HOWARD W. PHILLIPS, M. D.
Prominent in professional circles in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, esteemed in every relation of life, and identified with educational movements in his locality, is Dr. Howard W. Phillips, who is also a veteran officer of the Civil war. His birth was in Brooklyn, New York, on July 24, 1837, and he was a son of Henry Miller and Jane Elizabeth (Howard) Phillips.
The Phillips family is of English origin and, with the Howard family, was one of the oldest to locate in eastern New York. There was a time when the Howard family owned all the land extending from Bedford to Jamaica avenues in Brooklyn, and a portion of this land is now included in Evergreen cemetery, and in this beautiful spot reposes the remains of Whitehead Howard, our subject's maternal grandfather, with his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
Henry Miller Phillips, who was the father of our subject, was born on the old homestead farm in Dutchess county, New York, and there spent his boyhood and early manhood, but he subsequently removed to the city of New York. His loyal spirit made him a soldier under General Worth, in the Mexican war, and during the Civil war he was attached to the staff of General Slocum as a veterinary surgeon. This profession he followed in private life. After the close of the Civil war he went to California, and subsequently removed to Illinois, but later returned to his native state, locating in Bath, Steuben county, where he died at the advanced age of ninety years. Two children were born to him and his wife, namely: Howard W. and Henrietta, the latter dying at the age of sixteen years.
Howard W. Phillips acquired his primary education in Clinton Street Academy, in Brooklyn, under the tuition of the late distinguished Dr. Bigelow, prepared for Columbia College, at which he graduated in 1858, and entered immediately upon the study of medicine in the old College of Physicians and Surgeons, which is now the medical department of Columbia College, and he graduated at this institution in 1868.
At the outbreak of the Civil war Dr. Phillips entered the army in Company E, Thirteenth New York Militia, and after completing his term of service, re-enlisted in the First Long Island regiment, known as the Sixty-seventh New York, and in this regiment he served as second lieutenant until 1862, when he left this regiment to accept a captain's commission in Company E. One Hundred and Thirty-ninth New York Regiment, which was formed in Brooklyn ; and with this well-known regiment of brave men he served until 1864, when he was discharged at McGredy, Williamsburg, Virginia, on account of disability, and returned home.
After a tedious convalescence, Dr. Phillips resumed his medical studies and graduated, as mentioned previously, in 1868. During the latter part of 1868 he served as an interne in the Charity hospital on Blackwell Island, and in the fall of 1869 he began the regular practice of his profession in Brooklyn, his old home, and became a successful member of the profession in that city for eleven years. Desiring a change and rest from the trying life of the physician, our subject removed to a fanm near Middletown, Orange county, New York, where he engaged in farming for a year and then went to Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent one year in practice. In 1883 Dr. Phillips located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and since that date has been actively engaged, has built up a successful business, and has become one of the esteemed citizens. His long army experience, although not in the medical line, gave him opportunities which interested him in his chosen work, and since then he has steadily progressed along the lines of latest discovery in medicine and surgery. The Doctor is a reflective reader and a close student and has been appointed medical examiner for the Catholic Benevolent Legion, his known skill and ability having gained for him universal confidence. Dr. Phillips is connected with the U. S. Grant Post, G. A. R., of Brooklyn.
Dr. Phillips was married in Brooklyn, New York, to Miss Philemon Clavel, who was a daughter of Joseph and Adel Clavel.
Source: The New Jersey Coast In Three Centuries, Volume III, by Peter Ross and Fenwick Y. Hedley, published by The Lewis Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1902; Pgs. 201-202
