McPhillips Family

Summary

We have not written much about this family in awhile. “Irish” John Smith married Susan McPhillips at Keyesville, Wisconsin circa 1874. Susan’s brother, John, eventually moved his family to St. Paul, Minnesota. Brother, Patrick McPhillips, stayed in Sauk County where he farmed land near Spring Green. Another brother, Owen McPhillips, moved to Kimball, South Dakota, married Alice Shanahan and continued raising their family in Kimball.

Francis McPhillips Death

One of Owen and Alice McPhillips’ sons, Harold, married Francis Fendrich. Bill Willrodt alerted our family to Francis’s recent death, noting only that she was from another generation and a grand old lady. Her obituary appears below:

Click on Photo to see full obituary.

Francis McPhillips
Obituary (on website)
Argus Leader; Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Francis McPhillips, 104, of Salem passed away on Saturday, September 21, 2013 at Good Samaritan Home in Canistota. Funeral Mass will begin at 10:30 am on Wednesday, September 25 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Salem. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visitation will begin at 9 am on Tuesday with a rosary by the Christian Mother's at 3 pm and a prayer service at 7 pm at Kinzley Funeral Home in Salem.

Francis O Fendrich was born to Bernard and Elizabeth (Schneider) Fendrich on June 24, 1909 in Salem. She grew up in the Salem area where she attended St. Mary's Grade School and graduated from Salem High School. Francis married Harold M. McPhillips on September 18, 1950 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Salem. Over the years, she worked at Farmer's Trading Post, Hattie’s Cafe and Kolbecks.

Francis was a member of St. Mary's Church, the Altar Society, Catholic Order of Foresters, and the American Legion Auxiliary. She enjoyed playing cards, watching boy's basketball games, and especially loved to sing and dance.

Francis is survived by special friends, Rich and Cathy Roling and family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold, on December 10, 1982, her parents, one sister, Loretta Gapp, and two brothers, Ray and Bill.

Minnesota McPhillips Family

Stephen Hoffman recently sent us interesting items regarding the John McPhillips’ family. Stephen’s ancestors were John McPhillips and Katherine Powers. John McPhillips and our Susan McPhillips Smith were siblings. The following news items and artifacts reference John McPhillips’ family side.

James McPhillips Obituary

James McPhillips parents were John McPhillips and Katherine Powers.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, Minnesota
October 10, 1968, page 26C

John McPhillips Death

John McPhillips sister was our ancestor, Susan McPhillips Smith. John and Susan’s parents were Patrick McPhillips and Mary Smyth.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, Minnesota
June 9, 1920, page 13

John McPhillips also had another obituary printed about him which appeared in an earlier edition of the St. Paul newspaper.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, Minnesota
June 8, 1920, page 11

Katherine Powers McPhillips Death

More information on Katherine Powers’ family appears on our website. Some years ago Sister Brigetta Buckley wrote an essay about the John McPhillips family. She also wrote about Katherine Powers’ family.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, Minnesota
February 20, 1937, page 16

Owen McPhillips Death

Owen’s parents were John McPhillips and Katherine McPhillips.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, Minnesota
November 12, 1980, page 28F

Flossie Melrose

Stephen Hoffman sent us the following story regarding Flossie Melrose, an independent minded woman who lived many years ago. Flossie ties into the John McPhillips family.

1898 Flossie Melrose, First Lady Postmaster in Acton

The "Spoil System" for the early days of the Acton postmaster position involved, not only being a member of the political party in office in Washington, D.C., but also included being in a position to furnish the actual place of business from which to carry on the daily postal operations.

R.E. Nickel had no trouble meeting both qualifications when he became Acton's first postmaster (1887-1894) with republican Benjamin Harrison in the White House and the post office located in the R.E. Nickel General Store. The next two postmasters in Acton, H.J. Bovee and Martin P. Cutler, were evidently democrats who functioned with Grover Cleveland, democrat, during his second administration. The post office was moved into the Acton Cooperative Store, probably in hopes of rejuvenating it's troubled business (between 1894 - 1898).

The year 1897, a good building year for Acton, provided the town with a rather complete business section. The block on the east side of 4th Street, across from the new Hotel Acton, was owned by N.M. Melrose, a man with a good eye for business who did his part to add to the business development of downtown Acton. In addition to the blacksmith shop, where Henry Renkin presided, Melrose had built a neat little building in the middle of the block, and also had the livery stable and Kruger 49er Saloon building in good shape.

When President William McKinley became President of the United States in 1897, N.M. Melrose was ready! Not only was he a republican, but he had a republican wife who waned to be postmaster as well as a neat little building, located on 4th Street across from the Hotel Acton - an ideal place for the Acton post office! On May 10, 1898 Flossie A. Melrose assumed her duties as the first lady postmaster in the history of Acton post office with the transfer of all postal equipment.

Back in those early days, postmasters evidently had the authority to appoint their own help and Flossie Melrose proceeded to appoint her husband, Norman Melrose, to the position of deputy postmaster. Whether or not he really had time to relieve his wife in the Acton post office was a question since N.M. Melrose was involved in buying and selling land in and around Acton, and down aways into Mint Canyon, getting involved in the "Oil Boom" of the early 1900's (perhaps in competition with W.H. Broome of the Actonoma Oil Co), and serving on the Grand Jury in Los Angeles.

Flossie A. Melrose

Deputy postmaster, N.M. Melrose did find time to keep the new post office building in good repair and gave it a coat of paint, 1901, the same time that Zack Davidson was busy, just down the street, remodeling his home, the former Acton Cooperative Store - competition? (article taken from Heritage Happenings by Meryl Adams.)

Flossie Melrose Death Certificate - Click to Enlarge

Florence Alexander Death Certificate

Florence’s parents were John McPhillips and Katherine Powers, and was 88 years old when she died. Florence was born in Rush City, Minnesota. John and Katherine McPhillips were married in Chicago. They left Chicago and stayed in Spring Green for a short period of time before moving west to Rush City. John worked as a carpenter there and at some point left Rush City for St. Paul, Minnesota, where the McPhillips then raised their children.

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Patrick McPhillips Citizenship Papers

Stephen Hoffman provided these documents. Several interesting items appear in these two pages. First, we learn Patrick McPhillips was told by his father, Michael McPhillips, circa 1880 that he was already a citizen. In 1913 Patrick was told he could not vote since he could not prove his citizenship. Therefore, he petitioned the court to grant him citizenship. Patrick had voted in every election since he turned 21 and also served as a School District Clerk.

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Here is where the story gets interesting. The second section states Patrick traveled to America aboard the ‘Mistorian’. Stephen Hoffman told me he spent many hours looking for this elusive boat and its passenger manifest list. Unfortunately, the ‘Mistorian’ did not exist. Patrick’s brother, Owen, submitted citizenship documents at the Brule County Courthouse in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Owen said his ship’s name was ‘Historian’. Again, another ‘red herring’. The actual name of the ship which transported the McPhillips’ family to America was called the ‘Nestorian’. I too spent many hours searching for the elusive Historian’s passenger list and was ready to pull my hair out from frustration. By accident I discovered the passenger list for the Nestorian, and there it was. It showed the names of our ancestors and relatives who traveled to Quebec from Liverpool aboard the ‘Nestorian’. This is another example of why one should not always believe what they see written down on any official government document. Memories fade after a few years, and the name of the ship was not thought important to remember.

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Other McPhillips Death Certificates

One can glean important information from death certificates. Many times these documents can provide you with names of parents. Stephen Hoffman provided the following death certificate documents.

John McPhillips Death Certificate