John C

John Creighton Phillips and Isabella *Waddel-Smith were married in the year 1869, [STB] in Dundee, Angus, Scotland. Isabella was born July 31, 1846 in Easthouse, Newbattle, Midlothian, Scotland to James Smith and Isabella Waddel. Isabella Waddel-Smith was raised with seven siblings: John born April 11, 1834; Janet born March 3, 1838; Catherine born March 6, 1840; William born May 19, 1844; Mary born August 23, 1848; Morrison born March 16, 1851 and Margaret born December 18, 1853. All were born in Easthouse, Newbattle, Midlothian, Scotland.
John C. Phillips was born 20 March **1841; was baptized April 3, 1841. [His date of birth, a hand written record of all births and deaths of Phillips family members beginning with John C’s family and going forward, is recorded as 1839. This record was kept by his daughter- in-law Lula Phillips, wife of Paul Phillips.] He was born in Dundee, Angus, Scotland. The census of 1861 has John residing in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
The census of 1861 has John residing in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Sometime between 1871 and 1874, they immigrated to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Family oral history supports the notion that John was a Commissioned Officer in the British Navy circa 1862 - 1874. He is purported to have been an architect and built ships. [STB] There is documentation establishing that John was a Shipwright just like his father, however, this does not become known until he is living in [STB] Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in the late 1870’s and early 1880’s. It has been reported many times by different family members that John was involved in the construction of a ship (name unknown) that laid the first transatlantic phone cable across the Atlantic Ocean floor.

HISTORICAL NOTE: A review of the early map of Prince Edward Island as shown below, we find that the island was sectioned off into 20,000 acre lots and numbered. A search conducted by surname reveals that a Phillips lived on lots 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 52, 59, and 64 during the 1841 through 1891 census. None of which are in close proximity of Charlottetown, which would be a possible sight for a shipyard. However, if you look closely, each one has a seacoast or harbor area to support a small shipyard industry. Until documentation is found, we must rely on the accuracy of our ancestor’s oral history.

Information provided by family member Virginia Elmore Beck, as passed down from family member Verna Elmore, daughter of Clement Phillips, Sr., Verna implies that Isabella worked with the Ladies Tract Society in London and that she worked with Charles Spurgeon, a famous preacher of the era. This is possibly correct and brought to light by a eulogy written at the time of her death (possibly by her sister Margaret) which was printed in the Laurel, Florida news paper on October 11, 1916. Although, the Tract Society nor Charles Spurgeon are mentioned by name, it implies the association e.g., “far-famed ministers and even titled men and women were her appreciative co-workers.” The eulogy as written:

    The chariot swings low, with glory in its train, but it left a shadow which can never be entirely lifted, until all who “knew her but to love her, and named her but to praise,” have clasped glad hands with her in the land where she has gone. Many long years have passed since we met and were strangely drawn to this kindred spirit. But why not since she represented that “bonnie” land beyond the sea, where her kindred and our own stood for the Solemn League and Covenant, which did bring a new era of religious freedom to the land o’Bruce and Bannockburn.
    Our friend was a woman of rare gifts and graces. Intelligent, educated, refined and a thoroughly consecrated Christian, one could not be in her presence and not be a learner. Her unusual command of language, enriched by wide reading of the choicest literature, and her fellowship and friendship in past years, with the choicest minds, among whom she labored in temperance and religious work, made her companionship a delight. In Glasgow, Scotland, and in London, far-famed ministers and even titled men and women were her appreciative co-workers. She excelled as a conversationalist and her speech was greatly enriched, to the writer, by her occasional dropping into the familiar and dear Scottish accent. A princess in disguise was she, a daughter of the King. Broad-minded, warm-hearted, open-handed, this friend of ours found an affinity in every cause which made for human uplift. She trained a family for useful citizenship by placing always before them the fact that high moral principle is better than wealth, and character better than coin. She loved the church of her childhood, but better still she loved all churches and enterprises that were in kinship with “general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven.” Mrs. Phillips was one of the ever-increasing throng, who watch for the coming of our Lord, but was found worthy to be with those who shall “come on the clouds of heaven.”
    Farewell then for a little while! “Where crystal streams through endless years, Flow over golden sands, and when the old grow young again, I’ll clasp my sister’s hands.”

                                                               Margaret Richie Pake

      Virginia’s writings continue: “John had chronic asthma and was unable to lie down in a bed to sleep.”…… “He retired to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Canada to try to find some relief.”……...
    “Isabella gave birth to five children, four boys and one girl. Samuel born January 31, 1870 in London, England. Earnest born August 23, 1874 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Rose born July 16, 1876 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Clement born December 16, 1880 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Paul born March 16, 1882 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.” Verna also states. “Isabella gave birth to three other children that died as infants. They were twin girls, Rebecca and Rachel, and a boy named Hope.” No birth or death records have been located on these children.
    Further family testimony has John and Isabella departing Prince Edward, Island around 1883 by ship and [STB] landed in or around the Jacksonville, Florida area; obtained a covered wagon and traveled to the Braden River, Florida area, now known as Bradenton. The entire voyage took approximately eight months.

NOTE: Between 1800 and 1880, ship builders on Prince Edward Island built close to 4000 vessels. Prince Edward Island was one of the most active shipbuilding centers outside Great Britain. Shipbuilding was the engine driving the economy. The best year ever for shipbuilding on Prince Edward Island was 1868 as 120 vessels were launched from Island shipyards.

About 1880, the shipbuilding industry in Atlantic Canada collapsed. What had amounted to half the Island’s economy disappears in the course of a few years. Thousands of Islanders migrated to the “Boston States” to get work in factories and domestic service. Over the next 50 years, the population dropped from 120,000 to 80,000. These two facts may help explain why the Phillips’ departed from Prince Edward Island.

    December 27, 1890, John homesteaded 159.5 acres in the Braden River, Florida area, what is now called Elwood Park near Oneco FL. He was given a land grant under the provisions of the Homestead Act, May 20, 1862. Verna remembers her father (Clement, Sr.) saying, "The land was so poor, the buzzards had to carry a lunch to fly over it." Times get hard and money becomes short, John ends up selling a portion of the farm.
    It is told that John knew the Bible backward and forward and lived strictly by it. “He believed in hard work, but he would not perform any work on the Sabbath. He would not even discipline his children on this day, however on Monday he would make up for it!”
    “John did not believe in eating pork. He would not even have a hog on his farm. He raised his family by growing bananas, grapes, and a few head of cattle. He also did carpentry work, building a number of houses in Palmetto and Manatee, Florida.”
    John dies January 19, 1912. Isabella dies October 9, 1916. They are both, laid to rest in the Braden River Cemetery, Manatee County, FL.