William M Phipps

from the collection of
rfinch on Ancestry.com
The lady in the photo has been identified as Mrs. Mary V. (Ewing) McAfee 1846-1912.

William M. Phipps
(1846 - 1917?)

1846
William M Phipps born in VA
1865
Washington, DC, William Phipps NOT listed
1866
Washington, DC, William Phipps as photographer; bds 43 4 ½ west
1867
Washington, DC, city directory William Phipps as photographer at 381 13th w
1868
Washington, DC, city directory William Phipps as photographer at 12 Market Space
1869
Washington, DC, city records William M Phipps marries Anna F Hough
1870
Washington DC, US census William Phipps as photographer w/wife Anna F
1870 - 1874
Washington, DC, city directory William Phipps as photographer at 925 7th nw
1875
Washington DC, city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 920 7th;
1876
Washington DC, city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 920 7th; Edwin Phipps photographer at same address

1877
Washington, DC, city directory, William Phipps as photographer at 319 PA av; Edwin Phipps photographer at same address
1878, 1879
Washington, DC, city directory, William Phipps as photographer at 319 PA av; res 315 PA av; Edwin Phipps photographer at same address
1879
Washington, DC, city directory, William Phipps as photographer at 319 PA av; res 315 PA av
1880, 1881
District of Columbia city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 708 7th nw
1882
Washington DC, city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 708 7th; T Edwin Phipps as photographer at 711 Market, res 519 H
1883
Washington DC, William M Phipps as photographer at 708 7th; Thomas E Phipps as photographer at 737 6th
1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888
Washington DC, William M Phipps as photographer at 708 7th;
1889, 1890, 1891
Washington, DC, city directory William Phipps as photographer at 425 7th nw
1892
Washington, DC, city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 425 7th nw; William L Phipps as photographer listed at same address.

1893 and 1894
Washington, DC, city directory William M Phipps not shown; Frank N Phipps, William F Phipps and William L Phipps all three listed as photographers at 425 7th nw;
1893
Baltimore, MD, city directory No photographer Phipps listed
1894
Baltimore, MD, city directory lists John J Powell photographer at 425 e Balto; No photographer Phipps listed
1895
Washington, DC, city directory lists only William F Phipps as photographer at 425 7th nw
1895
Baltimore, MD, city directory William F, William M and Frank N Phipps NOT listed; Central Photo Studio is listed at 427 e Balto
1896
Washington, DC, city directory William F, William L and Frank N Phipps NOT listed; Benjamin Gottwals now listed at 425 7th nw
1896
Baltimore, MD, city directory William F, William M and Frank N Phipps NOT listed; Central Photo Studio is listed at 427 e Balto
1897
Washington, DC, city directory lists Daniel Ryder now at 425 7th nw


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1897 - 1903
Baltimore, MD, city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 427 e Balto
(1900 - 1903 city directory has Frank F Phipps also as photographer at same address)
1904
Baltimore, MD, city directory William Phipps as photographer; this location is caught in the great fire of Baltimore, MD, 07 Feb 1904
1905
Baltimore, MD, city directory William L Phipps as photographer at 644 w Balto; William M Phipps Jr as photographer at same address (reversal of names probably a printing error)
1906
Baltimore, MD, city directory as William M Phipps, photographer at 644 w Balto; William L. Phipps as photographer at same address
1907
Baltimore, MD, city directory William M Phipps as photographer at 1609 Ludlow
1908
Baltimore, MD, city directory William Phipps as photographer at 210 Park av; res same
1909
Baltimore, MD, city directory William M Phipps NOT listed in directory
1910- 1917
Baltimore, MD, city directory William Phipps as photographer at 1316 PA av; res same

1917 Dec 05
Baltimore (MD) Sun, news item William M. Phipps found destitute, age 73, in studio at 1316 PA av
1918
Baltimore, MD, city directory, William M Phipps NOT listed

Photographer W W Morris, reviewed on another page, was enumerated in the same census twice in the same month in different locations. W M Phipps of Baltimore, MD, was obviously skipped entirely by a census enumerator. A lengthy, page by page line by line review of the 1900 US census, Baltimore, MD, ward 2, district 031 (11 pages) was required to prove this. District 030 and 032 had to be checked too, just to make sure. The conclusion is that the enumerator skipped most of the 400 block of East Baltimore. So Mr. Phipps won’t turn up in any searches because he isn’t there.

There is one entry for 425 East Baltimore, Matilda Wagner, also a photographer, and her four children. 425 would be next door to 427 Baltimore, where Mr Phipps was working and living. The Baltimore city directories show him at that address steadily from 1897 to February of 1904 when his studio was burned in a fire.

And not just A fire, it was THE fire. The Baltimore city fire of 1904 was the largest city fire in US history since the Chicago fire of 1871. Loss estimates went to 200 million in 1904 dollars. It forced Mr. Phipps to re-open his studio on west Baltimore at 644, the following year.

Mr. Phipps could not be found in the obituaries. No one seems to know when he died. An article in the Baltimore Sun tells what might have happened.

Baltimore (MD) Sun - 05 Dec 1917

After that date, there are no further city directory listings, or any other records for that matter. It must be that he died then or shortly after.

After the 1870 and 1880 appearances in the US census, Anna, the wife of Mr Phipps, seems to disappear too.

The cabinet card here would have been finished in that period 1890 and 1893, when Wm. Phipps was still in the District of Columbia, at 425 7th st.

But what of the other photographers Phipps: William L, William F and Frank N? We see them mentioned in District of Columbia directories in 1893 and 1894 and then nothing. Maybe the following newspaper clipping explains at least one of them. It is largely speculation, but it is believed that the photographer here is William L Phipps, one of the two sons mentioned in the US census of 1880.

Harrisburg (PA) Daily Independent - 14 Mar 1916

Harrisburg (PA) Telegraph - 16 Mar 1916

Harrisburg (PA) Telegraph - 16 Mar 1916

Harrisburg (PA)Telegraph - 10 May 1916

Mount Carmel (PA) Item - 10 May 1916

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Here's the photographer's INDEX by name. Listed here are all the Cabinet Card photographers of the 19th century found in LOST GALLERY. This is a work in progress. For a look at the original postings go to
LOST GALLERY.