence County and purchased a place near Enon Valley. The country was then new, and a log-house was their first abiding-place; this rude building continued to be their home until Mr. Phillip began to manufacture brick from a fine bed of clay he found on his estate, and thus was provided with the material for a new house. A brick structure was accordingly erected, and is standing to-day, a tribute to his excellent, painstaking work. Being located on the State Road he saw a chance to make money in the tavern business, which he followed for some time. He also built a saw-mill, and did a great amount of custom-work for the early settlers thereabouts. He died at the early age of forty-three years, having accomplished very much in that comparatively brief period. His children were: Thomas, deceased; Catherine; Isaac N., deceased; Sarah; Ephraim, Jr.; John Taylor; Mary, deceased; Charles M.; and Thomas W. Ephraim Phillip, the younger, and the husband of the subject of this sketch, was born in Little Beaver township, Feb. 23, 1824, and died April 29, 1897. He was known from his youth up as a man possessed of the highest Christian attributes and virtues. Educated at the Meadville Academy, he in early life preached the gospel and assisted in the erection of the Disciples Church at New Castle, Pa. Later in life he retired from active work in the ministry, and purchased the beautiful home, now the home of his honored widow. Many improvements were added as time passed. His attention was given over chiefly to agricultural pursuits, and his devoted wife ably seconded him, whatever the interests were that were at stake. On a part of his estate, he erected five cottages, and sold off lots from the portion which is now known as Willow Grove. He and his wife also donated two lots for the site of a school-house in their neighborhood. The story of the life of Ephraim Phillip is that of his wife now left behind. In all the busy affairs of life, she was his companion and adviser. He was a good business man, and an active and respected citizen. He was a true, earnest Christian in every sense of the word. She was quite as devout and fully as sympathetic.
Mr. Phillip's first wife was Lucretia Kelso, who at her death left him four children, namely: Alexander C.; Annie; Sadie; and Elizabeth. Though they lost their own dear mother, these children found another as loving and as pains-taking. The children born to Ephraim and Florence L. Phillip were: Goldie Idena, born Dec. 8, 1887; Orlando Russell, Nov. 15, 1889; and Floyd Wendell, Feb. 26, 1892.
In her beautiful home, surrounded with the things that make life worth the living, Mrs. Phillip now resides. She devotes her time to her growing children, and no one could be a truer mother. With all the varied duties of home, she always finds time to listen to the story of the distressed, and to extend a helping hand to the needy one, destitute of the necessities of life. The loss of her beloved and respected husband was a great one to her, and he was none the less mourned by the community. It is a comfort to his widow to know in what esteem he was held, how his Christian character is cited as a model, and how he is missed by all those who used to know him. She, however, is ably using the means in her control to be of the same use and the same good that they would unitedly have been had he been spared.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 17 Jul 2001