Phaon was born on January 13th, 1835. Phaon's father was Daniel Clauss and his mother was Judith Miller. His paternal grandfather was Daniel Clauss and his paternal grandmother is Dorothea Breden. He had three brothers and a sister, named Preston, Ulysses, John and Anna Maria. He was the oldest of the five children. He died at the age of 51 on February 24th, 1886.