DR. HUGH M. PHILLIPS

The following bio was taken from page 342 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

 Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

 Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

 Born and reared in Gilmer, Texas, the son of Otis J. Phillips, Sr. and Mary Clyde Smith Phillips, Dr. Phillips graduated from Gilmer High School in 1938 and from Texas A & M University in 1943, receiving the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.  Upon receiving his degree, he was commissioned a First Lieutenant, Veterinary Corps, Army of the United States, and thereafter attended army service schools at Carlysle Barracks, Pennsylvania and Chicago Quartermaster Depot, Chicago, Illinois.

 While serving as a veterinarian in the army, Dr. Phillips was assigned to the 3^rd Service Command Headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland for eighteen months, after which he was promoted to the rank of Captain and was transferred to Fort Meyer, Virginia as Assistant Station Veterinarian.  While serving at Fort Meyer, he was privileged to treat pets for General and Mrs. Ike Eisenhower, General H.H. “Hap” Arnold, Postmaster General Farley, and other Washington, D.C. Officials.

 Before being discharged from the army, Dr. Phillips decided that he wanted to practice veterinary medicine in East Texas.  Upon examining the Texas map, he saw the Henderson traffic circle with the outstanding highway system of Rusk County and decided to write to the Rusk Chamber of Commerce to see whether the county  were in need of a veterinarian.  The Chamber of Commerce manager promptly answered the letter stating that Rusk County had only one practicing veterinarian.  With this information and with an invitation from the Chamber of Commerce to move to Henderson, Dr. Phillips was convinced that this part of East Texas was where he wanted to live.  Realizing that after spending several years in the army, he needed an internship in practice, he accepted a position with Dr. A.V. Young’s Dixie Garden Veterinary Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he worked as a general practitioner for one year.  In August of 1947, Dr. Phillips moved to Henderson to establish a practice in veterinary medicine.

 When Dr. Phillips first moved to Henderson, he roomed and boarded in the home of Mrs. C.H. Hedge and rented an office from Gordon Brown at 827 North Marshall Street.  In 1959 he built Phillips Animal Clinic at 921 North Highway 79.

 Soon after moving to Henderson, Dr. Phillips met Miss Josephine Burnaman, who was employed as Credit Manager for Montgomery Ward Order Office.  Miss Burnaman, daughter of Phillip L. Burnaman and Lillie Kate Fuller Burnaman, both native of Henderson, had been transferred by Wards to Henderson.  She had graduated from Nacogdoches High School in 1943.

 On Sunday afternoon July 17, 1949, Miss Burnaman and Dr. Phillips were married in Nacogdoches in the home of her parents, with Robert A. Waller, Church of Christ minister officiating.

 Dr. and Mrs. Phillips are the parents of two daughters, Melanie Jane, born February 14, 1956, and Sarah Anne, born November 24, 1959.  Melanie graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1977 and is a kindergarten teacher in the Henderson Public Schools.  On April 7, 1979, Melanie married Dr. John S. Taylor the son of William Byron Taylor and Melba Strong Taylor of Henderson.  Dr. Taylor is a graduate of Texas A & M  University and the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston, Texas.  Sarah Anne is a senior student at Texas A & M University where she is majoring in elementary education.

 Submitted by Hugh M. Phillips, D.V. M.