Minerd.com Biography of Alfred Edward and Lillie (Langdon) Phillips of Chicago

Lillie was an only child in the home of a prominent judge, and thus presumably received an excellent education reflecting her family's standing in the community that housed Purdue University.

In about 1895, when Lillie was age 28, she wed Alfred Edward Phillips (1863-1931), a 31-year-old native of Rouse's Point, NY, and the son of John and Jane Ann (Irwin) Phillips, who both were born in Canada.

They together produced a family of two daughters, Jane Ann Phillips and Laura "Langdon" Medway, and raised a nephew, Harry Phillips, born in Nebraska in 1890.

Alfred was a civil engineer, with his early education in private schools in New York and later in public schools in Champlain, NY and Quebec, Canada. He received his undergraduate degree in 1887 and his PhD degree in 1894, both from Union University in Schenectady, NY.

His first employment was with the Cumberland Valley and Unaka Railroad in Tennessee, running a traverse across the Cumberland mountains from Knoxville to the Atlantic coast, said a biography in the Armour Tech News (April 21, 1931).

He worked as professor of civil engineering for the Armour Institute in Chicago, and was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Society for Testing and Materials. From 1887 to 1894, he was a professor of civil engineering at Purdue, where he established the department. Then then accepted a post as acting professor of bridge and hydraulic engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 1895-1896, also with a private practice specializing in sewers, water works, street paving and irrigation in Indianapolis over a five year span between 1894 and 1899.

Circa 1898, the Phillipses resided in Columbia City, IN. By 1900, they had moved into Chicago's South Side, where Alfred obtained employment as a teacher of engineering at the Armour Institute of Technology. The 1900 census shows the family making its residence on 33rd Street, and with Alfred's widowed mother living under their roof. By 1914, they had relocated to 1240 Morse Avenue.

Alfred authored a number of textbooks, among them Stresses in Bridges and Roof Trusses (1901); Plane Surveying (1904); Irrigation (1907); Surveying (American School of Correspondence, 1908); Highway Construction (co-authored with Austin Thomas Byrne of the American School, Chicago, 1913); and Masonry Construction (again co-authored with Byrne, 1908). He also wrote articles for the institute's publication, The Armour Engineer, on "Engineering Field Practice" and "Specifications."

By 1927, Alfred apparently left Armour and accepted a new position as transmission line engineer with the Tata Power Supply Company of Texas and India.

Mechanical engineering room, Armour Institute. New England Magazine, May 1897

Lillie was a member of the Rogers Park Woman's Club, founded in 1891, which met in the Masonic Temple at the corner of North Clark Street and Lunt Avenue in Chicago. She was a member of the standing committees on programs and civics circa 1914.

At the 50th anniversary of Purdue University, Lillie donated an an antique document, the original draft of a bill authored by her father from 1879, which created an annual scholarship for two worthy Indiana students.

As a descendant of Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Langdon, Lillie joined the prestigious Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). She is listed in the DAR's 1898 national Directory, member #3292e, compiled by Hattie Nourse Brockett and Georgia Stockton Hatcher. Her heritage is spelled out in the DAR's 1897 Lineage Book, as follows:

MRS. LILLIE LANGDON PHILLIPS.

Daughter of Byron William Langdon and Elizabeth Ingram, his wife.

Granddaughter of William Lacey Langdon and Jane Ann Duff, his wife.

Gr.-granddaughter of James Langdon and Joana Badgeley, his wife.

Gr.-gr.-granddaughter of Benjamin Langdon and Tamer Barnes, his wife.

Benjamin Langdon, when seventeen, enlisted in the army, and in 1781 was a private in the Second Regiment, New York Line, commanded by Philip Van Cortland.

-- Lineage Book, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1897

All four of them remained under one roof again in 1930, on Grove Street, when enumerated on the census. That year, daughter Jane was employed as a teacher in a public school, while Langdon taught in a private school.

Alfred became seriously ill in about March 1931. He was hospitalized in Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago. After five weeks of suffering, he passed away on April 19, 1931, at the age of 68. His funeral was held at St. Luke's Church, Evanston. Burial was in the memorial park in Niles Center, Cook County. An obituary in the Chicago Tribune said he "had been professor of civil engineering at the Armour Institute of Technology since 1899..."

Lillie outlived her husband by many years. In 1950, she shared a home with her married daughter and family in Highland Park.

Her final address was 570 Lyman Court in Highland Park. She died on Dec. 16, 1960, with an obituary appearing in the Tribune.

She received her bachelors degree from Northwestern University in 1921, and from 1921 to 1922 was employed as assistant to the welfare director of Montgomery Ward & Company in Chicago. She then worked in a variety of teaching positions from 1923 to 1944, and then was named a counselor at her alma mater, Northwestern, in 1944. She used that opportunity to secure her master's degree there in 1945.

Jane Ann is profiled in the 1954 edition of the book, Who's Who in the Midwest.

Jane Ann died on or about Aug. 18, 1987. A brief obituary was published in the Chicago Tribune, saying that her funeral service was held in the Church of the Holy Comforter on Kenilworth Avenue and that burial would be in the Memorial Park.

Daughter Laura "Langdon" Phillips (1900-1999) was born on March 18, 1900 in Chicago.

At the age of 32, on Sept. 5, 1933, Langdon married 32-year-old Willard Medway (1901-1989) in Chicago but a native of Wisconsin. News of their nuptials was published in the Chicago Tribune.

Willard was a finance expert, and was an equity owner of an investment firm named Medway, Wadden & Williams, with offices at 120 South LaSalle Street in Chicago. Among his partners was William M. Wadden Jr.

Circa July 1941, the firm merged with Thompson, Davit & Phipps. Wadden apparently formed his own firm, Wadden & Company, dealers in stocks and bonds, with offices at 209 South LaSalle Street. By 1943, the Wadden firm was known as Wadden, Williams & Co., Inc., with William M. Wadden Jr. as president and treasurer, Milton L. Williams as executive vice president and secretary, and Dayton H. Mudd as vice president.

The Medways resided in Highland Park, Lake County near Chicago in 1950, as shown in the federal census enumeration. Langdon's aged mother lived under their roof that year.

Willard spent his final years in Highland Park. He died in September 1989 at the age of 88. Funeral services were held at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter at 222 Kenilworth Avenue. The remains were transported to Wisconsin to rest for all time in Wauwatosa Cemetery.

Langdon survived as a widow for another decade. She relocated to Berkeley, Alameda County, CA.

Death spirited her away at the age of 99 on April 27, 1999. The remains were laid to rest in Wauwatosa Cemetery in Wisconsin.

Son John Phillips Medway (1941- ? ) was born in about 1941. He entered into marriage with Geri ( ? - ? ). They are believed to be the parents of Bryan Medway and Michelle Medway.

Daughter Susan L. Medway (1943- ? ) was born in about 1943 in Illinois and grew up in Highland Park. Evidence suggests that she was a star tennis player in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, competing in national clay courts tournaments. She may have relocated to Berkeley, Alameda County, CA. If so, she appears to have been pictured in a Los Angeles Times article in 1992 among a group of Berkeley volunteers who "had donated their labor to a mammoth 5-year-old private publishing project aimed at preserving ancient Tibetan scriptures and returning them to monasteries in that autonomous region of China. The final project will involve 108 sets of 560 hand-sewn and handbound volumes of flowing Tibetan script." This all needs to be confirmed.