He was born June 29, 1760 to Rachel (Humphrey) and Deacon Jonathan Phillips on their 200 acre farm. He was the fourth of eleven children. In December 1776, when he was 16, he was drafted by the militia as a private, sent to Providence, Rhode Island, and served seven weeks, declining a promotion to corporal. Love Perry, eighteen, married him May 20, 1785. The tax lists for 1798 show the couple had 185 acres of land and a house worth $400, likely a fairly large two-story building that confirmed the Phillips' status among the respectably prosperous. In 1799, Phillips succeeded his father as deacon, and in 1810, became a justice of the peace, serving for 14 years. He represented Sturbridge in the state legislature in 1814 and 1815. By 1830 his farm boasted a sawmill, 3 horses, two pair of working oxen, 11 milk cows, 49 sheep, and a carriage. His son, Edward Phillips, then 44, had become a permanent member of the household. Love Phillips died at age 82 in 1849 after 64 years of marriage and 9 children, 7 of whom grew to have families. Five of them, Edward, Daniel, Henry, Jonathan, and Adaline, survived their father. There were then alive 25 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. Phillips' life was plain and frugal. He rose early, worked moderately, and retired early. The engraving of the "Old Gentleman, Deacon John Phillips," at left appeared in an article in Harper's Monthly on November 11, 1864. The article reported on Phillips having voted for nearly every president from George Washington through Abraham Lincoln's second term. Phillips was 104 years and 4 months old in the Nov. 1864 election. Phillips likely voted for Thomas Jefferson in 1797, 1801, and 1805, for James Madison in 1809 and 1813, and James Monroe in 1817 and 1822. For the next thirty-two years, nothing more can be made than a guess. In 1854 he went with the losing Fremont-Dayton ticket. If he hadn't been ill, he said, he would have voted Lincoln-Hamlin in 1860, "For in politics, I am a Republican, and I will vote this ticket as long as I live." He died February 25, 1865 at age 104 years and 8 months.
It is thought that John Phillips property was located on Cedar Pond (present site of Hamilton Gun Club).

Sources: http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/autumn04/phillips.cfm and http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln8/1:257?rgn=div1;view=fulltext and http://www.nytimes.com/1864/11/11/news/interesting-incident-election-day-centennarian-polls-sturbridge-mass.html