R. S. Phillips
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36" gauge, wood rail, changed to 30-lb steel rail Headquarters: Ellisville Mill Location: Mill 1- Ellisville, MS (Jones County) Mill 2- Blackburn, MS (Jones County) Mill Capacity: 40,000 ft/day Years of Operation: 1892-ca 1903 Miles Operated: Locomotives Owned: 2 |
Equipment:
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History by Gil Hoffman: In the late 1880s Robert S. Phillips was operating a sawmill with a logging railroad at Renfroe, Talladega County, Alabama. The shipping station was Moxley, on the Talladega & Coosa Valley Railroad. Phillips first appears around Ellisville on March 15, 1892, when he purchased 760 acres of timber for $4,560 from William McPherson and associates, of Michigan. This timber was located from four to five miles northwest of Ellisville around the Mt. Zion community. By May 1893 Phillips had a sawmill in operation at Ellisville with a cutting capacity of 40,000 feet daily. On March 15, 1895, to supplement his original holdings, he bought 1,187 acres of timber from J. H. Moores, of Lansing, Michigan, for $7,122. This timber was on the eastern edge of the McPherson tract. Laura A. Rogers became Phillips' partner on May 18, 1897, when she bought a half interest in his mill and logging railroad. By that time the Phillips mill had been moved to a point on the New Orleans & Northeastern, about three and a half miles south of Ellisville, near the village of Tewanta. This location was known as "Blackburn," after J. S. Blackburn who had operated a mill about two miles to the south. Phillips last timber purchase was on April 17, 1899 when he acquired 1,656 acres from Frederick Muller for $12,419. This timber was generally southeast of the Phillips mill. R. S. Phillips died in Ellisville on June 25, 1906.
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| ROSTER by Gil Hoffman: 445 2T Shay Lima 445 6-1893 22 2-6x10 20000 Purchased new via Southern Equipment Co. Named "Charlie." Built for wood rail. Shipped to Ellisville, MS. Renumb. #1. Sold to Flood-Lyons Lumber Co., Narkeeta, MS, in 1908; to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co., Birmingham, AL; to W. M. Carter Lumber Co., Laurel, MS, on 8-14-12; to J. H. Bostick, Ellisville Junction, MS, by 5-1913; to Monarch Lumber Co. #1, Monarch, MS, about 1916, transferred to McLain, MS, in early 1919; to Long Branch Lumber Co. #1, Tuckers Crossing, MS, on 5-4-20; to W. M. Tomlin Lumber Co. #1, Bucatunna, MS, in 1926; to Brownlee Lumber Co. #1, Chickasaw, AL, on 12-17-28
2 2T Shay Lima 613 6-1900 26 2-7x12 28000 Purchased new. Named "Mollie." Built for steel rail. Shipped to Blackburn, MS. Sold to Mason Lumber Co., Gandsi, MS, on 5-21-03. |
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For more information contact Tony Howe at tonyhowe76@yahoo.com or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net