Lawrence Cowle Phipps (August 30, 1862 – March 1, 1958) was a
United States Senator
The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress.
Party affiliation
Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
representing
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
from 1919 until 1931.
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]
Biography
Lawrence Cowle Phipps was born on August 30, 1862, in Amity, Pennsylvania, the son of William Henry Phipps and Agnes McCall.[ He grew up in ]Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, where he joined the Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was formed in ...
as a clerk. His uncle, Henry Phipps, was the second-largest shareholder in the company. Lawrence Phipps eventually advanced to first vice president. He retired in 1901, and moved to Denver, Colorado
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, where he was active in investments, and was president of the Colorado Taxpayers Protective League in 1917.
In 1918, Phipps was elected to the United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
as a member of the Republican Party, defeating the Democratic incumbent, John Franklin Shafroth. Phipps was reelected in 1924 on the memorable slogan, "A vote for Lawrence C. Phipps is another vote for Coolidge." He did not run again in 1930.
Between 1931 and 1933, Phipps and his third wife, the former Margaret Rogers, built the Phipps Estate, in part to provide jobs during the Great Depression. Mrs. Phipps donated the mansion and grounds to the University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...
in 1964. Two of his sons in Gerald
Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...
and Allen went on to purchase and operate the Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
.
Phipps died on March 1, 1958, in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
.Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
.
Legacy
Phipps is the namesake of Phippsburg, Colorado.
References
Further reading
*Official Congressional Biography, which credits both the U.S. Senate Historical Office and the biography below:
*Dictionary of American Biography; Schlup, Leonard. "Colorado Crusader and Western Conservative: Lawrence C. Phipps and the Congressional Campaign of 1926." Essays in Colorado History 9 (1989): 25–36.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Lawrence C.
1862 births
1958 deaths
Colorado Republicans
Phipps family
Politicians from Denver
Politicians from Pittsburgh
Republican Party United States senators from Colorado
Burials at Fairmount Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)
20th-century United States senators