Frank F. Phillips, 510 Adams Street, came to Ironton in November 1873, at the age of six weeks, and has been a good citizen ever since. His father Col. John Phillips, who entered the Union Army at the age of 18, from Waverly, was operating a blacksmith shop at Piketon in 1873. The home where they lived, a brick house still stands on Highway 23.
One day in June, that year, a traveling salesman driving a horse and buggy, broke down near the shop and called upon Col. Phillips to repair the buggy. Doing a splendid job for the salesman, and charging him such a modest price, the man remarked: “Why do you stay here? Why don’t you come to a good town where there is lots of work?”
The next day, Col. Phillips came to Ironton and opened a blacksmith shop on Third Street just below Lawrence. For three days, he didn’t have customers and standing in front of the shop, he saw a man leading a mule up Third Street.
“Where are you taking the mule?” he inquired of the man. “To get shot,” came the reply. “Let me do it,” said Col. Phillips.
“She’s a bad mule,” replied the man, “but you can try it,” said the man leading the mule into the shop, and the first customer at the Phillips Blacksmith Shop.
In a very short time, the mule had four new shoes, and the man was very much surprised when the bill was $1.60. Said the man “always before, they’ve had to throw that mule down and take all afternoon to shoe her because she kicked so and they’ve charged $10 for the job.” Mr. Phillips shoed old “Hee Haw” standing up like an old wheel horse.
From that day on, the news got out about the mule, which belonged to Rev. Kelly in West Ironton, and business got better every day at the Phillips blacksmith shop.
In November, after being here less than five months, Mr. Phillips returned to Piketon and brought the family to Ironton. They came by rail to Portsmouth and took a boat to Ironton. Mr. Phillips recalls that his dad often told the story about being almost a stranger in town, coming here with his wife and four children, and all the money he had in the world to move here and rent a house was fifty dollars.
The family moved into a house next door to Dr. Arnold on Third street, in the brick row of houses on Third just below the News office, which in recent years has been notorious and caused an FBI raid.
In 1875, Mr. Phillips moved to Second and Vernon streets, and the same year bought the lot on the west side of Second on the alley between Park Avenue and Vernon, where he built the carriage works.
In 1881, he enlarged the works, as business improved, and Newman and Spanner suggested that he build a big building to take care of his future needs and that they would extend all the credit he needed until he was able to pay for it. The Phillips carriage works was really a big institution during the 80s and 90’s making carriages and wagons for patrons in three states.
The Phillips Carriage Works built big wagons for the breweries in Cincinnati and moving vans for local people. A couple of special jabs were band wagons – one of them for the Tom Mayne family band, which rode in parades in the city. Another was a wagon for the Labor Day parade in 1890.
Col. Phillips loved a parade and was the Grand Marshal of several of the Memorial Day parades. He was a good rider and owned a horse that followed him about like a lamb and was never satisfied when hitched to a buggy downtown, without standing with his front feet on the sidewalk.
Mr. Frank Phillips has lived at 510 Adams Street since his father erected the house in 1889. That year he entered his father’s shop to learn the trade, and in 1910 took over the business which was started to be crowded out by the auto. In 1930, the Phillips Carriage Works suspended business after 57 successful years.
Elmore Independent, Elmore, Ohio 5 July 1895
Rueben Ellis, aged 9, son of Mrs. R. E. Ellis of Ironton, Ohio, was accidentally shot and killed with a Flobert gun in the hands of Walter Phillips, aged 13, son of John Phillips, a carriage builder. The mothers of both boys are nearly crazed.
0 Comments