George Shane Phillips Papers mssHM 77128-77352
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
July 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: George Shane Phillips papers
Creator:
Phillips, George S. (George Shane),
1818-1865
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 77128-77352
Physical Description:
4.8 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
224 items
Date (inclusive): 1840-1904
Date (bulk): 1841-1864
Abstract: A collection of the personal papers of
George Shane Phillips, American Methodist minister and Civil War chaplain.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. George Shane Phillips papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Dawson's Book Shop, August 1955.
George Shane Phillips (1818-1865), Ohio Methodist minister and Civil War chaplain, author
of "American Republic and Human Liberty Foreshadowed in Scripture" (1864). He joined the
Methodist Episcopal Church when he was seventeen, and in 1840 attended Norwalk seminary; in
the fall of 1841, the North Ohio Conference appointed him to Richwood Circuit. In September
1843, Phillips was appointed Deacon, and in August 1847, the Elder of the North Ohio
Conference. In December 1851 he volunteered to join the newly organized Oregon-California
Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was transferred there in January
1852, and spent the next ten years in Northern California, serving in San Francisco,
Stockton, Sacramento, and San Jose; from 1857 to 1861, he was Principal of Santa Clara
Female College. In 1861, Phillips resigned and returned to Ohio. From May 1863 to July 1864,
he served as chaplain of the 49th Regiment of Ohio. With his regiment, he was in the
Chickamauga (Georgia) Campaign, including the battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20), the
siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee (September 24 - November 23), the Chattanooga-Ringgold
Campaign (November 23-27) and Atlanta Campaign, including the battle of Resaca (May 14-15).
Also the advance on Dallas (May 22-25), and battles near Dallas, New Hope Church and
Allatoona Hills (May 25-June 5), and the operations about Marietta and Kennesaw Mountain
(June 10-July 2). In June 1864, Phillips was at a hospital, although he was able to follow
the regiment, then fighting about Marietta and Kennesaw Mountains. In July 1864, Phillips
resigned for reasons of disability and accepted the position of president of Colorado
Seminary (later the University of Denver). His failing health caused him to resign this post
and return to Ohio; he died March 30, 1865 at Brookdale, his home near Wooster, Ohio. In
September 1843, Phillips married Elizabeth Kauffman of Millbrook, Ohio; the couple had three
daughters, Frances Jane, Sarah Leora, and Miriam Elizabeth (Minnie). Minnie married Cary W.
Kauke (approximately 1849-), the couple settled in Wooster, Ohio, but in the 1880s moved to
Exeter, and then Tulare, California.
The bulk of the collection consists of Phillips's correspondence with family and friends
that covers his ministry in Ohio and California, his Civil War service, and his brief tenure
as the president of Colorado Seminary. Phillips's letters and diaries discuss his ministry,
religious revivals in Ohio, family affairs, temperance, political and war news, his journey
to Colorado and life in Denver. The diaries also include drafts of sermons, orations, and
literary compositions. The correspondence that covers the period of Phillips's service in
California consists primarily of letters written to him by his friends and family in Ohio.
Phillips's Civil War correspondence and diary provide detailed accounts of Phillips's war
experience in Tennessee and Georgia, including the Chickamauga and Atlanta campaigns,
religious revivals in the Union Army, news from home, religion in the South, and slavery.
Also included is a small group of letters and documents of Phillips's son-in-law Cary W.
Kauke, including letters from his friend, Frederick (Fritz) Nussbaum of the 107th Regiment
of Ohio Infantry (1862-1863). The collection also contains some correspondence of Addison S.
McClure, concerning supplying beef to the United States Army, and post-war letters
discussing Ohio and national Republican politics.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1960. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from legacy in-house summary report.
Organized in the following manner: Correspondence and documents (boxes 1-3); Diaries and
ephemera (box 4). Arranged chronologically.
George Shane Phillips's correspondence and diary covering 1846-1859 are located in the
California State Library, California Section, 914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, California
95814.
Letter removed from collection and placed in the Lincoln File: Abraham Lincoln to the War
Department, 1863 March 21 (mssHM 77338).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Atlanta Campaign, 1864
Chickamauga, Battle of, Ga.,
1863
Legislators -- Ohio
Methodist women -- Ohio
Methodists -- Ohio
Military chaplains -- United
States
Revivals -- Ohio
Temperance and religion -- Ohio -- History
Ohio -- Church history -- 19th century
Ohio -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental
histories
Ohio -- Politics and Government --
1865-1950
Ohio -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
United States -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 --
Chaplains
Business records -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Diaries -- Ohio -- 19th century
Diaries -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Family papers -- Ohio -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Ohio -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- Civil War,
1861-1865
Military records -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Personal papers -- Ohio -- 19th century
Professional papers -- Ohio -- 19th century
Crouse, George Washington,
1832-1912
Day, William R. (William
Rufus), 1849-1923
Kauke, Cary W., 1849-
Keifer, Joseph Warren,
1836-1932
McClure, Addison Smith,
1839-1903
Nussbaum, Frederick
Phillips, Elizabeth Kauffman
Sherman, John,
1823-1900
Colorado Seminary
Methodist Episcopal Church -- California --
Clergy
Methodist Episcopal Church -- Ohio -- Clergy
United States. Army. Ohio
Infantry Regiment, 49th (1861-1865)
United States. Army. Ohio
Infantry Regiment, 107th (1862-1865)
United States. Army -- Procurement --
Civil War, 1861-1865
University of Denver --
History
Box 1
Correspondence and documents 1840-1858
Box 2
Correspondence and documents 1861-1863
Box 3
Correspondence and documents 1864-1904
Box 4
Diaries and ephemera 1842-1864