Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Hans Phildius

Hans Phildius was a pen name of cartoonist Ed Carey.

Hans H. Phildius was born on November 3, 1869, in Jersey City, New Jersey according to the New Jersey, Births and Christenings Index at Ancestry.com. His parents were Phillip and Christina. Information about his education has not been found.

During the Spanish-American War, Phildius enlisted on April 29, 1898, in the New York National Guard. The book New York in the Spanish-American War 1898 (1902) said he was assigned to the 71st Infantry, Company H where he served for two years. Phildius mustered out November 15, 1898, at New York City.

The 1900 U.S. Federal Census recorded Phildius, an insurance agent, in the Bronx at 1167 Union Avenue. The head of the household was Elizabeth Nash whose daughter, Gertrude, was married to Phildius’s brother, George. The couple had a son. Also in the household were Elizabeth’s two sons and another daughter.

According to the 1910 census, Phildius, a self-employed music composer, was staying with his brother, George, and his family which included two sons. They resided in Brooklyn at 1351 72nd Street. One block over Ed Carey was boarding with the Rosenfeld family at 1214 73rd Street. Apparently Phildius and Carey met and became friends to some degree.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Dad in Kidland debuted May 7, 1911 in the New York World. The first five strips were credited to Hans Phildius. Carey’s name appeared afterwards to December 17, 1911.

In the 1915 New York state census, Carey had moved to Greenburgh, New York. Phildius has not yet been found in this census or the 1920 census.

The Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 3, Musical Compositions, 1921, New Series, Volume 16, Number 3 had an entry for Phildius’s composition, “Moons of Spring”.

The 1925 New York state census listed Phildius as a patient at the Kings Park State Hospital in Smithtown, Suffolk County, New York. He was admitted in 1923. His permanent address was 179 Avenue S in Brooklyn.

Phildius passed away December 2, 1926 in Smithtown acceding to the New York Death Index. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 4, 1926, printed a brief notice, “Phildius, Hans H., aged 57, beloved brother of George H. Phildius. Funeral service at his brother’s home, 179 Avenue S, Saturday, 2 p.m.”

 
—Alex Jay