Phillips Family Papers, 1847-1856, n.d.
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
The four Phillips sisters were the daughters of Dinah Barnard (d. 1844) and Mahlon Phillips (d. 1844). The sisters, Edith Bennett, Philena, Hannah, and Sarah Grace, called Sallie or Sally, were four of eleven children, raised in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. They had five brothers, Joseph (1819-1877), John (1821-1877), James M. (1822-1890), and Cyrus, who died in his childhood (1834-1838). Additionally, the siblings had two more sisters, Rebecca (1824-1825) who died in infanthood, and Deborah (1829-1847), who died before the letters in this collection were written. The Phillips family belonged to the Progressive Society of Friends, were ardent abolitionists, and, according to family history, members of the Underground Railroad.
Edith Phillips was born in 1825. She attended Central College in McGrawville, New York, in 1850. This integrated college had been established the year before by abolitionist Free Baptists, and had at least two African-American professors, including William G. Allen whom Edith admired. In 1850 Edith survived a small pox epidemic that swept through the college. Two years later, Edith enrolled in Oberlin’s Preparatory Department, and then in the College from 1853 to 1854. While at Oberlin, she met William Warren Woodruff (A.B. 1854, A.M. 1860), whom she married on September 25, 1855. They had a son, William Warren Woodruff, Jr. (1860-1935), who was also an Oberlin student (1878-82 Preparatory, College). He married Jennie Finney, a granddaughter of President Charles G. Finney. Edith died in West Chester, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1864 at the age of 39.
Philena Phillips, born 1827, taught in 1847 at a small school in York Springs, Pennsylvania. Philena then enrolled in the Literary Course at Oberlin in 1852-1853, and in the College in 1853-55, but she did not graduate. She died on November 25, 1856 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, at the age of 29, of tuberculosis contracted when she was a student at Oberlin.[1]
Hannah Phillips was born in 1831. She also taught school, although the record does not provide a location. She enrolled in Oberlin College from 1852 to 1854. She married J. Melancthon Frink, and died in Seattle, Washington on December 16, 1874 when she was 44 years old.
The youngest of the sisters, Sarah Grace (Sallie or Sally) Phillips, was born 1836. Sallie was enrolled in Oberlin’s Preparatory Department between 1852 and 1854. She died in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on August 3, 1867, at the age of 31.
Sources Consulted
Student file of Edith Phillips (Mrs. W.W. Woodruff), RG 28/1
Student file of Philena Phillips, RG 28/1
Student file of Hannah Phillips (Mrs. J. M. Frink), RG 28/1
Student file of Sarah Grace Phillips, RG 28/1
“Notes,” author unknown, Phillips Family Case File
Correspondence between Anna B. (Mrs. Jacob F.) Pratt and Oberlin College Archivist William Bigglestone (1966-1986), Phillips Family Case File
Note: A modest amount of biographical information about the family exists.
[1] According to correspondence from the great-niece of the four Phillips sisters, Anna B. (Mrs. Jacob F.) Pratt, all the sisters eventually died of tuberculosis they had contracted at Oberlin. Many letters in the collection make reference to the precarious state of Philena’s health, and the treatments that she received for her failing health.
Author: Carol Hollier Administrative Information
The Phillips Family papers document a period in the young-adulthood of the four sisters, Edith, Philena, Hannah, and Sallie. The bulk of the collection is personal correspondence written by Edith and Philena to various family members. Many of the letters describe student life both, in the case of Edith, at Central College in McGrawville, New York, in 1850, and from all the sisters at Oberlin Preparatory and College between 1852 and 1855. Of special interest are Edith’s descriptions of student life at Central College, including being quarantined through the 1850 small pox epidemic that swept the campus; her fond and detailed descriptions of the African-American professor of rhetoric, William G. Allen; and descriptions of campus visits by Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) and Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), “these abolitionists of the Empire State,” whom Edith described as “rugged, determined looking people.” Also of special interest are the sisters’ descriptions of travel through upstate New York, including their 1153 mile trip by water, rail and stage to Oberlin; their graphic descriptions of the town of Oberlin, their housekeeping arrangements and the cold weather; notes on the Ladies Literacy Society and comments on speakers of the day, including President Charles G. Finney, Henry Ward Beecher, and Antoinette Brown. Philena’s letters include an especially rich description of the 1853 [Robert] Burns Festival at Oberlin.
Also preserved are a series of essays and orations, some written by Philena at Oberlin, and some not identified as to author or location. The essays reflect student life, and cover topics such as “The Head and the Heart,” Greek mythology, and an analysis of American author Grace Greenwood’s (Sara Jane Lippincott, 1823-1904) book, History of My Pets. Two of the essays, both on symbolism and nature, were delivered as orations, one at the Oberlin Ladies Literary Society in 1852, and the other at McGrawville in 1854.
The collection is divided into three series. Series 1 contains the correspondence of the four sisters. Series 2 contains the correspondence of other Phillips family members, sometimes written to the sisters, and sometimes mentioning news of them. Series three consists of essays and orations, five by Philena Phillips, and seven unidentified.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Phillips Sisters Correspondence, 1847-53, n.d. (7 folders)
The outgoing correspondence of the four Phillips sisters is divided into four separate subseries, as described below. An asterisk beside an original letter entry indicates the existence of a transcription maintained in a separate folder. All original letters are encapsulated. Arranged chronologically.
Subseries 1: Letters of Edith Phillips (outgoing), 1847-53, n.d.
The correspondence of Edith Phillips is comprised of fifteen original letters written to her siblings, primarily from Central College in McGrawville, New York and from Oberlin, Ohio. The letters primarily concern Edith’s experiences as a student at Central College in McGrawville, her travel through New York State and to Ohio, and life as a student at Oberlin. Also included are transcriptions for four of the letters.
Subseries 2: Letters of Philena Phillips (outgoing), 1847-53
Philena Phillips’s correspondence includes ten letters written from Pennsylvania and Oberlin to relatives concerning teaching at a small school, her housekeeping arrangements with her sisters in Oberlin, new of her declining health, reports on classes and classmates, descriptions of hearing Henry Ward Beecher speak, and a notable account of the 1853 Oberlin [Robert] Burns Festival. Also included are transcriptions for five of the letters.
Subseries 3: Letters of Hannah Phillips (outgoing), n.d.
A single original letter from Hannah Phillips, written to a cousin describing teaching school, is included in this subseries.
Subseries 4: Letters of Sarah Grace (Sallie) Phillips (outgoing), 1853, n.d.
The Phillips family collection contains two letters written by Sarah Grace (Sallie) Phillips. One letter from Oberlin is written on a piece of paper shared with Edith and Philena Phillips. That original letter and its transcription are both filed in subseries 1. The second letter, contained herein, is an original letter written by Sallie from West Chester, Pennsylvania, and describes her reasons for leaving Oberlin.
Series II. Letters of Other Phillips Family Members (1 folder)
The correspondence of other Phillips family members includes two letters from a cousin to Hannah Phillips; from Barclay Pemrock (classmate?) to Hannah Phillips; from John B. Phillips to an unidentified brother; from W.W. Woodruff, Edith’s husband; and others.
Series III. Essays and Orations, 1852-54, n.d. (2 folders)
The series essays and orations includes five handwritten essays and orations by Philena Phillips. Also included are seven essays and orations written by an unidentified author(s).
Subseries 1. Essays and Orations by Philena Phillips
The essays and orations included in this subseries are all signed by Philena Phillips. They include a speech entitled “Symbolism and Nature,” which she delivered before the Ladies Literary Society in 1852. The essays primarily concern student life at Oberlin, and engage topics such as Greek mythology and “Dolor Dentium.”
Subseries 2. Essays and Orations (Unidentified Authors)
The essays and orations in this subseries are not signed, and primarily concern topics of the day, slavery, reformers, and “Jus Divinum.” One unsigned oration concerning symbolism and nature was delivered at McGrawville on July 12, 1854. Also included is the undated writing entitled “Joseph Barnard’s Account Concerning his Grandson.”
INVENTORY
Box 1
Series I. Phillips Sisters Correspondence, 1847-53, n.d.
An asterisk denotes that a transcription exists for the original letter. In some case there are two or three transcriptions of a letter.
Subseries 1. Letters of Edith Phillips (outgoing), 1847-53, n.d.
Original letters (folder 1)
To “Dear Brothers and Sisters,” York
Springs, December 17, 1847
To “Dear Brothers,” Central College,
June 4
To “Dear Brothers, Sisters,” Cayuga
Lake, July 9, 1850
To “Dear Brother,” McGrawville,
July 23, 1850
To “Dear Mary,” McGrawville,
December 13, 1850
To “Dear Sister,” February 7, 1851
To “Dear Brother,” March 6, 1851
To “Dear Brothers & Sister,” Oberlin,
August 5, 1851*
Original letters (folder 2)
To “Dear Brother,” Chandler Darlington,
November 17, 1851
To “Dear Brother and Sister,” Oberlin,
August 27, 1852*
To “Dear Brother,” Oberlin, May 28, 1853*
To “Dear Brother and sister, Jim and
Mary,” Oberlin, September 4, 1853
[single sheet written on by Edith,
Philena and Sallie]*
To “Dear Brother and Sister,” Oberlin,
November 14, 1853 [single sheet
written on by Edith and Philena]
Fragment, [single sheet written on by Edith
and Philena] n.d.
Fragment, n.d.
Transcriptions (folder 3)
Transcriptions of the letters of Edith Phillips,
1847-53, n.d.
Subseries 2. Letters of Philena Phillips (outgoing), 1847-53, n.d.
Original Letters (folder 1)
To “Dear Ed,” York Springs,
February 9, 1847
To “Dear Sister,” York Springs,
August 10, 1847
To “Dear Sister,” Kennett Square,
March 4, 1849
To “Dear Sister Sallie,” Oberlin,
December 9, 1851*
To “Dear Sister,” Oberlin, March 1852*
To “Dear Sister Mary,” Kennett Square,
January 24, 1853*
To “Dear Sallie,” Oberlin, January 31, 1853*
To “Dear Brother and sister, Jim and
Mary,” Oberlin, September 4, 1853
[single sheet written on by Edith,
Philena and Sallie; filed in subseries 1;
transcription filed in subseries1]*
To “Dear Brother and Sister,” Oberlin,
November 14, 1853 [single sheet
written on by Edith and Philena—
filed in subseries 1]
Fragment, n.d.
Transcriptions (folder 2)
Transcriptions of the letters of Philena
Phillips, 1851-53
Subseries 3. Letters of Hannah Phillips (outgoing and incoming), 1853, n.d.
Original letters
From Hannah Phillips to “Dear Cousin,”
Seventh day evening 15th
Barclay Pemrock to, “My Dear Friend,”
[Hannah Phillips] New York,
October 23, 1853
From “Thy Loving Cousin,” to “Dear Cousin,”
[Hannah Phillips] London Grove, n.d.
Subseries 4: Letters of Sarah Grace (Sallie) Phillips (outgoing), 1853, n.d.
To “Dear Brother and sister, Jim and Mary,”
Oberlin, September 4, 1853 [single
sheet written on by Edith, Philena
and Sallie; filed in subseries 1;
transcription filed in subseries1]*
To “My dear brother,” West Chester,
January 28 (original)
Series II. Letters of Other Phillips Family Members, 1852-56, n.d.
Original letters
John B. Phillips to “Dear Brother,” Philadelphia,
February 21, 1852
Barclay Pemrock to “Dear Cousin,” Wilmington,
April 18, 1854
From “P__ “ to “Dear Brother and Sister,” Corner
of Franklin and Race, Philadelphia,
September 10, 1855
W.W. Woodruff, to “Dear Brother,” Detroit,
June 29, 1856
Series III. Essays and Orations, 1852-1854, n.d.
Subseries 1. Essays and Orations by Philena Phillips
“Symbolism and Nature,” before the Ladies
Literary Society, August 1852
“Reformers,” n.d.
“Grace Greenwood’s History of My Pets,” n.d.
No title [subject is “Dolor Dentium,”], n.d.
No title [subject is Greek mythology], n.d.
Subseries 2. Unidentified Essays and Orations
No title, Oberlin, November 30, 1853.
No title [subject is symbolism of nature], spoken
at McGrawville, July 12, 1854
“The Head and the Heart,” December 1, 1854
“Jus Divinum,” n.d.
“Oration The Good Man, the Only Positive
Man” n.d.
No title [subject is comparison of Russia and
the Union and slavery], n.d.
“Joseph Barnard’s Account Concerning his
Grandson,” n.d. (encapsulated original,
photocopy, and transcript)