John M. Phillips, born March 15, 1820, in Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts, died in Council Bluffs, Iowa, September 10, 1888. His early life was spent on a farm, but when a young man he engaged in the boot and shoe business. First he employed several men manufacturing goods on contract for various large houses in Georgetown, Massachusetts, his shop being on the old homestead farm. Afterward, in 1852, he removed to South Danvers, Massachusetts, now Peabody, and engaged with his brother in the manufacture of boots and shoes under the firm name of A. P. Phillips & Co.

He was early attracted to the West, and in 1856 they opened a store in Council Bluffs under the firm name of J. M. Phillips & Co., his brother, A. P. Phillips, taking charge of the interests here; and in 1860 removed his family to Council Bluffs, consisting of his wife, Olive N. Phillips, nee Cressey, whom he married in Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1845. Nathan C. Phillips, Mary O. Phillips and John M. Phillips, Jr., are his children. Other children born at Council Bluffs are Emma C. Phillips, who married F. W. Voswinkel, and now lives at Holton, Kansas; Ruth M. Phillips, who married H. L. Shepherd, and lives in Council Bluffs; Granville D. Phillips, who is unmarried and resides in Seattle, Washington. Of the others, Nathan C. Phillips is married and resides in Council Bluffs; Mary O. Phillips, unmarried and resides with her sister, Mrs. Shepherd, in the family residence, and John M. Phillips, now engaged in railroad surveys in Washington. In 1860 the firm of J. M. Phillips & Co. started a boot and shoe store in Omaha and put it in charge of Albert Tucker, an old employee of the firm both in Massachusetts and at Council Bluffs. Afterward he was admitted to partnership in the Omaha house, the firm name being changed to Tucker, Phillips & Co. Some few years later, in 1866 or 1867, there was a general dissolution of partnership between the members of the firm of A. P. Phillips & Co., of Peabody, Massachusetts, engaged in the manufacture of shoes, and J. M. Phillips & Co., of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Tucker, Phillips & Co., of Omaha, Nebraska, also engaged in the wholesale and retail boot and shoe business. The members of the two first firms at that time were A. P. Phillips, J. M. Phillips and Oscar Phillips, a son of A. P. and nephew of J. M., who had been admitted into the firm, and in the Omaha house the three named and Albert Tucker. In this dissolution J. M. Phillips sold out his interests in the other places and bought the interests of the others and became sole owner of the Council Bluffs store, and continued it until his death under the name of J. M. Phillips, except for two years when his sons Nathan C. and John M. were in partnership with him, afterward retiring from the firm. He early engaged in the wholesale business, and for years had a very extensive trade, but retired from the wholesale business in 1885, owing to advanced age.

He from the first took an active interest in the affairs of the county, uniting with the Republican Party in its infancy. He held various positions; was Alderman for two years; member of the Board of County Supervisors four years. He with others organized the Fairview Cemetery Association, the first cemetery in the county, and continued a director of the same until his death. He was troubled with deafness, which caused him to decline several positions offered him. He was one of the organizers of the Council Bluffs Savings Bank and a director of the same for several years.