Joseph Tooley Phillips was born in Los Angeles, California on September 24, 1912 to Las Vegas, Nevada-residents, George and Marguerite Tooley, due to the lack of hospitals in Las Vegas. His father died in 1918, and the family moved to Oregon. His mother later remarried. Joesph Tooley Phillips returned to southern Nevada and worked at the Chiquita Mining Company in Goodsprings. After serving in World War II, he returned to Las Vegas and worked as an engraver at the Las Vegas Review-Journal and, later, the Las Vegas Sun. He passed away in 1984.
James H. Down, Sr. (1877-1946) was born in Michigan on September 20, 1877. After the death of both of his parents, he was adopted by Walter A. Down. In 1907, James H. Down married his first wife, Rogena Mahar. They moved to Nevada in 1916 and settled in Goodsprings, Nevada where he worked for George A. Fayle. In 1923, Down relocated to Las Vegas and operated a garage. He opened a Studebaker automobile dealership at the corner of Main and Carson Streets in downtown Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, James H. Down, Sr.