Andrew Philhower

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Andrew Philhower

Biographical and Genealogical History of Morris County New Jersey. Illustrated. Vol. II., Lewis Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1899.

The subject of this memoir was a man whose long and useful life was consecrated to all that was true and good, and his name will be held in lasting honor in the community where he lived and labored to goodly ends. For half a century he was one of the well-known and influential farmers of his locality, having during this entire interval occupied his fine farm near Middle Valley, Morris county. There is a marked consistency in according in this compilation a brief review of his life.

Mr. PHILHOWER traced his ancestry back to Germany. Three brothers of the name of PHILHOWER came from Germany to this country at an early day, and soon after landing here separated, one settling in New Jersey, another at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the third at Reading, Pennsylvania. From the first is our subject descended, and this branch of the family have for the most part resided in New Jersey. John PHILHOWER, the grandfather of our subject, lived in Revolutionary times and his brother Christopher was a patriot soldier in the American army. Philip PHILHOWER, the father of Andrew, was in his day a member of the state militia. He was born in 1796 and died in 1878, and by occupation he was a farmer. He and his wife, Barbara, daughter of Jacob TEATS, were the parents of the following named children:

Andrew, whose name graces this sketch;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of Daniel SAUERS;
Jesse;
Rachel, deceased wife of Caspar C. APGAR;
Philip, deceased;
Elias;
Jacob;
Margaret, wife of Anthony HERZOG; and
David.

Andrew PHILHOWER was born in Tewksbury township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, September 21, 1818, —the same neighborhood in which his father was born. Here our subject was reared, with limited advantages, his opportunities for obtaining an education being confined to the subscription schools. At the age of twenty-five we find him engaged in burning brick and huckstering. These occupations he continued for a few years, and then he bought his farm of two hundred and eighteen acres, near Middle Valley, Morris county, to the cultivation and improvement of which he at once devoted his energies, and upon which he passed the remaining years of his life. In political adherency he was a Republican.

Mr. PHILHOWER was married in 1847 to Miss Hannah MOORE, daughter of John and Esther (McKINSTRY) MOORE. Of the children born to them we record that

Theodore married a Miss WALTERS;
Mary is the wife of John LANCE;
Gertie is the wife of Willard APGAR;
Nathaniel B. wedded a lady of his own name, Emma PHILHOWER;
Carrie is the wife of Daniel FLEMING; and
Jennie is Mrs. Sidney LANCE.

Secure in the esteem and regard of those among whom the major portion of his life had been passed, Mr. PHILHOWER was summoned into the eternal rest on the 9th of April, 1898, while his cherished and devoted wife soon followed him, her death occurring only two months later, on the 2d of June. Mr. PHILHOWER was a man of most sympathetic and kindly nature, and he never withheld his aid from those afflicted or distressed. His kindness was proverbial, and no better evidence of this is needed than that which is shown in the fact that, while he was at one time very well situated financially, yet so willing was he to assist his fellow men that he lost much of his, accumulations through endorsing paper, for his friends,—implying in many instances his being called upon to pay obligations which had been incurred only through his consent to assume them in a philanthropic way. That his confidence and faith were sometimes betrayed in this way can not be doubted, and yet, such was his inherent sympathy, that he did not repine at losses which came to him through extending assistance to those less fortunate than himself. His integrity was ever beyond question, and as a man among men all honor was accorded him. In his death the community lost a truly noble man and valued citizen.

This biography was scanned and contributed by Catherine Smith DeMayo.