Representative Stephen Clarendon Phillips

Stephen Clarendon Phillips (November 4, 1801 – June 26, 1857) was a U.S. representative from Massachusetts and a prominent civic leader in Salem during the first half of the nineteenth century. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to Stephen and Dorcas (Woodbridge) Phillips, members of a well-established New England family. Through his father’s line he was a descendant of Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, regarded as the progenitor of the New England Phillips family in America, a connection that situated him within a longstanding regional elite. Raised in a mercantile and maritime community, Phillips grew up in an environment shaped by commerce, shipping, and the emerging industrial economy of coastal Massachusetts.

Phillips pursued a classical education and entered Harvard University at a young age, graduating in 1819. His Harvard education provided him with the intellectual training and social connections that facilitated his entry into public life and business. After leaving Harvard, he returned to Salem and engaged in mercantile pursuits, participating in the city’s robust trade networks. His early professional activities reflected the commercial character of Salem in the post–War of 1812 era, when New England merchants were adapting to changing national and international markets.

Phillips’s political career began in state government. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving from 1824 to 1829. During these years he took part in legislative affairs at a time when Massachusetts was grappling with issues of economic development, infrastructure, and political realignment following the decline of the Federalist Party. In 1830 he advanced to the Massachusetts State Senate, where he continued to represent the interests of his district and to build a reputation as a capable legislator. His service in both chambers of the General Court established him as a significant figure in Massachusetts Whig and National Republican circles.

Phillips entered national politics in the mid-1830s. He was elected as a National Republican to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Rufus Choate, taking his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on December 1, 1834. He was reelected as a National Republican to the Twenty-fourth Congress and then elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress, reflecting the broader transition of the National Republican faction into the Whig Party during this period. He served continuously from December 1, 1834, to September 28, 1838, when he resigned his seat. During his tenure in Congress, Phillips participated in debates characteristic of the era, including those concerning economic policy, internal improvements, and the balance of power between the federal government and the states, though he did not achieve national prominence as a committee chair or floor leader.

After leaving Congress, Phillips returned to Salem and quickly assumed a leading role in municipal affairs. He was elected mayor of Salem in 1838 and served in that office until 1842. As mayor, he oversaw local governance during a period of urban growth and economic adjustment, when New England seaports were contending with shifting trade patterns and the rise of railroads and manufacturing centers. His administration reflected the Whig emphasis on civic improvement and orderly development, and it reinforced his standing as one of Salem’s principal public figures.

In the late 1840s, Phillips aligned himself with the Free Soil movement, which opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories. He was the Free Soil candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 1848 and again in 1849, campaigns that underscored his identification with the emerging antislavery coalition in the state. Although he was defeated in both gubernatorial contests, his candidacies contributed to the growing visibility of Free Soil principles in Massachusetts politics and foreshadowed the later rise of the Republican Party in the 1850s.

In his later years, Phillips shifted his primary business interests away from Salem and engaged in the lumber trade in Canada, participating in the exploitation and export of timber resources that were increasingly important to North American commerce. He continued to travel in connection with these enterprises. On June 26, 1857, while on the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City, he perished in the burning of the steamer Montreal. His body was never recovered from the river, but his family and community commemorated his life and public service with a monument in Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts, where his name is recorded among the notable figures of the city’s political and commercial history.