Samuel Phillips, Jr.

Samuel Phillips Jr. (February 5, 1752 – February 10, 1802) was an American merchant, manufacturer, politician, and the founder of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Phillips is considered a pioneer in American education. Biography Samuel Phillips Jr. was born in Andover, Massachusetts (in a part that is now North Andover). He was a descendant of the Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, the progenitor of the New England Phillips family in America. His grandfather Rev. Samuel Phillips was the first and long-time pastor of the South Church in Andover. A graduate of Governor Dummer Academy in 1767, and Harvard College in 1771, Phillips was a very active and able member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1780. He served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1779 and 1780, and was a state senator from 1780 to 1802, holding the office of President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1785 until his death. For a short period before his death, Phillips also served as the fifth Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. In November 1789 he escorted newly elected President George Washington on his progress through Massachusetts to Concord. Beginning in 1775, Phillips aided the revolutionary cause by producing gunpowder for Washington's troops at a mill on the Shawsheen River in Andover. Though plagued by difficulties, the powder mill remained active into the 1790s. During this period, Phillips also ran a paper mill in Andover.