Call Number:

C1290

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Lott Phillips Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1776-1987 (inclusive)

Creator:

Phillips, John Lott, 1744-1802

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century, Correspondence -- 20th century, Documents -- 18th century., and Seals (artifacts) -- 18th century.

Abstract:

Consists of material by and about John Lott Phillips, a graduate of Princeton (1774), a clergyman of the Church of England, and a loyalist to the British Crown.

John Lott Phillips, a clergyman of the Church of England, was a relative of William and Mary Lott Phillips of Maidenhead, New Jersey. He entered the freshman class of the College of New Jersey in 1770 and graduated in 1774. While at the College, he was a member of the Cliosophic Society. After graduation, Phillips lived at Wake County, North Carolina, on a 573 acre farm gifted to him from a relative in Princeton, Mrs. Pheve Warner. However, when his Loyalist tendencies were discovered, he had to abandon his property and escape to the where he tried to board a ship to England. He was found in Savannah, Georgia, and imprisoned for three months before he was released and deported to England. In 1776 he was ordained priest and then deacon in the Church of England at Fulham Palace, and a Chaplain under the command of Banastre Tarleton of the British Regiment of Light Dragoons.

The collection consists of selected material by and about John Lott Phillips. Included are two certificates of ordination (1776) as deacon and priest, both signed by Richard, Bishop of London, one containing his seal; a certificate (1782) of King George III, with his seal, appointing Phillips as chaplain to the British Regiment of Light Dragoons commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton; "A Memorial of the Misfortunes of Mr. Phillips an American Clergyman & First Graduate of New Jersey College" (1781?), which is an explanation of how he lost his land in North Carolina for being a Loyalist to the British Crown; and an 1802 document (with seal of) John the Archbishop of Canterbury, with his seal, appointing Phillips' wife Mary as administrator of her husband's estate. There are two letters from family members, including one from Phillips' son Edward W. to his mother telling her about his brother's death. In addition, there is correspondence (1921-1987) between members of Phillips' family including Mrs. A. E. Miles and the Rev. Joseph Meakins Harte, and librarians and others at Princeton University, the Princeton Club of Chicago, The Church Historical Society, and The Bishop of North America, trying to gather information about the life of Phillips.