🏠 » Genealogy » Phillis and Thomas

Compiled and written by Kimberli Faulkner Hull
Grandniece of Howard Thomas Phillis
The contents of this website, including images and photos, may neither be copied nor otherwise used or posted elsewhere without explicit permission. Citing this page
© Kimberli Faulkner Hull

Ethel E. Sawyers was born about 22 May 1889 in Tennessee to John Hamilton Sawyers and Mary A. Longworth.¹

[Open Endnotes in separate tab]

In 1899, Ethel’s father died at the age of 42 from injuries suffered in a tragic accident caused by falling from a moving streetcar in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee.²

Ethel lived with her mother and siblings, Harry, Arthur, Alma, Maud, Thomas, and John, in Davidson County following her father’s death.³

By 1904, Ethel was living on her own near Kennedy and Blakemore Avenue in Nashville, working in the printing industry as a folder and attending parties.⁴

Ethel’s career in printing soon progressed to a binder, working for Foster, Webb & Parkes, one of the largest printing, lithographing, and engraving plants in the South.⁵

At some point between 1908 and 1919, Ethel married a Mr. Tate and moved to Chicago, Illinois.⁶

On 18 August 1919, Ethel married Howard Thomas Phillis in Chicago.⁷

After their marriage, Howard and Ethel lived in the same building as Howard’s mother and brothers, at 508 Grant Place in Chicago. Howard worked at a hotel, and Ethel worked in the print industry.⁸

In 1930, Ethel and Howard had moved a few doors down to 514 Grant Place and Howard was working as a pressman at a print shop.⁹

Ethel and Howard moved to 2433 Geneva Terrace near Lincoln Park where they would live for the remainder of their lives.¹⁰

Ethel’s mother, Mary Ann Longworth Sawyers, died in Nashville, Tennessee on 30 September 1945 at the age of 83.¹¹

Ethel’s husband, Howard, died on Christmas Day in 1966 in Chicago at the age of 72 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.¹²

Ethel E. Sawyers Tate Phillis died at the age of 82 on 19 Oct 1976 in Chicago.¹³ Ethel is buried in Elm Lawn Memorial Park in Elmhurst, DuPage County, Illinois.¹⁴

Endnotes

1. No birth record found; birth year varies from 1886 to 1894. The date is most likely 22 or 23 May.
1900 census: May 1886, Tennessee. 1919 marriage record: 1893. 1920 census: 1894, Tennessee.
1930 & 1940 census: 1895, Tennessee. 1976 Illinois death records: 23 May 1894. SSN: 22 May 1889.

United States Social Security Death Index, Ethel Phillis, Oct 1976. Birth: 22 May 1889. Last address: Chicago, Cook, Illinois.

Also, Ethel in the household of her mother.
1900 U.S. census, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 125, sheet 17A, dwelling 296, family 301, Mary A. Sawyers household.
– Mary A. Sawyers, age 38, widow, born Apr 1862 in Tennessee
– Harry A, son, age 19, single, born Oct 1880 in Tennessee
– Arthur, son, age 17, single, born July 1882 in Tennessee
– Alma, daughter, age 16, single, born Apr 1884 in Tennessee
– Ethel, daughter, age 14, single, born May 1886 in Tennessee
– Maud C, daughter, single, age 10, born Jan 1890 in Tennessee
– Thomas E., son, single, age 8, born Jan 1892 in Tennessee
– John H., son, single, age 4, born June 1895 in Tennessee

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2. State of Tennessee, Davidson County, City of Nashville, Return of a Death, no A95, John Hamilton Sawyers, 21 Oct 1899. Birth: 22 May 1857, Williamson County, Tennessee. Age: 42 years, 5 months, 29 days. Occupation: Blacksmith. Burial: Mt Olivet Cemetery.

Also, “John Sawyers’ Fatal Injury,” newspaper article, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), 22 Oct 1899, p. 2, col 4.

Also, headstone reads: John Hamilton Sawyers / Born May 4, 1856 / Died Oct. 21, 1899
Find A Grave, memorial 124796158, John Hamilton Sawyers (1856–1899), Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee with headstone photo

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3. 1900 U.S. census, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 125, sheet 17A, dwelling 296, family 301, Mary A. Sawyers household.

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4. “Alma and Ethel Sawyers Attend Party,” newspaper article, Nashville Banner (Nashville, Tennessee), 20 Feb 1904, p. 5, col. 3.

Also, Directory of Nashville and West Nashville 1904, vol. 40 (Nashville : Marshall & Bruce Co., 1904), p. 1024, Ethel Sawyers.
Sawyers, Ethel, folder, bds Kennedy av nr Blakemore av

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5. Nashville City Directory 1905 (Nashville : Marshall-Bruce-Polk Co., 1905), p. 1000, Ethel Sawyers.
Sawyers, Ethel E., helper 215 3d av N, b Hewlett n e cor 24^h av N.

Nashville City Directory 1906 (Nashville : Marshall-Bruce-Polk Co., 1906), p. 1169, Ethel Sawyers.
Sawyers, Ethel E., binder, b 24^th av s w cor Hewlett.

Nashville City Directory 1907 (Nashville : Marshall-Bruce-Polk Co., 1907), p. 1169, Ethel Sawyers.
Sawyers, Ethel E., binder, 215 3d av N, b w s Kennedy av 2 n of Carlton av

Nashville City Directory 1908 (Nashville : Marshall-Bruce-Polk Co., 1908), p. 1002, Ethel Sawyers.
Sawyers, Ethel E., bkbnder Foster, Webb & Parkes b Kennedy cor Carlton av

“Local Firm Changes Name,” Foster, Webb & Parkes newspaper article, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), 30 June 1910, p. 10, col. 4.

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6. Ethel was not found in the 1910 census as Ethel Sawyer or Ethel Tate. When she married Howard Phillis in 1919, she was listed on the certificate as Mrs. Ethel E. Tate. No marriage record to Mr. Tate has been found.

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7. Illinois, Cook County Marriages, Chicago, Cook County, no. 885, Howard T. Phillis–Ethel E. Tate, 18 Aug 1919. Groom: Age 26. Bride: Age 26.

Also, United States World War I Draft Registration Card, Howard Thomas Phillis, serial no. 2182, Local Draft Board 23^rd ward, 58^th precinct, Chicago, Illinois, 5 June 1917. Birth; 16 Aug 1893, Cambridge, Ohio. Address: 508 Grant Pl, Chicago. Occupation: Operator, Drake Hotel, Michigan and Seventh.  Single. Supports father and mother.

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8. 1920 U.S. census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 1261, ward 23, sheet 1A, dwelling 2, family 7, Howard Phillis household.
Address: 508 Grant Place
– Howard Phillis, age 26, married, born in Ohio, inn clerk, hotel
_ Ethel, wife, age 26, married, born in Tennessee, typesetter, printing
Same page, same address, dwelling 1, family 2, Julia Phillis household:
– Julia Phillis, age 61, widow, born in Ohio
– Ralph Phillis, son, age 23, single, born in Ohio, chauffeur, garage
– Clarence, son, age 18, single, born in Ohio, saleman, department store

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9. 1930 U.S. census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 16-1655, ward 44, sheet 11B, dwelling 60, family 229, Howard Phillis household.
Address: 514 Grant Place
– Howard Phillis, age 36, married, born in Ohio, pressman, ptg shop
– Ethel, wife, age 35, married, born in Tennessee

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10. 1940 U.S. census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 103-2799, ward 44, sheet 1B, family 11, Howard Phillis household.
Address: 2433 Geneva Terrace. Same address 1935.
– Howard Phillis, age 46, married, born in Ohio
– Ethel, wife, age 45, married, born in Tennessee, floor lady, Ideal Bindery

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11. State of Tennessee, Nashville, Davidson County, Certificate of a Death, no 18176, Mary Ann Sawyers, 30 Sept 1945. Birth: 19 Apr 1862, Nashville, Tennessee. Age: 83 years, 5 months, 11 days. Widowed. Spouse: John Hamilton Sawyers. Burial: 2 Oct 1945, Mt Olivet Cemetery.

Also, “Mrs. Mary Ann Sawyers,” obituary, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), 2 Oct 1945, p. 18, col. 4.

Aslo, headstone reads: Mary Ann L. Sawyers / Born April 19, 1862 / Died Sept. 30, 1945
Find A Grave, memorial 124796709, Mary Ann Longworth Sawyers (1862–1945), Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee with headstone photo.

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12. Illinois, Cook County Death Index, Chicago, Cook County, Howard Phillis, 25 Dec 1966.
Birth: 10 Aug 1894, Cambridge, Ohio. Age: 72. Occupation: Printer. Married. Address: 2433 N. Geneva Terrace. Parents: John Phillis and Julia Thomas. Funeral Home: Rentley Funeral Service. Burial: 27 Dec 1966, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.

Also, Find A Grave, memorial 197864836, Howard Thomas Phillis (1894–1966), Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; no headstone photo.

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13. Illinois, Cook County Death Index, Chicago, Cook County, Ethel Phillis, 19 Oct 1976. Birth: 23 May 1894, Tennessee. Widowed. Address: 2423 Geneva Terr. Age: 82. Parents: John Hamilton Sawyers and Mary Ann Longworth. Funeral home: A. L. Bentley and Son. Burial: 21 Oct 1976, Elm Lawn, Elmhurst, Illinois.

United States Social Security Death Index, Ethel Phillis, Oct 1976. Birth: 22 May 1889. Last address: Chicago, Cook, Illinois.

Cook County, Illinois Death Index, no. 624421, Ethel Phillis, 19 Oct 1976.

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14. Find A Grave, memorial 236783817, Ethel E. Sawyers Phillis (1894–1976), Elm Lawn Memorial Park, Elmhurst, DuPage County, Illinois; no headstone photo.

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Citing this page: Kimberli Faulkner Hull, author, “Ethel E. Sawyers Tate Phillis,” Cool Adventures
( https://cooladventures.com/genealogy/ethel-sawyers-tate-phillis/ : posted 2022).

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