Hon. Philip Flood, mayor of Girard, Macoupin County, and one
of the city's most prominent business men, is the senior member of the
progressive firm of Flood & Lowe, dealers in lumber, lime, cement, sash,
doors and blinds, and doing business under the name of Flood & Lowe Lumber
Company. Mr. Flood was born December 29, 1832, in Dublin, Ireland, where his
grandfather, an Englishman, had previously located. His parents were also
born in Dublin, and his mother died at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1848.
Perhaps not a little of the great business success which Mr. Flood enjoys,
as well as the public esteem in which he is held, may be traced to the
environments which made him, almost from childhood, to be unselfish,
self-reliant and resourceful. At 12 years of age, he was assisting in the
support of the family; at 16 he was finding ways and means to transport him
across the Atlantic, so that he could join neighbors and friends who were
finding business opportunities in America, which he could never hope to
secure in Ireland. It was on October 2, 1848, that the ambitious Irish lad
took passage, on the steamer "Sir Charles Napier," and reached the city of
New Orleans, Louisiana, after a voyage of 13 long weeks without a cent in
his pocket. He obtained deck passage on a boat to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
had an uncle Irving, expecting to get the amount of $3 to pay his passage
from him as he had told the captain he would do so. He met with a chilly
reception from his uncle and without breakfast he started out for work and,
after a tedious tramp in which he met with many rebuffs, Robert Mitchell, a
leading furniture manufacturer of the Queen City, took him in and consented
to teach him the upholstering business and hence he was bound out for three
years at $3 per week with which to board and clothe himself. There he
remained until 1855 when Mr. Mitchell sent him to St. Louis with a brother,
William Mitchell, to start a branch furniture store and he remained in St.
Louis from June, 1855, to the fall of 1879, his salary gradually increasing
until he commanded a salary of $3,500 per year. To his knowledge he has
never yet met the Cincinnati uncle.
Mr. Flood's interest in the
lumber business at Girard dates from 1872, but he did not make his permanent
home here until 1879, when he took charge of what is now known as the Flood
& Lowe Lumber Company, an enterprise which has annually grown in importance
and is known all over Illinois and its products sent to other States. This
is one of the ablest represented houses in the lumber trade in this section.
The yard is provided with ample buildings and sheds for the successful
prosecution of the business. The stock carried is very large, comprising all
kinds of dressed and undressed lumber, posts, shingles, etc., together with
a full line of sash, doors, blinds, moldings, etc., in addition to lime and
cement and hardware. They are very large dealers in agricultural implements
and carry a full stock of these goods from a garden rake to a threshing
machine. Their list includes reapers, mowers, binders, cultivators, sulky
plows, hay rakes, tedders, feed cutters, corn planters, corn shellers, etc.
The headquarters of the business remain Girard, but successful branches have
been also established at Virden, at Thayer and at Farmersville. With
untiring industry, Mr. Flood combines unusual business ability, as shown by
the facility with which he handles his large interests.
On January
1, 1853, Mr. Flood was married to Mrs. Christina (Case) Robbins, who was
born in Butler County, Ohio, and died April 11, 1891. His second marriage
took place on December 29, 1892, to Mrs. Amy E. Metcalf, who is a daughter
of Randall Benion, who was born in England. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Flood
is one of the many beautiful ones in Girard, and is the center of much
hospitality, and the scene of many delightful social functions. Both our
subject and wife are members of the Christian Church, in which they are
valued, both for their remembrance of their religious obligations, and their
engaging personalities.
Mr. Flood was elected in April, 1903, by the
Prohibition party, to the highest municipal office by the gratifying
plurality of 100 votes over his opponent, Hon. Jacob Bowersox. His
administration can not but satisfy the good people of Girard, for it is
progressive while also clean, moral and economic. The same administrative
qualities which have made him so successful a man at the head of his own
concerns, have proved of equal value when handling the affairs of the
public. He has long been prominently identified with the leading fraternal
organizations, becoming a member of the Pride of the West Lodge, No. 179, A.
F. & A. M., in 1873. He is now a member of Girard Lodge, No. 171, A. F. & A.
M.; Girard Chapter, No. 132, R. A. M.; St. Omar Commandery, Nq. 30, K. T.;
and the Council at Springfield. He is also a member of Security Lodge, No.
44, A. O. U. W., and the Odd Fellows.
The mayor of Girard is one of
the busiest men of his city, but he finds the time to travel a little to
keep in touch with the world's great movements, to enjoy his fine library
and still hold the reins of city government, and seldom, indeed, is too
occupied to admit to his genial presence one of his admiring fellow
citizens.
Extracted 2018 May 07 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 210-212.
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