Lovecraft's grandfather was an amazing man.
As I began to prepare a full biography of WVP the task became overwhelming. There was so much detail that it could never fit into a book. Biographers can't be overindulgent because paper is expensive and the general reader will not be able to read a 10,000 page book. An intense researcher, however, is never satisfied with a biographical overview. What to do?
I thought about Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, but no publisher would find an audience for Lovecraft's grandfather. Then I thought of Gavin Menzie's work (1431) on Chinese exploration. He felt a blog and website would be a perfect addition for breaking news between books.
So here you have it. A blog chock full of long essays, which will one day be abbreviated into a general reader's book. Enough for the most dedicated scholar.
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Introduction
Despite millions of words spilled on Lovecraft’s literary career, uncounted bad mimics of his stories {present blogger included}, and many weak movies supposedly based on his fiction, Lovecraft is still essentially a cult figure. His life (1890-1937) was cut short by impoverishment and cancer, but he left a legacy of friendship and high standards behind. Those who knew him were passionate about him, and August Derleth dedicated the rest of his life in preserving Lovecraft's fiction. Almost simultaneously with Derleth's decease, S. T. Joshi dedicated most of his adult life to clarifying Lovecraft's biographical and critical legacy.
If Lovecraft still remains somewhat obscure, his Gilded Age grandfather is nearly invisible. But for two happenstances, we might not even know anything of the elder Phillips. One of these was Lovecraft's desire to write copious letters, and in those he mentions his beloved grandfather and some of his business legacy. The other, the nearly-unsung hero, Kenneth W. Faig, Jr.
Faig, living in Providence for a short time, became captivated by both Lovecraft and his genealogy. This led to Herculean research uncovering most of the hidden history of W. V. Phillips' incredible endeavors to dam up the Bruneau River in then-Idaho Territory for irrigation purposes. It was a microcosm of 19th century man's will against Nature's fury, and in the end Phillips ran out of time. One disaster after another drained his vast fortune, and he died in 1904 just before he was able to muster the resources for the final triumph. This biography of Whipple Phillips is dedicated to Mr. Faig's untiring research.
This writeri began to correspond with Mr. Faig after reading an afterward in one of Mr. Faig's books. That short paragraph in an aferward called attention to this writer's long running blog on H. P. Lovecraft's Life and Legacy, an endeavor to find more detail than was readily available in (mostly) Mr. Joshi's numerous books. Mr. Faig's many insights have been invaluable.
Google began to scan and release millions of 19th century documents, newspapers, and books a few years ago, and Google has been engaged in lawsuits by parties who wish this data to be withdrawn. Perhaps only the Smithsonian rivals what Google now has available, and unlike library data, it is available and searchable using 21st centuries' most powerful algorithms. Much of this new data, herein, was acquired in a very short window of time before Google downgraded its search algorithms.
By simply typing in “W V Phillips” and following the myriad strands of tangents, a large majority of Phillips' business dealings were revealed. {This is now much harder.} In doing so, several shocks and surprises were revealed to this writer, notably that H. P. Lovecraft either did not understand or was not told of Phillips' many early schemes. As you read, you may now know more than HPL and Susie did.
Before the age of three, Lovecraft's father, Winfield Scot Lovecraft, was struck mad with syphilis. Susan Lovecraft, his mother, was stunned as she had no idea of what was transpiring in her husband's life. If she did, she had few reference points to understand it.
Winfield Scot Lovecraft (WSL) was immediately institutionalized, and it appears that Phillips (WVP) paid the medical bills, and essentially “adopted” his grandson as his own. Then at age 14, Lovecraft and his mother were thrown by Phillips' death and had to survive on a small inheritance.
Winfield Scot Lovecraft (WSL) was immediately institutionalized, and it appears that Phillips (WVP) paid the medical bills, and essentially “adopted” his grandson as his own. Then at age 14, Lovecraft and his mother were thrown by Phillips' death and had to survive on a small inheritance.
This is uncannily exactly what had happened to the elder Phillips. At the age of 14, WVP's mother was already deceased. Then his yeoman father was accidentally crushed to death in his corn gristing mill. Whipple Van Buren Phillips was immediately an orphan, and essentially penniless, along with his siblings.
This is where HPL and WVP part company. Lovecraft still had his mother, Susan. Lovecraft then failed at a scientific career, eked out a pseudo-gentleman's life by writing poetry, and later began to create the sub-genre now known as the "Weird Tale". On occasion he brought in a $100 or so (in 1920's currency), but mostly he ached with all manner of mysterious ailments, ate poorly, and lived to learn but only a narrow range of esoterica. He had no inherent business talents.
Phillips, a true orphan, could have been the poster child for Horatio Alger. After living briefly in Illinois, he returned home to western Rhode Island, started a grocery store, married into a banking family (his 1st cousin already pregnant with daughter Lillian was conceived out of wedlock), parlayed some meager investments into lumber sales, helped build an entire town, dodged service in the Civil War, partnered into a railroad, became a postmaster, and later made a sum of money in coal. Then, at the height of his career in the early 1870's, a New England depression (actually nationwide but New England was especially depressed) and some odd business deals pushed him to bankruptcy in or about 1874.
Resilience was in Phillips character, for he immediately did what he would frequently do, he took the case to court and fought it for years, tooth and nail, all the way to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
WVP became a school teacher, a member of the Rhode Island legislature, began a sewing machine sales shop, and rebuilt his finances through skill and cunning. There seems little doubt that Phillips used his connections with powerful distant relatives, politicians, and friends to obtain information, and made business deals unavailable to others. He had a near-psychic ability to read people (which failed only a few times in his life) and he selected and befriended those individuals who would be most advantageous to grow his empire. This is not to be cynical; it was a true gift in the Gilded Age.
WVP became a school teacher, a member of the Rhode Island legislature, began a sewing machine sales shop, and rebuilt his finances through skill and cunning. There seems little doubt that Phillips used his connections with powerful distant relatives, politicians, and friends to obtain information, and made business deals unavailable to others. He had a near-psychic ability to read people (which failed only a few times in his life) and he selected and befriended those individuals who would be most advantageous to grow his empire. This is not to be cynical; it was a true gift in the Gilded Age.
By 1878 he had met a sewing shop repairmen and inventor, Jesse Bethuel Lincoln. Seizing on the novel invention of a hand operated, home silk fringer (silk was high fashion) Phillips catapulted the item to make an enormous fortune.
This writer believes that WVP suddenly got "gold fever" in the early 1880's which led him to Idaho. This era has been documented by Faig, and you should run out right now and buy his books. However, he has only told part of the story. Much, much more is yet to be discussed, and it will intrigue even the most diligent scholar of Lovecraft.
Never one to rest, Phillips' early mining interests led him to gold in the Snake River Valley of Idaho territory and thus a need for large quantities of water. This led to a massive irrigation project (undoubtedly spearheaded by a USGS report - was he tipped off by Senator Aldrich? This writer thinks so.).
The ups and downs of that endeavor were well studied by Mr. Faig, as mentioned, but new information can now be provided on the unsung hero of the project, Andrew Jackson Wiley. (Herein, the first time any researcher has publicly stated his full name.) Much will be said on this in that section of the biography.
This writer believes that WVP suddenly got "gold fever" in the early 1880's which led him to Idaho. This era has been documented by Faig, and you should run out right now and buy his books. However, he has only told part of the story. Much, much more is yet to be discussed, and it will intrigue even the most diligent scholar of Lovecraft.
Never one to rest, Phillips' early mining interests led him to gold in the Snake River Valley of Idaho territory and thus a need for large quantities of water. This led to a massive irrigation project (undoubtedly spearheaded by a USGS report - was he tipped off by Senator Aldrich? This writer thinks so.).
The ups and downs of that endeavor were well studied by Mr. Faig, as mentioned, but new information can now be provided on the unsung hero of the project, Andrew Jackson Wiley. (Herein, the first time any researcher has publicly stated his full name.) Much will be said on this in that section of the biography.
Unknown before this writer uncovered it was Phillips 1890's endeavor in a science-fiction like device. A former Post Master General and a New York conglomerate allowed Phillips in on a rapid mail delivery system – a sort-of magnetic powered railroad. (Again, was Senator Aldrich a key component of this information - this writer thinks so.) Almost immediately, a competitive group sprang up and a horse race ensued to see who would win, ending in a corporate merger of the two. Read about this in that section.
Another business venture, still somewhat clouded in mystery, was WVP's work in natural gas lighting and heating, and his speculation in Cuban land after the Spanish American War.
Another business venture, still somewhat clouded in mystery, was WVP's work in natural gas lighting and heating, and his speculation in Cuban land after the Spanish American War.
By the end of the Gilded Age, all of this was beginning to fade – except for the Owyhee (Bruneau River Valley) project which would have been the culmination of Phillips long business career. Clearly this could have generated untold millions of dollars had Phillips lived long enough, but a freak rainstorm deluged the facility at the very last. The news must have stressed the elderly man, and he succumbed. This storm has been investigated by this writer, and no earthly man could have anticipated it, and none could have stopped it. WVP was not a failure. Lovecraft stated that WVP would have rebuilt. Indeed, he would have. His heart just stopped too soon.
The details, personalities, and machinations of Phillips dealings were secretive, complicated, and frequently litigious. Finding Phillips in a stack of 19th century newspapers is akin to finding a four-leaf clover in a clover field.
There is no doubt that without Google's advanced search engine technology, the details herein would not have come to light. The puzzle pieces are far from assembled, but at least now a detailed sketch can be made so that other researchers can debate or criticize the fine points of these discoveries.
Many of the items you have just read about were mostly unknown until this researcher found them.
There is no doubt that without Google's advanced search engine technology, the details herein would not have come to light. The puzzle pieces are far from assembled, but at least now a detailed sketch can be made so that other researchers can debate or criticize the fine points of these discoveries.
Many of the items you have just read about were mostly unknown until this researcher found them.
Thanks for sharing the info.
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