The story of the Peebles is a portrait of an early American family. It is a story spanning over 100 years of endeavors, patriotism and influences covering the colonial era, the war of independence, and the periods of the local formation of the new nation, the industrial revolution and further land expansion.

Thomas Peebles (1729-1774) was of Scottish lineage. When he arrived on the northern frontier at Halve Maen, the region was part of the County of Albany, in the Province of New York, under British rule. His wife Elisabeth Bradt (1739-1806) was born into Dutch Albany families, and together they settled in Halfmoon. About 1763 they started construction of their home on a parcel of land that bordered the Hudson River for water access and by the Great Road (the Kings Highway) for land travel. Their homestead known as Brookwood Manor still stands today adjacent to Halfmoon Lighthouse Park on Route 4 & 32.

In 1770, Thomas was appointed by British royal authority the position of Justice of the Peace. In Colonial America, this was one of the most powerful public offices opened for a colonist; it was the judicial, executive, and legislative powers rolled up in one. He was reappointed two years later.

What role Thomas Peebles would have played in the war for independence is unknown. Fate cut his life short – he dies in 1774 at the age of 45 years and is buried on the property.

With her husband’s sudden death, Elizabeth was a 35-year-old widow with five young children. In 1775 she opened their home for lodgers; it became known as the Widow Peebles tavern. This not only provided widow Elizabeth income for the family, but a needed service for the increasing number of persons journeying the Great Road – the main transportation route between Albany and Forts George and Ticonderoga.

The Widow Peebles tavern appeared to be a respectable establishment mostly for lodgings rather than a rowdy stop for a pint or two! It is noteworthy that on the 1779 Isaac Vrooman map of the region specifically commissioned by General Washington, only one tavern is highlighted by name. That tavern was owned and operated by the Widow Peebles. Elizabeth was an early female entrepreneur – in a 1788 published list of the 40 Halfmoon innkeepers, Elizabeth was the only woman owner.

The tavern had many prestigious guests. In December 1775, the patriot Robert Treat Patine documented lodging at Widow Peebles in his diary. Paine was traveling the northeast drumming up military and monetary support for the independence cause, meeting several days with George Clinton and Philip Schuyler. He would later be a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1783 General George Washington journeyed through upstate New York conferring with people regarding the formation of the new nation and personally visiting the Saratoga battlefields. Included in his entourage was Alexander Hamilton and Gov. George Clinton. It was during this tour that he and company lodged at the Widow Peebles. In General Washington’s records he highlighted paying the Widow Peebles “extra for feed and attention for the horses.”

With these and other people frequenting the inn, Elizabeth Peebles and her children were exposed to peoples of all walks of life, including political and military leaders. The family would see first-hand the activities passing by their home on water and land. All the Peebles would become supporters of the colonists’ cause.

When the local call for New York County militia units sounded in October 1777, Thomas and Elizabeth’s eldest child, Hugh, enlisted. Barely a teenager, Hugh becomes a quartermaster for the 12t h regiment serving under Colonel Jacobus van Schoonhoven. This local militia was formed to reinforce the Continental Army during the Saratoga Campaign. Hugh would spend his young adult life in some military capacity, spanning approximately 25 years. After the revolution, he served with the newly- formed NY state military, including a 1786 appointment as paymaster for the town of Queensbury.

The younger son Gerrit Peebles was only 8 years old during the Battles of Saratoga. He was too     young to fight in the Revolutionary War but would be appointed a captain in the NYS militia in 1789. Like his older brother Hugh, Gerrit would follow in merchant businesses, including the formation of the Cohoes Manufacturing Co. He would relocate to the growing Lansingburgh village, become Sheriff of Rensselaer County and purchase Havor Island in Waterford with his wife Maria Van Schaick; hence the isle becomes known as Peebles Island.

Daughters Maria and Rosanna Peebles both married revolutionary war veterans and raised large families. The youngest Peebles child, daughter Gertrude, spent her youth assisting her mother at the tavern. She was there in May 1791 when Thomas Jefferson and James Madison stayed at the Widow Peebles during their sightseeing tour of upstate New York forts and battlefields. Gertrude married Benjamin Tibbits, a merchant in Troy who unfortunately died young. She later married the widower Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott who is best known as the longest reigning president of Union College.

Elizabeth Peebles operated the tavern for 20 years until 1795 when she turned over the property to her sons. The Peebles family, one of the original twelve families of Halfmoon, served travelers and the military, fighting for the revolution, and shaping the new nation locally. They would help start churches, the first public school systems, the first local banks, a library, agricultural societies, serve as trustees, and raise children who continued in their footsteps.

“We can say with truth that a braver set of young men are not to be found, and should they be called to meet the foe there will be no flinching on their part, but all will give a good account of themselves. In such hands, we are perfectly willing to trust the reputation of Old Saratoga for bravery and prowess in arms.”  

– The Ballston Journal, April 27, 1847

When the call went out for volunteers in the winter of 1846 to fight in the Mexican War one of the first from Ballston Spa to respond was 20-year-old Ransom Pettit. Enlisting in Colonel Burnett’s 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, and was sent to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY to begin their military service. Early in 1847, the regiment boarded ships in New York Harbor and on Feb. 1 dropped anchor off Tampico on the eastern coast of Mexico. By the Spring of 1847, another two dozen men from Ballston Spa had volunteered and followed Pettit to fight in this war against Mexico.

The Ballston Journal of April 27, 1847, reported the departure of these young men with these words of praise: We can say with truth that a braver set of young men are not to be found, and should they be called to meet the foe there will be no flinching on their part, but all will give a good account of themselves. In such hands, we are perfectly willing to trust the reputation of Old Saratoga for bravery and prowess in arms. 

The Mexican-American War, often called the Mexican War in our country, broke out in 1846 after the United States formally annexed Texas. When President Polk called for volunteers to aid in the fight, New York State responded by sending two regiments. Lasting less than two years, the war increased the size of the United States by adding one-half million square miles of territory including the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, and large parts of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. In terms of lives lost, of the 100,000 American servicemen who participated in the war, over 12,000 lost their lives. With diseases such as yellow fever and malaria plaguing the troops all through the war, only one death in eight was caused by enemy action. 

When these battle-proven soldiers came back home 16-months later, four of their comrades were missing from their ranks. As we will learn, the brave souls who gave their lives for their country would soon be memorialized by the citizens of Ballston Spa. For those who returned, the community came together and held a supper in their honor. This acknowledgment of their service, held at Ballston Spa’s Village Hotel in Aug. of 1848, was attended by 130 guests. 

As the four young men who had fallen during the conflict were not brought home for burial, plans were already underway to remember their sacrifice with a monument. It was never revealed whose idea it was to establish a memorial for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country, it is likely that the returning veterans were at the forefront. A subscription-based fundraiser was started, and the community responded with enthusiasm. 

For the design and cutting of the memorial, the community turned to Ballston Spa stone and marble craftsman Orville D. Vaughn. The monument was a white marble obelisk inscribed with “Erected by the citizens of Ballston Spa and vicinity Oct. 19, 1848,” as well as the individual commemoration of the fallen soldiers on each of its four sides.

On the side facing east is an inscription for Sargent James Schermerhorn of Co. F, 9th Regiment United States Infantry. James was born in Ballston Spa on July 1, 1827, the son of Cornelius & Hannah Schermerhorn. James was the son of a war veteran, Cornelius who had served in the War of 1812 as a private in the New York Militia’s Saratoga Battalion. During the Mexican War, James took part in battles in Contreras, Churubusco, San Antonio, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, as well as the capture of Mexico City. He died at Pachucha, Mexico on March 9, 1848, one month after the signing of The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which officially ended the war. 

Facing West is the memorial to Ransom B. Pettit, of Company H, 2nd Regiment New York Volunteers. Ransom, born in Ballston Spa on June 25, 1827, was only 19 when he enlisted in Dec. of 1846. Under the command of Colonel Ward Burnett, the 2nd Regiment landed at Vera Cruz in March 1847 where they took part in the siege of that city. They then moved westward, fighting in the Battle of Cerro Gordo, where they were in the vanguard in pursuing and capturing Mexican General Santa Anna. Private Ransom Pettit died during what was known as the action of Atlixco on Oct. 19, 1847.

The North side of the monument commemorated 38-year-old Private Alvin Luther. He was the son of Gideon & Mary Luther. His father Gideon was a Revolutionary War veteran who had served as a private with the Rhode Island Militia Regiment. Alvin had enlisted on May 24, 1847, in Whitehall and was assigned to Company A 1st Regiment US Army. During the war, he served as part of the garrison that occupied the city of Vera Cruz. They were next stationed along the Rio Grande where Alvin died on April 4, 1848, probably of yellow fever, malaria, or one of the numerous other diseases that were constantly plaguing the army during those years. 

On the South side is Private Hiram Smith, who had served in Company E of the 3rd Regiment United States Dragoons. Hiram was born in Ballston Spa on Aug. 8, 1830, and having enlisted on April 21, 1847, at the age of 16, was likely the youngest volunteer from the village. So far, no records have been located to indicate which Smith family from Ballston Spa Hiram was related to. The 3rd Regiment had been raised for one year of service in the Mexican-American War just two months before Hiram enlisted. Dragoons were a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility but dismounted to fight on foot. Private Hiram Smith was likely involved in the Battle of Molino del Rey in September of that year and gave his life in service of his country at Perote, Mexico on Oct. 23, 1847. 

The monument to these four young men who gave their lives for their country still stands in the Ballston Spa Village Cemetery. 

This year, 2023, marks 175 years since the dedication of this monument.  A rededication event will be held with a parade and ceremony at the Cemetery on Sunday, Oct. 22. 

First promoted during World War I, War Gardens or Victory Gardens provided American citizens an opportunity to assist with the war effort. Americans were encouraged to produce their own food by planting vegetable gardens in their backyards, churchyards, city parks, and playgrounds. According to the 1919 pamphlet War Gardening and Home Storage of Vegetables, the War Gardens of America produced food “which helped establish the balance of power between starvation and abundance” in Europe during the final two years of the war.

Charles Lathrop Pack, head of the National War Garden Commission, coined the term “Victory Garden” as World War I was nearing the end. More upbeat than “War Garden,” the term was so popular that it was used again during World War II, when victory gardeners sprang into action once more.

From the beginning of the war, the Saratoga County 4-H clubs, under the direction of the County Farm and Home Bureau, took up the challenge. In January 1942, less than a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Saratoga County 4-H Club News gave specific instructions on how clubs could play their part in a “Victory Program”   In addition to “increasing garden production,” members were encouraged to collect papers, preserve food, learn first aide, and cooperate with other community organizations.

From that time until near the end of the War, many articles were devoted to both the need for and the role that 4-H members were expected to play in the movement. The February 1942 issue instructed members to “Plan Your Victory Gardens Now” explained that a lack of transportation and civilian farm workers would require more volunteer production in each community. Subsequent issues gave both encouragement and tips on how to manage a Victory Garden.  

The September 1942 issue summarized the accomplishments of the program and encouraged young members to spend the winter months making plans for next year’s garden and raising money for the Army-Navy Relief Fund.

The January 1943 edition of the 4-H Club News reminded the members of their good deeds of last year by announcing that George De Ridder, Jr. of Ballston Spa was selected as the Victory Gardener Champion of the County by raising enough to both feed his own family and sell $205. He was awarded a $25 War Bond and a gold medal. The following month members were informed that “the need will be even greater than 1942” and not only farm families but anyone with suitable land should participate.  Each subsequent issue from March until August 1943 contained information about successful practices or motivational items like the following:

Victory Gardens (to the tune of Tramp, Tramp, Tramp)

Plant, Plant, Plant our Victory Garden. Plow the furrows deep and true, We will seed and weed and hoe. Make our Victory Gardens grow. We will keep the “chow” a-rolling over there.

The August issue reported that the New York Victory Garden program had produced enough food to feed 2,000,000 soldiers for a year. 4-H members who may have had an older brother or sister in the service, must have been very proud of their accomplishments.     

Almost the entire issue of the February 1944 4-H  Club News was devoted to the subject of Victory Gardens. “Your 1944 Garden,” written by Frank Englehart, Jr., the 1943 New York State Victory Garden Champion, instructed members to reflect on their successes and failures from last year as they planned their gardens for the upcoming season.  “To Your Battle Stations” was a call to arms comparing the club members to the crew of a battleship and “Nutrition Goals for 1944” suggested the most nourishing crops that the young farmers could plant. Members were also reminded of the daily Victory Garden program broadcast on WGY radio. 

Any member not inspired by the February issue would certainly be stirred by the message printed in March, as it came from the Commander-In-Chief, President Franklin Roosevelt. He first reminded them that 4-H Mobilization week was to be held on March 4-12 and then pointed out that the Country was counting on them, the “shock troops of the food production front” more than ever to give that extra impetus to the war effort so essential to ultimate victory.

For the rest of the year, there was little direct mention of the program but instead general tips on good gardening. However, in November 1944, the 4-H Club News proudly announced that for the second year in a row a member from the County, George De Ridder, Jr., from Ballston Spa had been chosen the New York State Victory Garden Champion for 1944, following Frank Englehart’s 1943 selection.   

Starting in June 1945, a definite change can be detected in the News. For the rest of the year the magazine focused more traditional and fun activities: the upcoming County Fair to be held in August, the dangers of fires on a farm, poultry and dairy judging contests. With victory in sight, the youngsters of America wanted to get back to living a normal life, as did their parents. So, without fanfare, without self-congratulatory editorials, the Saratoga County 4-H Club News and the members it served started to enjoy the peace they had worked so hard to achieve. As the years passed; they could look back proudly on the role they played as part of the Greatest Generation.      

As summer vacation comes to an end, students are once again preparing to return to school.  Following, is a letter written 169 years ago by a student at the Jonesville Academy. The Academy was a private school, built about 1839, complete with dormitories.  It stands today as a private home.

“Jonesville, May 14, 1854.

Dear Father, You said I must write to you tonight and I thought I would but as for being homesick I would never write.  But I am awful hungry.  I like my school first rate and all the boys.  I study Arithmetic, Grammar, Book Keeping, Reading, Spelling and Penmanship.  I want you to send me some letter stamps in your next letter.  I want you should write soon and write all about the dog and everything.  I want the vest right off and as for my shoes fetch them up when you come next week.      

Mother, Have a little pity and make me some good lemon pies and send them up by father.  Sometimes I have to eat clear bread and water for I can’t eat their butter.  Make 6.
        – W.H.H. Tourtellot”

This letter could easily have been written today!  William Henry Harrison Tourtellot, the son of William C. Tourtellot of East Sand Lake, Rensselaer County was 15 years old when he wrote this letter to his parents.  He must have enjoyed his time at the Jonesville Academy, because he later made his home in Clifton Park.  He and his family are buried in the Clifton Park Center Baptist Church Cemetery.  Descendants still live in the Town.

William H.H. Tourtellot was only one of many students who attended the Jonesville Academy during the mid-1800s.  The Academy was founded in 1836 by Clifton Park politician and entrepreneur, Roscius R. Kennedy, who donated substantial funds of his own to sustain the institution.  Public schools were not considered the best at this time, and well-to-do people often formed boarding schools when they could.  The Jonesville Academy, which was really a junior-senior high school, made provision for 50 boarders, male and female, and offered an academic, commercial, classical, and “ornamental” education.

A circular put out by the school about 1852 noted:  “Jonesville Academy is located in the very pleasant, quiet and remarkably healthy little village of Jonesville, the northern terminus of the Halfmoon and Clifton Park Plank Road.”  A broad range of studies was offered including physiology, rhetoric, Greek, Latin, mathematics, bookkeeping, natural science, penmanship, English, French, drawing, painting, vocal and instrumental music, and at various times Spanish and Italian.

Two years before William Tourtellot wrote his letter home, there were a total of 181 students enrolled at the academy, 129 gentlemen and 52 ladies.  Two of the girls came from Washington County, one from Jackson and the other from North White Creek, while several of the boys came from as far away as San Francisco, California and Buenos Ayres, South America.

According to the 1852 circular, the Female Department was supervised and conducted by a lady qualified in every respect to direct young ladies in their course of study and in the cultivation of correct habits and polite accomplishment.  Ladies were to room in the same hall with the teacher and were under her constant supervision.  Instrumental and vocal music, and all the ornamental branches, usually pursued in Female Seminaries, were taught at the Jonesville Academy.

The charge for Board and Tuition, except for piano lessons which were an additional charge, was $100 for an Academic Year, or 44 weeks.  This included washing, fuel, room rent, and use of the furniture.  Tuition, when not included with Board and Room was $6.00 per term, except for Music, Painting, Drawing, Embroidering and Surveying.

Parents were warned about giving their sons too much spending money as “The imaginary wants of most boys are far more numerous than their real ones.”  The list of don’ts included the use of tobacco and alcohol, profane language, gambling, lounging upon the beds during the day, frequenting the kitchen, association between the two sexes, and the use of fire-arms and powder.

The Jonesville Academy remained strong until 1870, when it abandoned its charter because of financial embarrassments.  It continued in part-time operation until 1876, when it was finally closed.  The school building was later used by the public school system until about 1953.  Many older residents of Clifton Park remember attending school in the old academy during the l940s and early 1950s before closing. During the mid 1960’s the school was reopened for a few years to accommodate the large influx of children of newly arriving Clifton Park residents. The abandoned building was auctioned off to the present owners for $10,000 in the late 1970s. The Temple family restored it as a home, retaining many of the school’s features such as the original blackboards. They received Clifton Park’s Historic Preservation Award for their efforts.

 May today’s students have plenty of sweets to eat during the school year, and not have to beg their mothers to “make some good lemon pies.”

Many citizens of Ballston Spa will be aware that in the nineteenth century the east end of Front St boasted a sumptuous hotel called the Sans Souci. Some of these residents may have mused upon the great events, including balls, which might have enlivened this hotel back in the day, even ones graced by the presence of European Royalty on occasion.

Some also may be aware that at the west end of Front St stood a smaller, but still well-appointed hotel, a building then called Aldridge’s, now Brookside. Less well known is that Brookside, in the early 1800’s, boasted an extension, called the North Wing. The ground floor of this wing was a ballroom, in which events were held which could compete with those of the Sans Souci for splendor. The Brookside building thankfully still exists, although shorn of its North Wing. This was sold around 1843 and moved across Fairground Ave. where it serves as an apartment house today.

Few, however, will recall that in the heyday of the Sans Souci and Aldridge’s there was a third hostelry in the Village situated less than one hundred yards from Brookside at the corner of Front Street and Court Street. Unknown today, most of it burned down in 1855 and its corner now lies vacant. But, for many years it operated successfully under the name of the McMaster House. It also had an extension tacked on, in which the ground floor comprised yet another ballroom.

When all three of these ballrooms were in vogue, roughly 1805 to 1830, there was quite a competition between them. At times there were not enough musicians in town for more than one to host dancing on a given evening. The smart folks at the Sans Souci were quite put out when either Aldridge’s or McMaster’s snaffled the best musicians, because they would not demean themselves to attend a ball at one of the other houses, among the “lesser sort.” Aldridge’s and McMaster’s seem to have been more cooperative. Abby May a resident at Aldridge’s in 1800 reported in her diary that balls at Aldridge’s often suffered from a surfeit of males, requiring the importation of ladies from McMaster’s as partners for the evening.

The McMaster House began life in 1792 when Nicholas Low (later the builder of the Sans Souci) started erecting a lodging house a few yards away from the main mineral spring. Low’s house, however, was on the opposite side of the spring from Aldridge’s. Completion came during the 1793 season and crowds really started to flock in from 1794. During the period through 1797 the manager of the hotel was James Merrill.

The brothers McMaster, James and David, were natives of Williamstown, Massachusetts. Their presence at Ballston is first documented in 1796, when they were in their early twenties. The brothers teamed with James Merrill in taking out a mortgage worth 152 pounds to buy a plot of land near the Mourning Kill in what today would be Malta. It seems that the brothers also got involved with Merrill’s management of Low’s lodging house. This evolved into their purchase of the hotel plus 3 adjacent lots in May 1799 for about $2,400, courtesy of a mortgage supplied by Nicholas Low himself.

Within a year, both brothers were married to local women. James had already wed Elizabeth Watrous and David now espoused Euretta Ball, a granddaughter of the Rev. Eliphalet Ball, for whom the town is named. The McMasters expanded their holdings both within the Village and nearby, becoming ever more leveraged as they went. One of their expansions, completed prior to 1804, was a Ballroom extension, which was located south of the original lodging house, as shown on an 1805 survey map.

A double tragedy had struck in September 1803, when both James himself and David’s wife Euretta died within days of each other. David had to buy the property from James’ heirs, requiring a large mortgage from Henry Walton in doing so. He then tried to sell the entire property back to Nicholas Low for the impressive asking price of $9,000. In the meantime, rather unusually, David had married his brother’s widow Betsey. They had two children to add to three Betsey had borne with James. Nicholas Low eventually bought back about half of the McMaster property, not including the hotel, and David and Betsey continued to manage the McMaster House together until David died around 1816. Betsey ploughed on alone and was recorded as still in charge at McMaster’s in the early 1830’s. She continued to live in the Village, dying in 1868.

The end came for the McMaster House on June 21, 1855, when the main building was consumed by fire. However, the Ballroom extension may have survived, having been fortuitously moved a few yards to the south of the 1792 building. Old accounts say that this structure still exists on Court Street, now an apartment building like the ballroom wing of Brookside. In this case the last remnant of the McMaster House may have operated as the Benedict Memorial Hospital from 1928-1953.

More research is needed to prove or disprove this hypothesis, but it is curious to think that the grand ballroom of the Sans Souci suffered demolition with the rest of the hotel in the winter of 1887/88, whereas one of its “lesser” competitors of the halcyon days may live on.

Over 100,000 Americans were traveling or residing in Europe in 1939.  As the threat of war became ever more ominous, in August the United States Department of State created a new office to facilitate the evacuation of these Americans. The war began with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1. By the end of the year 75% of the Americans in Europe were either home or on their way home.  Many American ships and men were involved in this evacuation. One of those sailors was my uncle.

Paul Joseph Phillips was born in Saratoga Springs on October 26 1912.  Paul’s father died when he was 9 years old.  His mother, Rose, was left to raise and care for 7 children between the ages of 15 and 2.  Rose and her 7 children  grew to be a very close , supportive family.  Paul graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in 1929, and like many high school graduates of the depression era, he had no firm plan for his future.  After graduation, Paul clerked for his uncle, John Phillips, who was a cigar maker and ran a cigar shop on Broadway.  Paul, also, played baseball as a pitcher for the county’s twi-light league, Saratoga Athletic Club.  The records show he won over half the games he pitched.  Paul was also very involved with the local theatre group, Saratoga Community Players, performing, building sets and acting in their productions in the City Hall Theatre.

Paul was hired in 1933 as a bellman by the United States Steamship Lines on the S.S. Manhattan.  Paul was promoted to steward in 1937 and moved to the recently launched S.S. Washington. The Washington’s route was New York to Hamburg, Le Havre, Southampton,  Cobh and home. Paul, again was promoted in 1938 to assistant clerk to the Purser, and was working in this capacity in 1939.

The S.S. Washington’s initial voyage of 1939 was the liner’s standard route, first stop Hamburg.  In Hamburg 90 German Jews boarded the ship fleeing Germany.  These passengers left the ship in Southampton. The next voyage the route changed, Naples and Genoa,  Italy, Le Havre, France,  Southampton, England, Galway Bay, Ireland and home. By mid-summer, with the unrest increasing, the stops in Italy and France were halted and Lisbon, Portugal was added.

The S.S. Washington arrived in Lisbon in late August 1939 to pick up American evacuees. Paul Phillips was tasked with validating credentials, visas, and passports of the refugees prior to their boarding the ship.He was surprised and delighted to welcome a Saratoga Springs native, Claire Desidoro, who was in line for boarding. Claire graduated from Saratoga Springs High School and Skidmore College.  Saratoga Springs was a “small town” at that time and the Phillips and Desidoro families were very close. Claire was employed as an instructor in Romance Languages at Skidmore College and she sailed to Europe in the spring of 1939 in order to take classes at Perugia University of Linguistics in Italy. With the ports in Italy and France abandoned, the American Embassy assisted Claire and other Americans in Italy, by obtaining transport to France and then to Lisbon.

On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland.  On the 3rd, Britain, France, Canada declared war on Germany, and the same day a U-Boat sank the British liner Athena causing the deaths of 30 Americans on board.   Four days later the Washington was one night out of Lisbon when it was hailed by a U-Boat which directed them to pick up the survivors of the British freighter, Olive Grove, which the U-Boat had sunk.  The ship stopped in Southhampton, then steamed on to Galway Bay, and home to New York.  The Washington was designed for 1,050 passengers and 700 crew, but this trip the ship carried 1,790 passengers 700 of whom were children!  Paul’s mother and sister and Claire’s mother were waiting on the pier when the ship docked in New York.

The S.S. Washington was to immediately return to Europe for more evacuees.  However the National Maritime Union refused to let them return without a formal agreement for a 10% bonus for voyages to the war zone .  The Union’s demands were still unresolved when Washington left New York for Europe in late spring of 1940. 

The Washington arrived in Lisbon in June, took on board 1,020 refugees and put back to sea.  At 5 A.M. the next morning, on June 11, 1940, 180 miles from Lisbon a U-Boat surfaced near the Washington and demanded the vessel be abandoned in 10 minutes. The passengers and 570 crew members hustled into the lifeboats and abandoned the ship, amazingly, with no panic. Eventually, the U-Boat captain realized this vessel was American and left the scene. The passengers and crew remained in the lifeboats for another hour before returning to the ship. The Washington steamed on to anchor in Galway Bay where over 500 additional evacuees were anxious to leave Europe.

Paul Phillips, now the purser’s chief clerk, was deputized to go ashore in the ship’s motor launch, validate the refugees’ credentials and have them moved aboard  the ship. When that task was complete, Paul and the crew of the launch headed back to the ship in a windblown, very choppy sea. A rogue wave hit the launch and washed Paul into Galway Bay. Immediately, 2 crewmen jumped into the sea to rescue Paul.  With Paul’s help, all 3 scrambled back into the launch. Tragically, very quickly after regaining the launch, Paul was stricken and died in the launch. The Irish authorities and the Gardai held an inquest, on board the Washington into Paul’s death. The inquest ruled the death accidental, the result of shock and cardiac arrest. Paul was 27 years old.

Shortly after the end of the war, Paul J. Phillips, merchant seaman, was recognized by the United States as among the earliest Americans to lose their life in the conflict.  Indeed, among the many monuments to those who died as a result of WWII is one erected in 1947 by the parish of the Church of Saint Peter on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. Paul Phillips’ sacrifice is memorialized there, along with 17 other members of the parish. 

Paul was my mother’s (Mary Phillips Murray) brother, my uncle. Claire Desidoro was my wife Susanne’s mother’s (Angela Desidoro Tarantino) sister, Sue’s aunt. Paul and Claire’s stories of their experiences are an important part of our family’s history.