A History of Old Virginia Cheroots

(National Cigar History Museum) In the Spring of 1853, an adventurous 15 year old boy set off Westward from his native Poland. His destination, the docks of Bremerhaven. There he caught a boat to New York, where he found relatives among that city’s teeming Polish population. In summer of the following year he set off once again, this time to Richmond, Virginia, where he moved in with an older brother, and began working as a tailor’s assistant. By 1859, the 21 year old lad had become an American citizen and joined the Richmond Grays, a militia unit made up largely of Poles and other European immigrants. When the war came Philip was assigned to the quartermaster corps where he made uniforms for two years. In 1864 he left the military to get married and purchase a Richmond tobacconist’s business, which he and his new wife ran during the remainder of the war.

At the close of the war in 1865, Whitlock hired six cigar rollers and opened the P. Whitlock Company. Continued