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Showing posts with label Alexander Phelps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexander Phelps. Show all posts

Friday, August 22, 2014

John Jay Phelps & William Walter Phelps


Teaneck Public Library has more photos on the Phelps Estate
John Jay Phelps (October 25, 1810 at Simsbury, Connecticut - May 12, 1869 Simsbury, Connecticut) was an early railroad baron and financier. He was the son of Alexander Phelps and Elizabeth Eno Phelps. Alexander Phelps was son of David Phelps, JR and Abigail Griswold. David Phelps, Jr was son of David Phelps, Sr. and Abigail Pettibone. David, Sr was son of John Phelps, Sr and Mary Case (2nd Sarah Case, 3rd Mary Collier). John Phelps, Sr was son of William Phelps Born: c. 1629 in Tewkesbury, England Occupation: Importing merchant; bank president Read Phelps family in American
John Jay Phelps married Rachel Badgeley Phinney
Children: Ellen Ada  m. Rev David Stuart Dodge son of William Earl Dodge, Sr. and Melissa Phelps, William Walter m. Ellen Maria Sheffield "Loodleloo" d. of  Joseph Earl Sheffield and Maria St.John Francis Alexander, born April 01, 1841died April 05, 1848





William Walter Phelps: Congressman, Ambassador, Judge By Robert D. Griffin, Township Historian William Walter Phelps, congressman, and judge - no single person influenced the development of Teaneck as much as W. W. Phelps.  In 1865, he purchased the Garrit Brinkerhoff Homestead, a Jersey Dutch Farmhouse that stood at the intersection of Teaneck Road and Cedar Lane.  From then on, he added to his holdings until they encompassed more than 2,000 acres from the Hackensack River to the Hudson River, and virtually all of central Teaneck.  As a result, Teaneck's growth was concentrated along the perimeter of Phelps' estate.  It wasn't until Ellen Marie (Sheffield) Phelps, Judge Phelps' widow, died that the vast Teaneck property was opened to development.


Nos. 13 and 15 (street numbers on the columns) as they appeared in 1866, four decades before Amos Eno would make his "extensive alterations" -- NYPL Collection. On April 3, 1903 Amos F. Eno purchased the four-story brick and stone building at No. 13 South William Street which extended through the block to Stone Street.  Eno was a major player in New York City real estate – it was his land at 23rd Street and Broadway that would become the site of the Flatiron Building before long – and an amateur Manhattan historian.  Eno intended to establish his offices on the ground floor of No. 13 “after extensive alterations have been made.” From Daytonian in Manhattan

William Walter Phelps was already a wealthy man when he arrived in Teaneck.  His father John Jay Phelps was a founder and president of the Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad and, among many other ventures, he also owned a huge department store called Eno-Phelps, in Manhattan.  Young Phelps was an attorney and after moving to Teaneck he became interested in politics.  Elected to Congress three times, he was later appointed ambassador to Germany.  In 1888 he was presented as a vice presidential candidate at the Republican Convention, and late in his life he was appointed special judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of New Jersey.
But his Teaneck home remained his favorite occupation, and he devoted much money planting trees and paving roads.


William Walter Phelps: A Lasting Imprint
A Washington Dinner: An Appreciation of William Walter Phelps
John Jay Phelps son of William was known as "Captain Jack"



JOHN JAY PHELPS, FINANCIER, DIES, 86
Noted as Yachtsman - Was a Grandson of the Sheffield Scientific School Founder
John Jay Phelps of Red Towers, Hackensack, N.J., financier and yachtsman, who in1945 completed his fiftieth year as a trustee of United States Trust Company of New York, died Saturday in his summer home on Yoncomis Island, Stony Creek, Conn., after a brief illness. His age was 86. He also been a director of the Hackensack Trust Company. During the Spanish-American War he served as a lieutenant in the Navy, and in the first World War he commanded the squadron of submarine chasers. In 1885 he built and sailed the schooner yacht Brunnhilde around a world. The Brunnhilde was said to be the first American yacht to make such a trip. Born in Paris, France, Sept. 27, 1861, he was the son of William Walter and Ellen Sheffield Phelps. His father, a lawyer and a benefactor of Yale, had served as a Representative in Congress, Minister to Austria and to Berlin in the days when there were no United States Ambassadors and later a judged in the court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey. His mother was a daughter of Joseph E. Sheffield, founder of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale.
Started with Bank Here He was graduated from Yale in 1883, and spent the next two years in the employ of the Farmers Loan and Trust Company of New York. Since 1885 he had devoted himself to various financial enterprises. He was vice president of the Hackensack National Bank and a director of the Cayuga & Susquehanna Railroad.
For many years he was president of Strong & Trowbridge Company of New York and for two terms served as a member of the board of chosen freeholders of Bergen County, N. J.
During the Spanish-American War he was acting lieutenant and signal officer on the U. S. S. Celtic. During the first World War he commanded the U.S.S. Calumet with a rank of Captain.
In Many Organizations Mr. Phelps was a member of the American Museum of Natural History, New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, American Geographical Society, New England Society, Founders and Patriots of America, American Forestry Association, United States Reserve Officers Association, Waterway League of America, Roosevelt Memorial Association, Naval Order of United States, Naval Relief Society, National Security League, National Marine League, National Child Welfare Association and National Association of Audubon Societies. He also belonged to the Big Brother Movement, the New York Zoological Society, New Jersey and Bergen County historical societies, American Legion, Sons of the American Revolution, Military Order of Foreign Wars, Navy League of United States, United Spanish War Veterans, Psi Upsilon Fraternity and Scroll and Keys Society of Yale. His clubs included the Union League, University, Yale, Circum-navigators, Submarine Chasers of America and Motor Boat of America in New York, the Graduate, Connecticut Auto and Motor of New Haven, the Lantern League of Boston, and Oritani Cruising Club of America. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Davenport West and Miss Rose Phelps. The New York Times, New York, NY, July, 1948, page 15

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Dartmouth College and Phelps family



Davenport Phelps was in Piermont NH till 1792. He owned 130 acres of land, what is now Piermont Village, then called Phelps Farm. Episcopalian minister, and settled at Geneva, in the State of New York, and died there before 1816. He marrued Catherine, the daughter of Doct. Gideon Tiffany of Hanover New Hampshire.His father, Hon. Alexander Phelps, was a graduate of Yale and an influential man. His Grandfather Wheelock was the first president of Dartmouth College. His father was instrumental in moving the Indian School to Hanover. Well known friends of the Chief Tecumseh

Alexander Phelps, son of Nathaniel Phelps, of Hebron, Conn., was born Jan 6, 1723-24; graduated at Yale College, 1744; prepared for the ministry, and preached a while, but is said to have been later a lawyer. His letters show that he adhered to the English Church. He was a tutor at Yale 1747-49; member of the Connecticut Colonial assembly eleven sessions, between 1754 and 1762; and twice appointed judge of probate pro tern. He was also lieutenant-colonel of militia in 1766. See More info on Dartmouth Phelps

                                                                     

Theodora Wheelock was born on 23 May 1736 at Lebanon, New London Co., CT. She was the daughter of Eleazar Wheelock (photo above) son of Deacon Ralph and Ruth (Huntington) Wheelock and Sarah Davenport widow of Captain William Maltby of New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah Davenport was daughter of John Davenport and Martha Gould.

Children of Eleazer Wheelock and Sarah Davenport:


  •  Ruth, married Rev. William Patten, D.D., of Halifax, Mass.
  •  Theodora married Alexander Phelps, son of Capt. Nathaniel Phelps and Abigal Pinney, on January 9 1751/52 Hebron, Co., CT.  
  • Theodora Wheelock married 2nd John Young on April 27 1777 Hanover, NH. Theodora Wheelock died after 1811 at Piermont, NH.
  • Rev. Ralph, who graduated at Yale College in 1765

    Children of Theodora Wheelock and Hon. Alexander Phelps
  • Sarah Phelps  b. 15 Jul 1753
  • Rev. Davenport Phelps + b. 12 Aug 1755, d. 27 Jun 1813
  • Theodora Phelps b. 8 Sep 1757
  • Alexander Phelps b. 2 Sep 1759
  • Lucey Phelps b. 17 Mar 1762, d. 14 Apr 1767
  • Emelia Phelps b. 14 Jun 1764
  • Eleazar Wheelock Phelps b. 16 Oct 1766, d. 12 Oct 1818
  • Ralph Rodolphus Phelps b. 21 Mar 1772, d. 23 Mar 1849 weighed at birth 16.J pounds (Mass. Gazette, April 13, 1772)
Colonel Phelps died April 19, 1773, age  49 (N. H. Gazette, April 30,1773). He is spoken of as "a gentleman of a liberal education, who had sustained several offices of trust in Connecticut, which he discharged with fidelity." Jointly with Colonel Morey he appears in December, 1771, as agent for the town of Oxford before the General Assembly of New Hampshire.
From History of Dartmouth 
Wheelock's Diary, June 18, 1778.
Hanover, at a special meeting, April 2, chose Jonathan Freeman her delegate, and appointed a committee of six1 to determine his instructions. At a later meeting (May 25), they joined with him two associates, Capt. John House and Ensign Nathaniel Wright, and again adjourned to the next Saturday to settle the instructions. How they were settled we know not.
We have no record of the meeting at Lebanon, but we know from collateral circumstances that the union was there accepted. Orford (whose delegate was Wheelock's grandson, Davenport Phelps), at a special meeting the first Wednesday of June, "veted nem. con. that they accede and agree a union with the State of Vermont, agreeable to the doings of the above convention at Lebanon."

"Colonel Wyllis and Esquire Ledyard," of Hartford, were among Dr. Wheelock's legal advisers in 1768, and probably at this period. June 7,1769, we find Dr. Wheelock addressing Governor Wentworth as follows:
"I have been making some attempt to form a Charter, in which some proper respect may be shown to those generous benefactors in England who have condesceilded to patronize this school, and I want to be informed whether you think it consistent to make the Trust in England a distinct corporation, with power to hold real estate, etc., for the uses and purposes of this school." But the impress of Governor Wentworth does not appear till a somewhat later period. August 22,1769, Dr. Wheelock informs him that he is about to present him a " rough draught" of a Charter, for an "Academy," adding this somewhat significant postscript: "Sir, if you think proper to use the word College instead of Academy in the Charter, I shall be well pleased with it."

 Alexander Phelps

Dr. Wheelock's son-in-law, Mr. Alexander Phelps, and Rev. Dr. Whitaker seem to have been the principal agents to confer with Governor Wentworth in regard to the Charter.
October 18, 1769, he gives his views at length, in a letter to Dr. Wheelock, advising some amendments. Proposing some additions to the Board of Trust, he says: "The nomination of the Provincial officers I strongly recommend, though I do not insist upon. It was indeed resolved on my side that the Governor should be one" of the Board. "That I did not mention any other than the Governor can by no means be preclusive. Neither did I so intend it. The three provincialofficers will be a natural defense, honor and security to the institution."
The following letter indicates that Governor Wentworth had eminent legal counsel:
"Rev. Sir: I have had an opportunity of conferring with Colonel Phelps on the affair of the College proposed to be erected here. You 'll find some alterations in the scheme and draft of the Charter; they are supposed to be amendments, and I think they, to say the least, will not be impediments. I cannot stay to enumerate them ; the Charter will show them and the Colonel will be able to explain the grounds and reasons of them. I have spent some considerable time with the Governor to form the plan in such a manner as will make it most beneficial, and to prevail on him to make such concessions as would suit the gentlemen with you. I am apt to think the plan will be more serviceable as it now stands than as it was before.
I shall be glad to serve the cause, and have persuaded Colonel Phelps to communicate it before the finishing stroke, though it will cost him another journey. I have only to add that I am, with great esteem,
"Your most obedient humble servant,
William Parker.
"portsmouth, October 28, 1769."

Edward E Phelps Faculty 1879
Prof. Edward Elisha Phelps, M.D. LL.D., died at his residence in Windsor, Vt., on Friday, Nov. 26, 1880. He was born in Peacham, Vt., April 24, 1803. In 1822 we find him in attendance on his first course of medical lectures, at Dartmouth Medical College. He was for two years a student in medicine with Prof. Nathan Smith, then a resident of New Haven, Conn., but early in life settled in Cornish, N.H., and at Hanover. He graduated in Medicine at Yale, in the class of 1825. More info on Edward E Phelps

     William Phelps Kimball Thayer School at Dartmouth