Phillips family papers

Philip Phillips (1807-1884) was born to Aaron and Caroline Phillips in Charleston, South Carolina. Philip received a formal education under Mr. Gates and Isaac Harby before being sent to Captain Partridge's American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy at the age of 15, when it was temporarily located in Middleton, Connecticut. Returning to Charleston three years later, he decided to pursue a career in law, studying under John Gadsden. He married Eugenia Levy (1819-1902) in 1836 and the couple settled in Mobile, Alabama, where he served two terms in the state legislature. In 1853, he was elected as a U.S. Congressman and the family moved to Washington, D.C. He served one term, from 1853-1855, before setting up a law practice in Washington.

Philip was a Unionist, opposed to secession; his wife, however, was a Confederate. In 1861 when the family was living in Washington, D.C., she was accused by federal authorities of participating in a spy ring. She and two of her daughters were put under house arrest in Rose O'Neal Greenhow's home for three weeks before being released on the condition that the family move south. The family left Washington, D.C., and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1862, where Philip continued his law practice. There Eugenia was again imprisoned, this time on Ship Island, a former quarantine station in the Mississippi Delta, for allegedly failing to show respect during the funeral of a Union solider. She was released after three and a half months, and she and her husband were summoned to take a loyalty oath to the United States. They refused to sign and the family then moved to LaGrange, Georgia, where they remained for the duration of the war. In 1867, Philip returned to practicing law in Washington, D.C., primarily before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Philip and Eugenia had twelve children. Their second youngest son, William Hallett Phillips (1853-1897), also became a lawyer who argued cases before the Supreme Court. Their youngest son, Philip Lee Phillips (1857-1924) became the first Superintendent of Maps at the Library of Congress when the Hall of Maps and Charts was established in 1897.