Early Sioux Falls Community Leader Nye E. Phillips
After what was meant to be a short visit, Nye E. Phillips instead helped in shaping Sioux Falls as it is today. Phillips, once a leader on the battlefield, goes on to become a prominent leader in the Sioux Falls community.
Born to Bethuel Phillips and Polly Bowen on May 5, 1842, Nye E. Phillips grew up on a farm in Trumbull County, Ohio. He was 20 years-old when he joined the Union cause during the Civil War. He joined Company C, 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a 1st Sergeant on September 20, 1862. Fourteen months later, on November 23, 1863, he was commisioned a Second Lieutenant; His rise up the ranks continued. He became a First Lieutenant soon after on January 28, 1864, and then promoted to Captain on February 10, 1864.
Following this promotion, Phillips was transferred to Company I and served on the regimental staff as the Quartermaster and Adjutant. Phillips then served on General Opdyke’s staff as a brigade inspector and aide de camp. Following the end of the Civil War on June 8, 1865, Phillips involvement would end once he was mustered out of service in Nashville, Tennessee. During his time in service, Phillips was in multiple battles, and was once the only officer to escape the battlefield with his company.
Following his discharge from the army, Phillips moved to Pit Hole, Pennsylvania, where he entered the mercantile industry. Unfortunately for Phillips, a fire destroyed the town, and all Phillips had left were his horses and a wagon. Phillips would have to start anew. In 1868, he secured employment at Fort D.H. Russell, present-day Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1869, Nye Phillips made a stop at Fort Dakota, Dakota Territory (he was returning from his sister’s wedding in Ohio). He had stopped to see a friend and in the process of the visit learned Fort Dakota was being decommissioned. Sensing an opportunity, Nye Phillips decided to stay and spent his first winter living with Frank Pettigrew (brother of future U.S. Senator R.F. Pettigrew). In 1870, Phillips filed for a homestead in Minnehaha County and began farming. In 1874, he returned to Ohio to marry Austie Wagner. The couple then took up permanent residence in Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory.
As Sioux Falls grew, Phillips took on various jobs and positions, giving him increased visibility in the community. In 1872, he served as a Republican delegate in the National Convention (and did so again in the early 1890s). His political affiliation is not surprising because most Civil War veterans in South Dakota joined the Republican Party during their service, or shortly thereafter. He served two stints as the township’s Register of Deeds, in 1872-1876 and 1884-1892. An early village trustee, Phillips served as a Minnehaha County Commissioner in 1882 and 1883. He then became a city alderman (1883-1884). Phillips is perhaps best known for his time as Warden of the South Dakota Penitentiary, which he served from 1893 to 1899. Following this experience Nye Phillips became a county sheriff (1905-1906).
Phillips was a member of the Joe Hooker Post No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic. Nye Phillips’ life illustrates how veterans of the Civil War created a new life, often in a new location of the nation, and continued to serve on behalf of the government, only this time at the state and local level. Phillips died on December 20, 1927, and is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery next to his wife. His death was reported by the local newspaper, signifying his influence within the community.
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