Henry Philips (1767-1800)
of Philadelphia; Founder of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania
He grew up at Bank Hall, Lancashire. In 1811, he came to Philadelphia to extend the reach and export opportunities of his family's cotton manufacturing business, investing in 200,000-acres of land in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Kentucky. In 1796, he married one of Philadelphia's most sought-after heiresses, Sophia Chew, and in that same year he founded the town of Philipsburg. At the end of a 10-month trip home to introduce his wife and daughter to his family in England, Henry dropped dead. Shattered, his widow remained in Philadelphia where she brought up their daughter and Henry's brother James was given charge of running Philipsburgh.