"Portrait & Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Chicago:
Chapman Publishing Company, 1903. p. 1485.
 
J. I. PHILIPPI

     Pursuing their calm and uneventful lives in the midst of the many-sided
activity of Eugene are men content to be onlookers only, who walk with leisurely
and ofttimes halting steps her busy thoroughfares, and who gladly return to the
peace of quiet homes, remote from heated and surging ambitions, and the mad
struggle for gold which in other days looked so alluring. To them the occasion
has passed, but in going it has been well utilized by these agricultural
toilers, whose present thrift argues well for an earlier appreciation of the
giant opportunities which beckoned them to the coast, and caused them to stake
their all on the means to accomplish the long journey. No class of citizens
enjoys to greater extent the esteem of the thoughtful rising generation than
those tillers of the soil, who have laid aside their worn implements, and with
hearts and minds mellowed into harmony with their surroundings, carry around
with them an impression of rest and peace. Among the erstwhile farmers who are
now profiting by the advantages of Eugene may be mentioned J. I. Philippi, who
came here in 1902, after improving some of the finest and most paying properties
in Lane county.
     The oldest in a family of nine children, seven of whom are living, Mr.
Philippi was born in Somerset county, Pa., September 24, 1839, his parents,
David and Mary (McMillan) Philippi, being natives of the same county and state,
as was also his paternal grandfather, John Philippi. The grandfather McMillan
came from the north of Ireland and settled, in Somerset county, Pa., where he
died on his farm at the age of ninety-nine years. David Philippi and his wife
spent their entire married life in the east and middle west, removing to Iowa
about 1857, where the husband bought a farm, and where he died in 1866. He is
survived by his wife, who lives in Eugene, Ore., and who is four score arid
three years old. Among the heroes of the Civil war were two of the sons of David
Philippi, both, being members of the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, and one of
whom, John, was killed at the battle of Sabine Cross Roads. His brother, Maple,
was wounded in the same memorable battle, but recovered in due time and is now
living in the state of Minnesota.
     In his youth J. I. Philippi had the advantages of the public schools in
both Pennsylvania and Iowa, being seventeen years of age when he removed with
his parents to the latter state. True, the schools were of the pioneer kind and
but irregularly attended, but he was of a studious turn of mind, and
instinctively grasped the importance of acquiring all possible general
knowledge. At the age of twenty-one he began to clerk in a general store in
Clarksville, Iowa, and finally became interested in a mercantile business of his
own under the firm name of Newman & Philippi. Mr. Newman, who afterward became
Mr. Philippi's father-in-law, proved a capable and thoroughly reliable man, and
the partners were destined to spend many years of their business life together.
The marriage of Mary Newman and Mr. Philippi occurred in 1862, and in 1869 the
partners sold out their business, and crossed the plains to Oregon with horse
teams. The long journey was accomplished without any serious mishaps, and was
memorable because of the fact that for a part of the way they traveled with the
noted Kit Carson. Mr. Philippi located a claim near Hillsboro, Washington
county, for a year, and then bought and managed a tanyard with Mr. Newman for a
year. In 1871 Mr. Philippi and Mr. Newman bought a farm of six hundred and forty
acres five miles north of Albany, which they conducted with considerable success
until 1883, when Mr. Philippi sold his interest and invested in three hundred
and twenty acres near Coburg, in Lane county, where he engaged in general
farming and stock-raising until 1902. He was very successful, his crops being
invariably large and of good quality, and his stock bringing the highest market
prices. In 1902 he removed to Eugene, where he lives, having retired from active
pursuits.
     In 1862 Mr. Philippi was married to Miss Mary Newman, daughter of his
partner. Henry Newman, who died in Linn county, Ore., in 1889. Mrs. Newman was
born in Adams county, Ohio. Politically Mr. Philippi is a Democrat, but aside
from assisting his office-seeking friends, has never taken a very active
interest in party affairs. He is a well informed and studious man, and while on
the farm invariably supplied himself and family with current literature, thus
encouraging habits of thought and research in the minds of those around him. He
has reared wisely and well a large family, and eight of his fourteen children
are living. Of these, Henry and Barton live in Eugene; George lives at Sweet
Home; Charles is a resident of Flora, Ore.; Walter lives on a farm in Linn
county; Alice is now Mrs. Meyer, of Linn county; Emma is the wife of
Percy Long of Eugene; and Lizzie lives with her parents. Genial in his
intercourse with friends and associates, firm in his adherence to fair dealing
and integrity, Mr. Philippi commands the respect and good will of all who know
him.


     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in September 2010 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.