Densmore History | Russell Corner

Some Densmore Family History

Explanation of relationship to Phillips Exeter Academy:

The founder of PEA, John Phillips, was the brother of William Phillips, and the uncle of the man in the portrait below, who is related to Anne Louise Walley ("Nee") who married Edward Dana Densmore, the architect/engineer. She lived in the Yellow House in Princeton, Mass., until her death. The relationship to Exeter is tangential through Nee. The Densmore family, however, traces back to the Mayflower (see the attached genealogy chart below.)

Phillips Exeter Academy was established in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1781 by Elizabeth and John Phillips. John Phillips had made his fortune as a merchant and banker before going into public service, and financially supported his nephew Samuel Phillips, Jr. in founding his own school, Phillips Academy Andover, in Andover, Massachusetts, three years earlier. [Source]

John Phillips (December 27, 1719 – April 21, 1795) was an early American educator and the cofounder of Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, along with his wife, Elizabeth Phillips. He was a major donor to Dartmouth College, where he served as a trustee. He also made significant donations to Harvard College and Princeton University. [Source]

Samuel Phillips (February 17, 1690 – June 5, 1771) was an American Congregational minister and the first pastor of the South Church in Andover, Massachusetts. His son, John Phillips, was the founder of Phillips Exeter Academy, and his grandson, Samuel Phillips Jr., was the founder of Phillips Academy Andover and briefly the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. [Source]

Samuel Phillips was also the FATHER of William Phillips Sr., who was in turn the FATHER of Willam Phillips Jr., the man in the portrait. William Phillips Jr. was the GRANDFATHER of Samuel Hurd Walley, who (with his first wife Mehetable Sumner Bates Walley) was the FATHER of Edward Walley who (with Mary Louise Russell Walley) was the FATHER of Annie Louise Walley "Nee", who married Edward Dana Densmore. She lived in the Yellow House until her death and was the mother of William P. Densmore and grandmother of William P. Densmore Jr. [Source]

William Phillips Jr. (1750-1827)

The great, great, great, grandfather of William P. Densmore Jr.

This portrait is a copy. The artist and current location of the original is not known. William Phillips was the father of Miriam Mason Phillips, who married Samuel Hall Walley. They were great-grandparents of Annie Louise Walley and her siblings via Samuel Hurd Walley, Samuel Hall Walley and Edward Walley. About 1974, Cousin John Walley Littlefield acquired the portrait, stored in the vault of the Bank of Boston, through bank connections of his brother-in-law, John Graham Brooks. In 2007, having moved to a retirement community, and with the agreement of his children, John Littlefield graciously gave the portrait to his first cousin and life-long friend William Phillips Densmore.

Phillips was president of the Bank of Massachusetts from 1804 until his death in 1827. The portrait was hung at the bank along with portraits of other presidents. At the time of his death, he was president of several civic organizations including the Massachusetts General Hospital Corporation, founded in 1811. Note that the original hospital building, designed by the famous American architect Charles Bulfinch, appears in the lower right corner of the portrait. Minutes of the June 1827 meeting of the MGH Corporation note bequests from William Phillips and that “the portrait has been loaned to Phillips Academy.” He was board chair of Phillips Andover at the time of his death.

The Bank of Massachusetts was founded in 1784 by a group of Boston merchants wishing to avoid the use of British banks. Co-founders were William’s father, William Phillips (1722-1804), his father’s business
partners Edward Bromfield, James Bowdoin, George Cabot, John Lowell, and Oliver Wendell. The bank was the second-oldest bank in the United States. It became part of Bank of Boston in 1903, BankBoston in 1996, FleetBoston Financial in 1999, and Bank of America in 2005.

Forbearers of Edward Dana Densmore