William Phillips Jr. (April 10, 1750 – May 26, 1827) was a Boston merchant, politician and philanthropist. Phillips was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of

William Phillips Sr William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. He joined his father in business and became wealthy. He was a descendant of Rev. George Phillips of

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

, the progenitor of the New England Phillips family in America. Phillips was elected the tenth

Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts The lieutenant governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts. The constitutional honorific title for the office is His ...

, serving from 1812 to 1823. He drafted the letter inviting New England Governors to send delegates to the

Hartford Convention The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and ...

of 1815. On his death, he bequeathed large sums to Phillips Academy, Andover, and to

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

. Phillips married Miriam Mason (1754–1823) on September 13, 1774, in

Norwich, Massachusetts Huntington is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,094 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Originally Plantation Number 9 by the Co ...

. They had seven children. Phillips was the grandfather of

Samuel H. Walley Samuel Hurd Walley (August 31, 1805 – August 27, 1877) was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and as a member of the U.S. representative from Massachusetts. Ear ...

who was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. He was also the first president of the Massachusetts General Hospital and has a building there named after him. Phillips was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1813.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> He died in Boston. The town of

Phillipston, Massachusetts Phillipston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,724 at the 2020 census. History Phillipston was first settled in 1751, and incorporated as the town of Gerry on October 20, 1786, after separating fr ...

was named after Phillips on February 5, 1814.

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* 1750 births 1827 deaths Massachusetts Federalists Lieutenant Governors of Massachusetts American businesspeople American philanthropists Members of the American Antiquarian Society Phillips family (New England) {{Massachusetts-politician-stub