Born in Killingworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut, in 1821. He spent his earliest years at Killingworth, but in 1824 went with his family to Summit County, Ohio, where they founded the village of Twinsburg. His father died just two years later, so Phineas was occupied for a number of years helping his widowed mother run the farm. When he was fifteen years old, he went to Painesville, Ohio, where he clerked for his brother-in-law, Henry Williams. In 1841 the two formed a partnership. Four years later Phineas married Augusta Smith. Influenced by stories of opportunities in the West, Phineas left Ohio for Buchanan County, Iowa, in 1856. The following year he was wiped out financially by the Panic of 1857. Nonetheless, he received credit with which he opened his own mercantile business in Independence, Iowa. Hugely successful, he was recognized by his fellow citizens and elected to the Iowa General Assembly in 1865 and 1867. On December 6, 1868, he died unexpectedly of apoplexy at Independence.
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