Manuel Phillips

About Manuel Phillips’ life there is a slight shroud of mystery and fewer known details present themselves than for his older brother Naphtali or younger brothers Zalegman and Aaron. Something of a middle child among the twenty-one born to Rebecca Machado and Jonas Phillips, his life was to be one of erratic decisions and wanderlust.

He studied for a while at the University of Pennsylvania, although he did not graduate. He next pursued a career in medicine and by 1808 he had become secretary of the Philadelphia Medical Lyceum. The next year he enrolled in the navy as a surgeon’s mate, remaining officially in the enlisted until 1824. Taking a furlough just three years after he joined, Phillips left for a four-year trip to India and China. Though Philadelphia remained home for his whole life, Manuel continued to wander from time to time. He died mysteriously, unmarried, in 1824 in Vera Cruz, Mexico.

Manuel Phillips

late 18th century