Joseph Phillips (November 6, 1825 – September 13, 1906) was an Alsatian American immigrant, businessman, and Wisconsin pioneer.
As a child, he emigrated with his parents to the United States, settling first in Lancaster, New York, and later moving to Buffalo.
[1] In 1842, he moved west to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, where he was employed as a clerk in a general merchandise store.
[2] Phillips was a German Catholic and early in his life in Milwaukee—as with many others of his demographic—he became associated with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Their third son was Charles H. Phillips, who went on to become a prominent lawyer in Milwaukee and served in the Wisconsin State Senate in the 1930s.