Joseph Phillips (November 6, 1825September 13, 1906) was an Alsatian American immigrant, businessman, and

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pioneer. He was the 19th mayor of

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, serving from April 1870 to April 1871, and also represented the city for three terms in the

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(

1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...

1867 There were only 354 days this year in the newly purchased territory of Alaska. When the territory transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States, the calendric transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar was made with only 1 ...

1869 Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – Elizabe ...

Early life

Joseph Phillips was born in the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

region of France. As a child, he emigrated with his parents to the

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, settling first in

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, and later moving to Buffalo. In 1842, he moved west to

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, where he was employed as a clerk in a general merchandise store.

Business career

After some time, Phillips purchased the business in partnership with George End and operated it for several years as "Phillips & End". He also married Mary Anne End, the sister of his business partner. The partnership continued for more than 20 years, until George End moved to Sheboygan. Phillips then established a tannery business and operated it for nearly a decade before selling the business to Pfister & Vogel Leather Co. in 1877. At that point, he went into the fire insurance business, establishing the firm that he would manage until his death. In 1884 he took on his son-in-law, August Rebhan, as a partner and the firm was known as Phillips & Rebhan thereafter. By the time of his death, it was the largest fire insurance company in Milwaukee.

Political career

Phillips was a German Catholic and early in his life in Milwaukee—as with many others of his demographic—he became associated with the

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. He was elected to the Milwaukee City Council in the 1850s, and was then elected to several terms as city treasurer. He was subsequently elected to three terms in the

, serving in the

, and

sessions. He represented what was then Milwaukee's sixth ward, which then comprised the city's north side, west of the

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. In the 1870 spring election, he was elected mayor of Milwaukee, running on the Democratic ticket. His term as mayor was dominated by a controversy over his attempt to enforce a Sunday law—requiring saloons and bars to close on Sundays. He ran for re-election in 1871 and lost in a landslide to Republican Harrison Ludington.

Personal life and family

Joseph Phillips married Mary Anne End in 1848. They had four sons and five daughters before Mary died in 1868. Their third son was Charles H. Phillips, who went on to become a prominent lawyer in Milwaukee and served in the

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in the 1930s. Their daughter, Elizabeth, married August Rebhan of

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, and had three children. After the death of his first wife, Joseph Phillips married Henrietta Liginger in February 1871. He had at least four children with his second wife, but three died in infancy and the fourth died young. From 1873 until his death, he resided at what is known as the "Casper Sanger House", part of the Brewers Hill Historic District in the

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Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 4, 1871

References

External links

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Joseph Milwaukee Common Council members Mayors of Milwaukee Wisconsin Democrats Businesspeople from Wisconsin 1825 births 1906 deaths People from Alsace French emigrants to the United States 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature