The Surveyor and his Mini-Me

If it wasn't for a booklet published in 1888, I would still be struggling to confirm my links.  The booklet, The Fillow, Philo and Philleo genealogy. A record of the descendants of John Fillow, a Huguenot refugee from France, was compiled by David H VanHoosear.

Specifically, on page 92 it documents Henry Philo & his wife; and on page 169, it documents their children.

courtesy of pmeath - Find A Grave

Henry married into our line via Sally Rosekrans, the daughter of James Rosekrans & Mary Schouten; to them, 6 children were born - Hiram, Mary, Susan, Sarah, Emeline & Owen.

By all accounts, Henry was a self-taught civil engineer/surveyor and reported to be responsible for the production of the various maps of the area at the time.

Saratoga Sentinel, Thurs, 23 Dec 1880
PHILO - in Glen's Falls, December 20, Henry Philo, aged 81 years, a native of Halfmoon, Saratoga County.

Henry's Mini-Me was his eldest son, Hiram, who he trained.

Hiram was born in 1824 at Halfmoon, NY, and married Amy Coffin at Sandy Hill in 1844. Amy was the daughter of Elisha F Coffin & Perelia Brown. Together they had 9 children - Henry, Mary, Emma, Sarah, Owen, Rosekrans, Lina, Janie & Samuel.

History of the George Lake Steamboat Company

Like his father before him, Hiram was a surveyor; however, around time of his marriage he was operating a corner store - literally - at the corner of Glen & Warren Streets in Glens Falls. 

In 1856, he was the coroner for Warren Co when he responded to the incident at Lake George where the John Jay had caught fire and sank taking 6 lives with it.

The Warrensburg News, Thurs, 9 Feb 1911
Hiram Philo Dead
Old Time County Resident Passed Away in Glens Falls Friday
The familiar figure of Hiram Philo with his silk hat, which he wore on all occasions, will be seen no more in the streets of Glens falls. He died Friday night in that city at the age of eighty-seven years, after a career of half a century as surveyor, during which he surveyed and laid out what is now nearly the entire city of Glens Falls. He was a surveyor of the old school, that is to say, he had no C E degree, but he had practical mathematics under that silk hat, and his computations and lines were seldom questioned. No man was better known in Glens Falls than he, and none more respected in Warren County. Twice he declined a nomination to the state assembly to represent Warren County.  Once he was surrogate of the county and he also represented his town in the board of supervisors. Bolton-on-Lake George was his home for many years, although his last days were passed in Glens Falls. He was a native of Halfmoon, but with his parents, moved to Bolton when a boy. He was coroner of Warren County in 1856 at the time of the burning of the John Jay on Lake George when several lives were lost. He is survived by four daughters and two sons.

Anniversary - 7 Apr 1894

Troy Times, Mon, 19 Nov 1900
Glens Falls - Mrs Amy C Philo, wife of Hiram Philo, died Saturday at her home on upper Glen Street, aged seventy-five years. Beside her husband, she is survived by seven children, Harry Philo of Albany and Owen M Philo, Rosekrans Philo, Mrs Caleb B Tefft, Mrs Frank H Stoddard, Miss Lina M Philo and Miss Janie G Philo, of Glens Falls. 

This article ran in the Glens Falls Daily Times, 24 Jul 1911.  All but 2 of the children are contesting Hiram's will - the claim is that Lina & Janie influenced their elderly father to change the will.