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PHILLIPS, JAMES ALEXANDER - The valuable mines of Springfield have long offered opportunities for men of experience who flock there to take advantage of them. One of those who have become very well known among mining men is the present Republican candidate for Commissioner, James Alexander Phillips, born in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada, October 10, 1855. He is a son of Benjamon and Amanda (Lynd) Phillips, the former born in Nova Scotia and the latter in Port Whitby, Ontario, Canada. The father was a farmer and lived out his life in Canada. The grandfather's name was Edward Pride, but on account of troubles relating to his leaving the English Army, changed it to Phillips, as it is still written. His escape was sensational, as he swam for two miles, most of the time under water, for as soon as his head appeared he was shot at, but he managed to come out unharmed. The maternal ancestors were of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. Benjamin Phillips died in 1897 and his wife in 1894, both firm in the faith of the Methodist Church. Eleven children were born to them: Sylvester, deceased; James A., Benjamin, Hector, Maurice; Charles, who was killed in a snow-slide on the Rocky Mountains; Louisa married A. Gray; Margaret; Amanda married Al. Bedford; Hester; and Mabel, who married Charles White.
James A. Phillips went to school in Ontario and worked for his father until he was twenty-four years old. This was in 1879, and, resolving to better his fortune, he left home, with but seventy-five cents in his pocket, going to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he became foreman in a chair factory, but after three years there he came to Riverton, and from 1882 to 1884 worked on a farm. In the latter year he came to Springfield, which he has since continued to be his home. He became a teaming contractor, hauling coal for nine years. This brought him into contact with the mines, and in 1904 he entered the employ of the West End Coal Company as foreman, thus continuing.
Mr. Phillips has gone through all the chairs of the Order of Red Men, belonging to Pawnee Tribe No. 66. He is also a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Navarre Lodge NO. 142. A strong Republican, he is the logical candidate of his party for Commissioner, and comes before the people with a clean record and untiring energy. His associations as a member of the United Mine Workers Association are very pleasant, and he has friends all over the State.