John H. H. Phipps (a.k.a. Ben Phipps) (November 3, 1904 - April 1982) was an American heir, businessman,

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

owner, conservationist and

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player. He owned radio and television stations in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and Georgia.

Biography

Early life

His father was

John Shaffer Phipps John Shaffer Phipps (August 11, 1874 – May 12, 1958) was an American lawyer and businessman who was an heir to the Phipps family fortune and a shareholder of his father-in-law's Grace Shipping Lines. He was a director of the Hanover Bank, ...

(1874–1958) and his mother, Margarita Celia Grace (1876-1957). He had two brothers, Michael Grace Phipps (1910–1973) and

Hubert Beaumont Phipps Hubert Beaumont Phipps (November 12, 1905 – August 15, 1969) was a Virginia publisher and editor as well as a breeder of thoroughbred horses and purebred cattle. He was a member of the prominent Phipps family who made a fortune in steel as ...

(1906–1969), and one sister, Margaret Phipps Boegner (1906-2006). His paternal grandfather was Henry Phipps, Jr. (1839–1930) and his maternal grandfather was

Michael P. Grace Michael Paul Grace (1842 – September 20, 1920) was an Irish-American businessman who was a shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of W. R. Grace and Company shipping company of New York City and of Grace Brothers & Co. Ltd. of London ...

(1842-1920). He grew up at

Old Westbury Gardens __NOTOC__ Old Westbury Gardens is the former estate of businessman John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958), an heir to the Phipps family fortune, in Nassau County, New York. Located at 71 Old Westbury Road in Old Westbury, the property was converted in ...

Old Westbury, New York Old Westbury is a village in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury ...

. He attended

Groton School Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated ...

, a private boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts, but he was expelled after he brought a skunk into the church.Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in the United States: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2011, p. 165 He transferred to

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

, another private boarding school in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he played on the polo team.

Career

He purchased radio stations in the Tallahassee area in the 1940s and in Georgia in the 1950s.John H.H. Phipps, 77, Active Conservationist
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', April 21, 1982 He also owned the WCTV television station in the Tallahassee-

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second largest city in southwest Georgia after Albany, Georgia, Albany. The city deems itself the "C ...

area.

Conservation

He was involved with the Phipps-Florida Foundation, the

Caribbean Conservation Corporation The Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), formerly known as Caribbean Conservation Corporation, is an American not-for-profit 501(c)(3) membership organization based in Gainesville, Florida. STC was incorporated, based on an earlier informal organization ...

, and the

Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy is a research and learning facility located in northern Leon County, Florida, just off County Road 12 (Florida), County Road 12 on the north side of Lake Iamonia, Florida, Lake Iamonia. Tall Timber ...

. He served on the board of trustees of the New York Zoological Society from 1941 to 1980. He was also a patron of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

. He donated his land on

Alligator Point, Florida Alligator Point is an unincorporated community on St. James Island in Franklin County, Florida, United States. It is located along U.S. 98, south of Bald Point State Park, along the Gulf of Mexico. Alligator Point is a small beach community made ...

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

for the study of birdlife. Additionally, he funded a research project to restore the

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

breeding grounds in the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

and

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

in Florida.

Polo

He played polo at the Gulfstream Polo Club, a polo club established by his family north of Delray Beach, Florida in 1923.Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in the United States: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2011, pp. 98; 162 In 1941, together with his brother Michael Grace Phipps,

Charles Skiddy von Stade Charles Steele von Stade (November 24, 1919 – April 10, 1945) was an American polo champion. Biography Personal life Charles Steele von Stade was born in Old Westbury, Long Island, New York on November 24, 1919 to Francis Skiddy von Stade, Sr. ...

and

Alan L. Corey, Jr. Alan Lyle Corey Jr. (February 6, 1917 - August 24, 1998) was an American polo player. Overview It ... on March 20, 1992. He was married to Patricia Grace, and they had one daughter, Patricia Corey Montgomerie, and two sons, Alan L. Corey III and ...

, he won the

U.S. Open Polo Championship The US Open Polo Championship is an annual polo championship in the United States. It is organized since 1904 by the United States Polo Association (USPA). History The tournament was first played on September 20, 1904 at Van Cortlandt Park in T ...

at the Meadow Brook Polo Club against the Westbury team (

Gerald Dempsey Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Irish ...

Earle Hopping Earle Wayne Hopping (October 31, 1882 - January 1963) was an American polo player. He played for the United States in the 1930 International Polo Cup. In that year the American side won the series 10-5 and 14-9. He also had an intercollegiate indo ...

Stewart Iglehart Stewart Birrell Iglehart (February 22, 1910 – December 19,1993) was a rancher, ice hockey and polo player. He was born in Valparaíso, Chile but moved to the United States at a young age. As a child he learned to play both ice hockey and p ...

and

Windsor Holden White Windsor Holden White (July 18, 1905 – 1976) was an American polo player. Biography Early life White was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the son of Windsor T. White and Delia Holden of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He was a scion of the prominent White ...

Personal life

He was married to Elinor Klapp Phipps. They had two sons: *Colin Phipps. *Eugene Phipps. They resided in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Upon his father's death, he inherited the

Orchard Pond Plantation Orchard Pond Plantation was a large cotton plantation originally of 8754 acres, (35½ km2) developed and owned in the 19th century by Richard Keith Call, attorney, planter and future Territorial Governor, in what is now northwestern Leon Coun ...

. He also developed the

Ayavalla Plantation Ayavalla Plantation was a quail hunting plantation located in northwest Leon County, Florida, established by John Henry Howard Phipps, son of John Shaffer Phipps of the prominent Phipps family. Ayavalla was the Indian word used by Ellen Call Long ...

Leon County, Florida Leon County is a county in the Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 census, the population was 292,198. The county seat is Tallahassee, which is also the state cap ...

as a quail-hunting plantation. He died at the Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center in April 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, John H. H. People from Old Westbury, New York Businesspeople from New York City People from Tallahassee, Florida Phipps family Groton School alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Yale University alumni American polo players American conservationists 1982 deaths 1904 births Activists from New York City