Sheffield Phelps
DEATH LIST OF A DAY
Sheffield Phelps
AIKEN, S.C., Dec. -- Col. Sheffield Phelps died here to-day from typhoid fever, and his remains will be taken to his home in New Jersey for interment. A few years ago he built a Winter cottage here and has spent each season here since. He was the owner of a game preserve of 2,000 acres.
HACKENSACK, N.J., Dec 9 -- Col. Sheffield Phelps, who died at his Winter home at Aiken, S.C., this morning, was a son of William Walter Phelps, ex-Minister to Germany, and for several terms a New Jersey Representative in Congress.
Col. Phelps was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress two years ago, when Representative James F. Stewart was renominated. Col. Phelps received his military title as a result of his having been a member of the Governor's staff.
Col. Phepls [sic] entered the journalistic field with The New York Mail and Express, and later he acquired an interest in The Jersey City Journal, and several years ago controlled The Newark Daily Advertiser for nearly a year.
He is survived by a widow and son, and by a brother, Capt. John J. Phelps, and a sister, the Countess von Rottenberg.
New York Times, New York, NY, Dec. 10, 1902, page 9
(note: the survivor list does not include his two daughters, Claudia and Eleanor, who most certainly should have been listed)
PHELPS -- Suddenly, on Dec. 9, 1902, at Aiken, S.C., of typhoid fever, Sheffield Phelps of Teaneck, N.J., younger son of the late William Walter Phelps. Funeral private. Interment at Simsbury, Conn.
New York Times, New York, NY, Dec. 11, 1902, page 9
New York Herald-Tribue, New York, NY, Dec. 10-12, 1902, page 1
OBITUARY
Sheffield Phelps
[By Telegraph to the Tribune]
Aiken, S.C., Dec. 9 -- Sheffield Phelps, younger son of the late William Walter Phelps, died here today in his winter home from typhoid fever, after an illness of several weeks. All the members of his family have been here for some time.
Sheffield Phelps, journalist and lawyer, was born in New Haven, Conn., July 24,1864. He was a son of a William Walter Phelps, Minister to Germany, and Ellen Sheffield, and grandson of John Jay Phelps, the organizer of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and Joseph E. Sheffield, founder of the Sheffield Scientific School, of Yale.
He was educated at Siglar's Preparatory School, Newburgh, N. Y., and the Hopkins Grammar School, at New Haven, afterward entering Yale, where he was graduated in 1886.
After leaving college Mr. Phelps went to Colorado, where, after roughing it in mining camps and on cattle ranches, he became Editor of the "The Colorado Springs Gazette." He afterward studied law, and was admitted to the bar.
In 1890 he came to this city and obtained position on the "The New York World." In 1892 he went to "The Mail and Express" as telegraph editor, rapidly advancing into the managing editorship. Leaving "The Mail and Express," he bought an interest in "The Jersey City Evening Journal, which he edited until 1899, when he sold the paper and went to Europe for long vacation. While he was in New Jersey he became a colonel in the National Guard of that State. In 1900 he returned from Europe and entered political life in his native State.
He was a companionable man, and his loss will be felt by a wide circle of friends. A keen sportsman, he was equally at his ease on horseback or driving a four-in-hand. Whether at his permanent home, in Teaneck, N.J., or in Aiken, where he resided in winter, and where he died, he delighted in exercising a generous hospitality. Indeed, not only at home, but on his travels, in the large houseboat which he had recently purchased and put into condition, and on the automobile excursions for which he had a special predilection, he was happy in having his friends with him and giving them pleasure. Though he had abandoned journalism for some time before his death, he never lost his interest in literary pursuits. He was fond of good books and a good plays. Into whatever he did he threw all his energies, notably, as Republicans in his State appreciatively remember, whenever there was a call for his services of the field of politics. He inherited from his distinguished father a marked taste for affairs, and his untimely death closes a career that was full of promise.
Mr. Phelps was a member of the University, Yale, Lawyers' and Ardsley clubs. On June 1, 1892, he married Claudia Wright, the daughter of Preston Lea, banker, of Wilmington, Del. He had three children -- William Walter, Claudia Lea and Eleanor Sheffield.
New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 10, 1902, p. 72
Newspaper excerpt
Not only the Bergen county visitors, but many men of prominence from all parts of the state, remarked the absence of the late Col. Phelps. He had become very popular with the Trenton crowd.
Senator Wakelee's room at the Trenton House was naturally the rendezvous for the Bergen county people; and when the Senate session opened his desk was bright with floral designs.
unknown paper, after December 9, 1902
