Phipps family

Henry Phipps Jr.

The Phipps family of the United States is a prominent American family that descends from Henry Phipps Jr. (1839–1930), a businessman and philanthropist. His father was an English shoemaker who immigrated in the early part of the 19th century to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before settling in Pittsburgh. Phipps grew up with Andrew Carnegie as a friend and neighbor. As an adult, he was Carnegie's business partner in the Carnegie Steel Company and became a very wealthy man. He was the company's second-largest shareholder and also invested in real estate.

After selling his stock in Carnegie Steel, Phipps became a leading advocate of housing for the poor and a major philanthropist. He embraced the principle that those who have achieved great wealth should give back for the public good and create institutions dedicated to that purpose. Phipps and his wife Anne had five children: Amy, John S., Helen, Henry Carnegie, and Howard.

Business activities[]

In 1907, Phipps established the Bessemer Trust Company to manage his substantial assets that would be shared by his offspring following his death. Phipps was also one of the pioneer investors in Florida real estate. At one time, he and his family owned one-third of the town of Palm Beach, 28 miles of oceanfront between Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, prime bayfront property in downtown Miami, and 75 square miles of land in Martin County. The Phipps family donated to the town of Palm Beach one of the most significant gifts in county history: an ocean-to-lake frontage property that is now known as Phipps Park. Another contribution was the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh.

The Phipps family owned country estates in Old Westbury, New York, on the Gold Coast, the stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America.

Phipps built a mansion on 115 acres in Lake Success, New York (also on the Gold Coast), which he used from its completion in 1919 until his death in 1930. During World War II, John Phipps and his wife Margarita arranged for the home to be used to house British evacuees. In 1949, the family donated the property to the Great Neck School District. The mansion was converted into the administration building for the district, and Great Neck South High School and South Middle School were built on the site.^[1]

Legacy[]

By 1974, Bessemer Trust Company developed an expertise in wealth management that allowed it to take on other clients through the creation of a national bank headquartered in New York City. Phipps' grandchildren, from his son John S. Phipps, donated to the public the Westbury House estate that is now known as Old Westbury Gardens.

Gladys Mills Phipps, granddaughter of Darius Ogden Mills and wife of Henry Carnegie Phipps, was prominent among horse breeders and owners in American Thoroughbred horse racing, as were her son, daughters and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She founded Wheatley Stable with her brother, Odgen Livingston Mills. Recently, first cousins Odgen Mills (Dinny) Phipps and Stewart Janney III's horse Orb won the 2013 Kentucky Derby.

Lineage[]

Family members include:

• Henry Phipps Jr. (1839-1930), owner of Bonnie Blink, Lake Success
• Lawrence C. Phipps (1862-1958), nephew of Henry W., United States Senator from Colorado.
• (1872-1959), daughter of Henry W. Phipps Jr., owner of Templeton, Old Westbury and Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, sponsor of Amelia Earhart
• John Shaffer Phipps (1874-1958), oldest son of Henry W. Phipps Jr., owner of Westbury House, Old Westbury and Casa Bendita, Palm Beach
• (1876-1934), daughter of Henry W. Phipps Jr., owner of Knole, Old Westbury
• Henry Carnegie Phipps (1879-1953), son of Henry W. Phipps Jr., owner of Spring Hill, Old Westbury and Heamaw, Palm Beach
• (1881-1981), son of Henry W. Phipps Jr., owner of Erchless, Old Westbury
• Gladys Mills Phipps (1883-1970), wife of Henry Carnegie Phipps
• Lillian Bostwick Phipps (1906-1987), wife of Odgen Phipps
• Ogden Phipps (1908-2002), son of Henry Carnegie Phipps
• (1945- 2007), daughter of Henry Carnegie Phipps
• Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps (1940-2016), great-grandson of Henry W. Phipps Jr.
• Raymond R. Guest (1907-1991), son of Amy Phipps Guest
• Winston Frederick Churchill Guest (1906-1982), son of Amy Phipps Guest
• (1909-1994), daughter of Amy Phipps Guest
• (1911-1987), daughter of Henry Carnegie Phipps
• (born 1948), great-grandson of Henry W. Phipps Jr., grandson of Henry Carnegie Phipps
• Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff (born 1963), great-grandson of Henry W. Phipps Jr., grandson of Howard Phipps
• (born 1967)

Family tree[]

See also[]

• Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
• Phipps Garden Apartments

Notes[]

References[]

• Boegner, Peggie Phipps; Gachot, Richard (1987). Halcyon Days: An American Family Through Three Generations. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-1064-0. (daughter of John Shaffer Phipps)
• Phipps Family Papers in America, 630 5th Ave, New York, NY 10111: Bessemer Trust Co.CS1 maint: location (link)
• "Love of horses helped to build a dynasty", The Sydney Morning Herald (April 30, 2002)