DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the Texas Historical Commission put down on the marker for The Phillips House in Montague County. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that go all the way down to bedrock. In 1873, James Hoback Phillips — most folks knew him as J.H. — loaded up his family and pointed a wagon train south out of Illinois, bound for Texas.
He brought his wife Margaret Day Phillips and their children along for the ride, and when they finally set down in Saint Jo, J.H. didn't exactly take it easy. The man ran a general store. Ran a hotel.
And on Sunday mornings, he stood up as the town's Baptist preacher. Social life, religious life, economic life — J.H. had a hand in all of it. You want to talk about building a town from the ground up, well, here's your man.
Now, riding along in that wagon from Illinois was J.H.'s youngest boy, George Washington Phillips — G.W. to everyone who knew him, and born in 1863. G.W. grew up in Saint Jo, and by the time he was twenty years old he'd married a woman named Nannie Parker Gooch, born in 1865. Together they'd make a life that would last long past either of them.
G.W. had his father's instinct for being right where the action was. During the late 1800s he was buying and selling real estate, and he owned and operated the G.W. Phillips Livery Stables right there in town.
Horse trader, farmer, rancher — the man wore a lot of hats and wore them all well. Then on January the sixth, 1897, G.W. made a move that would define the next hundred years of his family's story. He bought 320 acres on the eastern edge of Saint Jo.
Three years after that, he moved his family out to a temporary dwelling on the property — just getting a foothold, you understand, while the bigger plan took shape in his mind. He picked up more acreage in 1902, and then in 1911, he hired a builder named Barney Lewis and said: build me something that lasts. And Barney Lewis did not rush the job.
Two full years that house took to complete. Two years of framing and shingling and fitting and finishing. What came out the other side was something Saint Jo hadn't quite seen before.
They called it The Phillips House. They called it The Big House. It rose two stories with a hipped, wood-shingled roof, and it wrapped itself in large distinctive porches upstairs and downstairs both.
Columns, hundreds of spindles, bay windows — all the hallmarks of Queen Anne style, touched through with Colonial Revival, the kind of architecture that says we intend to stay. Inside: twenty-one wood-framed single-pane windows drinking in the light, heart pine floors that'll outlast nearly anything you can name, and some of the original furniture still standing right where the family left it. The Big House became the center of social life almost the moment the paint dried.
And when the family wasn't working — because Lord knows they were working — they'd head out to the open field west of the house and play a game of baseball. G.W. Phillips lived until 1930.
Nannie lived until 1937. And The Big House? Generation after generation of the Phillips family has kept right on living in it, more than a hundred years now, still contributing to Saint Jo.
That is not a house. That is a declaration. Barney Lewis swung the hammer, but the Phillips family built something permanent — and it's still standing to prove it.
What the marker says
In 1873, James Hoback (J.H.) and Margaret Day Phillips moved from Illinois to Texas by wagon train with their children. J.H. was instrumental in the early social, religious and economic development of Saint Jo. He owned and operated a general store and hotel, and was the town's Baptist preacher. His youngest son, George Washington (G.W.) (1863-1930), grew up in Saint Jo and, at age 20, married Nannie Parker Gooch (1865-1937). During the late 1800s, G.W. bought and sold real estate and owned and operated the local G.W. Phillips Livery Stables. In addition to his business skills, G.W. was also a horse trader, farmer and rancher. On January 6, 1897, G.W. bought 320 acres on the eastern edge of Saint Jo. Three years later, he moved his family to a temporary dwelling on the property. Additional acreage was purchased in 1902 and, in 1911, Barney Lewis was hired to construct the family home. The house took two years to complete and quickly became the center for social activities. When the family was not working, they enjoyed a game of baseball in the open field west of the house. The Phillips House, also known as The Big House, displays characteristics of Colonial Revival and Queen Anne architecture. The two-story wood home has a hipped, wood-shingled roof and large, distinctive upstairs and downstairs porches. Numerous columns, hundreds of spindles and bay windows typify the Queen Anne style. The home boasts twenty-one wood framed single pane windows, heart pine wood floors and some of the original furniture. Generations of the Phillips family have occupied The Big House for over a hundred years and continue to contribute to Saint Jo. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2013