Parents
Prof. Phillip Alston Fisher | was born at Covington, November, 1839; was one of nine children, four still living. The parents were C. G. and Elizabeth V. Fisher. The father was born in Vermont, in 1800, and came to Covington in 1824, and was a physician by profession, and one of much prominence; was widely known, and formed a partnership with Drs. Green and Hall, the firm being known as Fisher, Green & Hall. He died in 1879. The mother’s maiden name was Dussham, born at Nashville, in 1810, and died January, 1886.
Life
Our subject was raised chiefly at Covington, Tenn. At the age of twenty he commenced teaching, and except during the war has since followed the work. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army in the Tipton Rifles, under Col. Neily and Capt. J. H. Maley, but was afterward transferred to the Artillery Guards of Memphis, where he remained a year, then joined Forrest’s cavalry, where he stayed until the war closed, under Col. W. L. Duckworth, being second lieutenant.
Prof. Fisher was married in Mississippi, in 1867, to Miss Kate, daughter of D. A. and Fannie Ridgway. Mrs. Fisher is a native of Columbus, Ga., born in 1847. She was educated at Columbus, Ga., and Sardis, Miss. They have five children: Drury, Fannie, Vergie, Kate and Allan. After the war Prof. Fisher went to Missouri and taught in that State eleven years, ten of them near Lexington. He then returned to Covington to care for his mother, his father having died.
Overview
He has always possessed a great deal of energy and perseverance, and ranks high among the educators of Tennessee. He is a Democrat, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
[ Prof. Phillip Alston Fisher | Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee (1887)]
Friends of Mr. Philip A. Fisher in this place were shocked and surprised to hear of his death which occurred at his home in Memphis Sunday night, after a comparatively short spell of pneumonia. Mr. Fisher was reared in Covington and was a son of he late Charles G. Fisher, one of the pioneers of this country. He was a young man when the civil war broke out and joined Company I of the Seventh Tennessee regiment, Dr. L. Hill, Sr., as captain. Mr. Fisher was second lieutenant of the company and a gallant soldier. He returned home at the close of the war in 1865 and during the year went to Sardis, Miss., where he married – Miss Kate Ridgeway.
He lived in the vicinity of Sardis until 1867, when he moved to Independence, Mo. There and in Lafayette county of that State he lived until 1879, when he again moved to Covington, following the profession of teaching.
He was also county superintendent of public schools for several years and made a most efficient official. In 1887 he moved to Memphis, engaging in the insurance and real estate business. Mr. Fisher would have been sixty years old next November, but his genial, social disposition made him appear to be a much younger man. To his kind words of encouragement many a boy in Tipton county owes his inspiration to accomplish something nobler and higher in life. His influence on the educational interests if Tipton county were productive for much good. He inaugurated the present system of public examination and conducted the first successful normal schools for the teachers of the county. Mr. Fisher’s pupils will learn with regret of his death and deeply sympathize with his family and relatives in their bereavement.
He leaves a wife and five children, all of whom were with him when he died. His children are Drury A. Fisher, Mrs. James Blanker and Allen and Misses Virgie and Kate. The funeral services were held at the family residence at 463 Lauderdale street Monday afternoon. The services wer conducted by Rev. W. F. Hamner, of Memphis, assisted by Rev. J. M. Northrop, of this place.
[The Covington Leader, Covington, Tenn., January 1, 1898]