CAPTAIN ANSYL PHILLIPS.
Captain Ansyl Phillips, one of the veterans of the river, at presents connected with the Keokuk Northern Line, was born in the city of New York, 1816. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Manhattan Island. His father moved to Hardin County, Kentucky, in 1817, and from" there to Cincinnati in 1834. That same year his father died of" cholera, and having been a man whom confidence in his associates tempted to endorse freely, he left his widow and six children, the eldest of whom was Ansyl, to fight the battles of life for themselves. Ansyl, assuming the responsibility thus early thrust upon him, first got employment with Col. Hunt, father-in-law of George H. Pendleton, where he remained three years until the Colonel died. Two years were then spent in learning the baker's trade, when he went on the river as a cabin-boy. He has filled every office on a steamboat, from cabin-boy to captain, and filled each post with fidelity and satisfaction. The first side wheel boat that ever went up the Illinois river carried him, and ascended farther than any steamer has since gone.
In 1852 he commenced with the Keokuk Packet Company, and was General Superintendent of that line until the consolidation in 1873. Outside of his regular business on the river, Captain Phillips has held numerous offices of trust and responsibility, which attest the flattering estimation in which his abilities are held. He is President of one of our insurance companies, and a Director in several others. When the St. Louis Fair Association was first organized, he was one of its originators, became its first Vice-President, and has maintained his connection with it ever since. When the Atlantic and Mississippi Steamship Company, the most extensive steamboat corporation that was ever created in this country, representing over two and one-half million dollars, passed out of existence, Captain Phillips, from his excellent judgment and perfect familiarity with the requirements of the river, was selected as one of the appraisers to determine the value of the property.
He is now one of the pillars of the Keokuk Northern Line Packet Company, and a sterling and enterprising citizen.
Source: St. Louis, The Commercial Metropolis Of The Mississippi Valley, by R.U. Reavis, published by Tribune Publishing Company, St. Louis, 1874; Pgs. 26-27
