The Stamford Historical Society Presents

GRACIOUS LIVING IN STAMFORD
Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Photos and Objects from Our Collection

“Denehurst”
The Phillips Estate on Glenbrook Rd. at the Darien Border

 

Charles Edmund H. Phillips, a pharmacist from England, moved to Glenbrook where he established the Phillips Camphor and Wax Company. It was in Stamford, in 1873, that he concocted and received a patent for "hydrate of magnesia mixed with water" which he called Milk of Magnesia. Phillips produced milk of magnesia as well as other pharmaceuticals at his Glenbrook firm, which incorporated in 1885 as the Charles H. Phillips Company. After Phillips' death in 1888, his four sons ran the corporation until 1923, at which time it was acquired by Sterling Drug, Inc. The last familiar blue bottle to be filled in Stamford was in 1976 when production at the Glenbrook plant was phased out.

His grandson, Alfred Noroton Phillips Jr., was three time mayor of Stamford. He ran for Congress in 1936 and defeated Schuyler Merritt, but in turn was defeated after one term.

The estate was a large one, and it seems to have straddled the Stamford-Darien border. There are now condominiums on part of the property.

The Society has a number of greeting cards, "cabinet cards", from Mrs. Charles Edmund H. Phillips (1853-1937), made from photos of the estate, including the dining room and the rustic bridge shown in the exhibit.

The family photos on display show Mrs. C.E.H. Phillips, Alfred Phillips, age 3, and Elise Phillips, daughter of John B. Phillips, April 24, 1896.

see also our Photo Selection of the Month, March 2005: Burleigh Park.