William Walter Phelps
THE DEATH OF MR. PHELPS
MANY EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW FROM FRIENDS AND PUBLIC MEN
THE FUNERAL TO TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT ENGLEWOOD, N.J. -- A STATEMENT CONCERNING HIS ILLNESS BY DR. LUSK.
The death of William Walter Phelps, which occurred early yesterday morning and was announced in a late edition of The Tribune, is a great loss to the country, as well as to the multitude of his friends on the two continents. Never rugged in health, and for many years threatened from time to time, he passed away at last after a sickness so brief that the sad end will be to many a sudden shock. Not yet far advanced in years, Mr. Phelps had lived long enough to honor his country at home and abroad by service of high character and value; he had lived long enough to leave his mark upon the Nation's history and to become the most popular citizen in his State, and long enough to be mourned sincerely by multitudes to whom his quiet and unostentatious benevolence had brought blessing.
The end, which came at 1:50 a. m., was so peaceful that for some minutes after he had breathed his last his family, who were watching at the bedside, would not believe that death had come. The patient was unconscious to the end and appeared to pass into a deep sleep. Grouped around the bedside were Mrs. Phelps, her daughter, Mrs. Von Rottenburg, and her sons, Captain John J. Phelps and Sheffield Phelps.
Sorrow Among His Neighbors.
At Englewood and Teaneck, with which places Mr. Phelps was so closely identified, and in the development of which he took so deep an interest, there is much mourning, and on all sides the dead statesman is affectionately remembered and is spoken of as a model citizen, an ideal neighbor. The great love borne Mr. Phelps by the old tenants and employes [sic] of his estate was also shown in many ways yesterday by tokens of regret.
Messages of Condolence.
Scores of telegrams of sympathy have been received by the sorrowing family from many prominent persons. They include messages from H. S. Sheldon, of Detroit; H. B. Chittenden, Governor Werts of New Jersey; Representative R. R. Hitt, of Illinois; S. K Bannon, of Mt. Vernon, N. Y.; J. Montgomery, of Portland, Ore.; Chancellor McGill, of Jersey City; Representative Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania; William Potter, of Philadelphia; W. H. Hunter, of New York; William Carey, of Canaan, Conn., J. Clarence Van Bowles, of Chicago; R. E. A. Dorr, of New York, and Horace W. Robbins, of New York.
The following are some of the many telegrams of condolence and sympathy:
Governor Werts, of New Jersey, telegraphed: "I am grieved at the sad intelligence. The death of Judge Phelps is a loss not only to the State of New Jersey, but to the whole country and to humanity."
From Representative Hitt, of Illinois: "I sympathize keenly with the family of Mr. Phelps in the great affliction and sorrow."
From Joseph H. Manley, of Maine, the great friend of James G. Blaine, and also of Mr. Phelps: "I tender my heartfelt sympathy. Your loss is irreparable. A generous friend and a noble man. His memory will be an inspiration."
The arrangements for the funeral have not yet been perfected, though it is known that it will take place at the Presbyterian Church of Englewood Wednesday morning, and the services will be conducted by the Rev. Dr. Henry M. Booth, now of Auburn, N.Y., but formerly the pastor of the church. Dr. Booth will be assisted by the present pastor, the Rev. James Eels. Special trains will convey from this city those who desire to attend the services. Their time of leaving here will be made known tomorrow. A special train will also take the funeral party to Simsbury, Conn., where the burial will take place.
The following will be the pallbearers: William W. Bennett, of Englewood, the manager of Mrs. Phelps's estate; Patrick O'Neill, A. T. Herrick, William E. Bond, Thomas R. White and Donald Mathewson.
It is probable that tomorrow an opportunity will be given his neighbors and friends to view the body.
Dr. Lusk's Statement
Dr. W. T. Lusk, of No. 47 East Thirty-fourth-st., an old friend of Mr. Phelps and his attending physician in his last illness, gave the following interview regarding the illness and causes of Mr. Phelps's death to a Tribune reporter yesterday at his home:
"Judge Phelps was treated at times during the last winter for throat trouble by Dr. F. J. Bosworth. On April 5, the day before starting for Fortress Monroe, he called on me to say goodby. As he complained of not feeling well I asked him to allow me to examine his chest. There was then a well-marked but limited area of dulness at the apex of his left lung, with fine rales. This was undoubtedly of tuberculous origin. While in the South he lost fourteen pounds of flesh. After his return to his home, May 18, Dr. Bosworth recognized a tuberculous spot in the larnyx [sic]. In consultation with Dr. Loomis, his diagnosis was confirmed. Dr. Loomis likewise detected the point in his left lung already alluded to.
"Judge Phelps attempted to stay at my house while local treatment by Dr. Bosworth was being carried out. His temperature then ranged from 100 ½ to 103 degrees. While I was absent in Washington he grew rapidly worse and on the 30th of May he returned to his home in New Jersey. From that time he has been under the charge of Dr. Currie, of Englewood, and myself. On Sunday, the 3d of June, he was seen by Dr. Janeway in consultation, who regarded the symptoms as those of general tuberculosis (the old-fashioned quick consumption). From Friday May 31, he was unable to leave the bed. Since then the disease has made rapid progress."
Dr. Lusk said that he had repeatedly advised Mr. Phelps to give up his judgeship so that he might not be compelled to be shut up in a hot and close courtroom, and to leave the seashore and go inland to the hot springs, either in North Carolina or Arkansas. Dr. Fraenkel, of Berlin, his physician while he was Minister to Germany, sent repeated messages to him advising and urging him to seek the climate of either Colorado or California. But Mr. Phelps felt so extremely well until his fatal illness that he did not think it necessary to go either West or inland. Dr. Lusk said the Mr. Phelps became unconscious a week ago yesterday, and with the exception of a few moments at different times, he remained in that state until he died.
His Last Few Days On Earth.
On Thursday of last week he became so low that death was momentarily expected, but he rallied upon the use of stimulants, and in the evening, he regained consciousness so far as to recognize Dr. Currie.
On Friday there was a slight rally and Mr. Phelps recognized his daughter, Mrs. von Rottenburg, who had arrived from Berlin that day, although he was unable to speak.
On Saturday night his condition was so enfeebled that all hope was given up and his family awaited the end.
A SKETCH OF HIS CAREER
Brilliant Services in Congress, As Minister to Germany and to Austria, And As A Judge of New Jersey's Highest Court.
William Walter Phelps was of English descent, the first of his ancestors who came to America having been William Phelps, a brother of the John Phelps who served Oliver Cromwell in the capacity of private secretary. William Phelps came to this country in 1630, and made his home near Simsbury, Conn. John Jay Phelps, father of William Walter Phelps and grandson of William, was the first of the family to leave the original American homestead. He came to New York, made a fortune as an importer and organized the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company. Here his son, the subject of this sketch, was born on August 21, 1839. William Walter was provided with the customary preparatory education, and then sent to Yale, from which college he was graduated in 1860, standing second in his class. He now spent several years in European travel and study, and on his return to New York took up the study of law at the Columbia College Law School, where he repeated the success which had attended his classical studies, and was valedictorian of his class at graduation in 1863.
After entering upon the practice of law in this city, he became a director of the National City Ban, the Second National Bank, the United States Trust Company, the Farmers Loan and Trust Company, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad , the Oswego and Syracuse Railroad, the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad, the Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad, the Texas International Railroad, the Houston and Great Northern Railroad and the Morris and Essex Railroad. Men like Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Roberts, Samuel Sloan and William E. Dodge engaged him largely and constantly in professional work, either fr their corporations or themselves, and some of them expressed much disappointment and a sense of personal loss when he gave up practice to enter public life. Mr. Phelps retired largely from general professional work as a lawyer in 1869, on the death of his father. He had shown such ability as a young lawyer, and had been so successful as to call especial attention to his work, When Justice Barrett resigned his seat on the Bench of the Sixth District Court, Governor Fenton appointed Mr. Phelps to the place. It was a most gratifying tribute to the learning, talent and serious-mindedness of the young jurist, who was, however, constrained to decline the office because of the multiplicity of his private duties. That he retained an ardent love for the law, and a profound respect for the judicial office, he demonstrated when, after over twenty years of brilliant political life, he chose to make an end of his public career on the bench of the Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey, a place to which he was appointed by Governor Werts while he was yet United States Minister to Germany.
His First Term in Congress
In 1872 Mr. Phelps, who then as now made his home at Teaneck, near Englewood, N.J., was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Vth New Jersey District, composed of the counties of Bergen, Morris and Passaic. He was elected by a majority of 2,715 -- only 269 less than Grant's -- the vote being: Phelps, 12,701; A.B. Woodruff (Liberal), 9,986. He took his seat in the XLIIId Congress on December 1, 1873, and his term expired on March e, 1875. Although this first period of service in Congress was only two years, Mr. Phelps's career was so brilliant that it was said of him that no man, in many years, had made such a mark in so short a time. His reputation in Congress was first made by his attack upon the franking privilege. In his speeches upon this subject he displayed rare powers of sarcasm and brilliant repartee. He followed up his success on this point by others that soon made him one of the most conspicuous of the younger members of Congress. Although an ardent Republican, Mr. Phelps was independent in judgment and action. He thought the Civil Rights bill would work injury rather than benefit to the colored race, and, moreover, he considered it unconstitutional. He therefore spoke and voted against it. His speeches on financial questions gave him still greater reputation, and his name was printed on the pages of nearly every newspaper in the land. These speeches gave a clear synopsis of the leading principles of monetary economy. They gave him power, and men suggested that he should be Secretary of the Treasury. While in Congress, Mr. Phelps was a member of the House Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Southern States, and was a prominent member of the Committee on Banking and Currency. Writing in 1880 of Mr. Phelps's first term in Congress, a newspaper correspondent who had had many years' experience in Washington said:
"While other new members were occupied, like green boys in school, in getting the latitude and longitude of their seats, and growing accustomed to their strange surroundings, he stepped at once into the little circle of old stagers who control legislation, and was treated as one of them. He made two or three speeches, as remarkable for their sound judgment as for their wit and humor, which drew everybody's attention to him, and his charming social qualities threw all doors open to him. He was a strong Republican, but a very independent one. He opposed the methods of the Grant Administration. He had his own ideas of what was right and expedient for the party to do, and if the men who thought themselves entitled to manage the party did not agree with him, he went his way and let them go theirs. He was not what they call a 'kicker,' but it and then happened that he differed from the majority, and when this occurred he held to his views in a frank and manly way. In fifteen yours of observation in the House, I remember no man who made so much of a mark in so short a time. The correspondents in the gallery who know how to value brains and independence used to predict a great career for him, and we were greatly disappointed when he suddenly dropped out of public life. Ill-health, the demands of business upon his time and the charms of his 1,000-acre farm, stretching from the Hudson to the Hackensack, caused his reluctance to wrestle again with a Democratic district. I thought at the time he had made a mistake -- that his extraordinary success in politics should have shaped his future -- but when a few years later I spent a Sunday at his home near Englewood -- a house that is a delight to the eye and comfort to the soul and body -- and rode over his estate of Teaneck I did not wonder that he preferred to plant trees and enjoy his library and landscape to struggling in the hot and dusty arena a public life. . . .
"I met him on the train the other day. . . .. Speaking on his Congressional experience, I recalled the conversation in Washington just after the Civil Rights bill passed the House. Mr. Phelps was the only Republican who had the courage to speak and vote against that measure, declaring, as a lawyer, that it was unconstitutional, and as a philosopher, that its policy was bad one for the colored race. 'Yes,' said Mr. Phelps, ' I remember it well. It was not an easy thing to make that speech, knowing, as I did, that my friends, who sat in mournful silence around me, believe that I was sealing my political doom. Perhaps I did, for the colored people, who are very numerous in my district, were made to think that vote proved me their enemy, and they went against me to a man the next chance they had. They are all right now. Long before the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional, as I knew they would, they discovered that the policy of the bill was a bad one, that no one, even in the Southern States, where the blacks were in control, thought of enforcing the law. So they concluded that they had done me injustice, and the consequence is, for they are a magnanimous set of fellows, they are very anxious to show their regret and makeup for the past. Why, it was one of the pleasantest sights in the Englewood primary of last month to see a long line of their smiling faces as they passed in line by the box dropping their ballots for Colonel Grosvenor. Each man of them smiled and nodded, and several of them seized my hand to say: "It is pleasant to be back on your side again, Mr. Phelps."' . . . While holding no office and wanting none, there are a few men in New Jersey who know political currents of the State so thoroughly, or who are so well informed as to the course of National affairs."
United States Minister To Austria
In 1874 Mr. Phelps was again the nominee of his party for Congress, but was defeated by seven majority, the vote being: Phelps, 11,670; and Augustus W. Cutler (Dem.), 11,677. In 1875 he was prominently mentioned in the contest for the seat of John P. Stockton (Dem.) in the United States Senate. Continued ill-health and the demands of business induced Mr. Phelps to remain in private life for several years, although the Republicans of New Jersey repeatedly desired to avail themselves of his services. In 1880 Mr. Phelps was one of the delegates-at-large from New Jersey to the Chicago Convention. Although a strong personal friend, as he always remained, of Mr. Blaine, and earnestly desiring his nomination, he supported General Garfield and worked for him in the campaign until his failing health compelled them to go abroad. His health, never strong, gave way completely under the strain of the campaign, and his physicians peremptorily required him to give up work of every kind and seek rest in Europe. He sailed in October, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and was in Florence when he first learned that he had been nominated on March 23, 1882, by President Garfield for the post of Minister to Austria. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate on May 6. Mr. Phelps had not been an applicant for the post, but it was generally admitted that the selection was a good one and that he would make an acceptable Minister in every way. It was sometime before Mr. Phelps knew anything about it. At the time he and his wife were enjoying a journey more delightful than that described in be "Adventures of a Phaeton" -- for they were driving from Nice to Florence along the Corniche road, with palms and roses on either side, snow-peaks above, the Mediterranean below and sunshine everywhere. It was while they were on this journey, hearing nothing of the outer world, that the burning of the Nice theater took place, and friends in America, not knowing of their departure, became alarmed about them. When the reach their Florence hotel, at the end of ten days, two telegrams were handed to Mr. Phelps before he had time alight. The first, from Hon. S.B. Chittenden read: "Are you hurt?"
Mr. Phelps must have wondered if his friends 4,000 miles away could feel his pains before he could. The second telegram, which was from Whitelaw Reid, said:
"Nominated Minister to Austria."
This only intensified the mystery, and great was the wonderment, until Mr. John Bigelow, who had been wintering in Florence, appeared, and, saying, "If you won't say that it's my practice in cipher dispatches that gives me mystical lore, I will explain," proceeded to unravel the tangle. For the first time, Mr. Phelps heard of the burning of the theater and realized that Mr. Chittenden's query had not the slightest reference to the lightning of a totally unexpected nomination.
Mr. Phelps Re-Enters Congress.
In the summer of 1882 Mr. Phelps resigned his post at Vienna and returned home. The first three men who boarded the steamer that brought him home were Bergen County politicians, who almost in the same breath that welcomed him urged him to be a candidate for the Congressional nomination. While he was still abroad Mr. Phelps had written to a friend in Paterson that he was not a candidate, but after his return his time, both at his office in New York and at his New Jersey home, was taken up chiefly in listening to partial friends, who urged him to be a candidate. They would not take "No" for an answer. His many friends in Paterson, including the Phelps Guard -- a political club of young men -- set to work with a will, and declared that if Mr. Phelps would not take any steps toward a nomination they would carry him all the way. He still declined to interfere in any way in the matter and several times took occasion to impress upon his hearers the fitness and claims of the men who were candidates for the nomination. When asked if he would decline a nomination, he replied: "By no means. From boyhood I have always held and avowed the opinion that the people could command the services of any citizen for any post. If I were elected poundkeeper I would serve. I should, of course, prefer that they should summon me to more congenial duties, like those at Vienna which I have just laid down, but my preference would not prevent my obedience to any call, whether I wanted it or not."
At the nominating convention, which met on September 28, 1883, he was nominated on the first ballot, in spite of the candidacy of the incumbent of the office, who had the solid support of the delegates from Morris County, and was elected by a majority of 1,638 over his Democratic opponent, John Ryle. In 1884 and 1886 he was renominated and re-elected. All of hw years in Congress were marked by the earnestness, activity and devotion to his country and his party that had characterized his brilliant first term. He was stanchly in favor of American interests as against foreign, and was confirmed in his belief in the merit of the doctrine of protection to American industries by the observations made during his diplomatic life abroad. In his speech accepting his fifth nomination to Congress he said:
"And finally I hold that republican governments must use every just means to secure large wages for labor. A republic rests upon the intelligence and content of those who labor. They can neither be intelligent nor content if they have neither leisure and comfort and education and a home to its workingmen. The United States so far has done it. It accomplished this economic miracle by means of a tariff. No better way was ever devised by which the rich could be efficiently and harmlessly taxed in the interest of the poor."
For the oppressed of other lands he also had a wide sympathy, a generous feeling and a strong sense of justice. In May, 1886, he made a strong plea in Congress in favor of the bill to indemnify the Chinese who had suffered from murderous outrageous in the far West, basing his argument on the triple ground of public policy, good morals and legal right. So, too, the cause of Home Rule for Ireland was dear to him and some of his most ernest utterances were made at meetings called to give moral support to Mr. Gladstone's effort to right the wrongs of Ireland. At a meeting held in Washington on April 28, 1886, participated in by many Congressmen and businessmen, he said: "When Gladstone rose in St. Stephen's to introduce the bill -- the simple instrument in ink and paper which should give the liberty of self-government to Ireland and redress the wrongs of seven centuries -- he did not speak to a few thousands who crowded that historic chamber, but three hundred millions, who almost at the same moment heard and applauded his every word. The moment a Prime Minister of Great Britain, the Governor of Great Britain, solemnly acknowledged that national wrong and solemnly proposed to give that local independence, that self-government which would alone make atonement, that moment the glorious present of Ireland began.
"This is what public opinion has done and is doing. Speed the good work! Let it quickly come. Let future Moores ring happier strains to the harp of Tara in Tara's halls. But, best of all, hasten the time almost now at dawn, when his country may write in Saint Patrick's, the Westminster Abbey of a National Ireland, in letters golden as the sunlight, the epitaph of martyred young Emmet, who prayed no man might write his epitaph until Ireland should take her place among nations of the earth."
Resumption Of Diplomatic Duties.
The knowledge which Mr. Phelps had acquired as Minister to Austria stood him in good stead when he resumed his legislative duties at the National capital. He was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs for three successive Congresses, and was particularly interested in the international complication which grew out of the struggle for supremacy between an native Samoan Chiefs Tamasese and Malletoa, the latter of whom had attacked and killed a score of German officers and sailors. It was universally felt, therefore, that a wise choice was made when he was selected with Mr. Kasson and Mr. Bates to represent American interests at the International Conference on the Samoan question, which was held in Berlin, which convened on April 29,1889, and closed its sessions on June 14. This was the first instance in international diplomacy in which the English language was used, and when Mr. Phelps returned to the United States immediately after the close of the conference to submit the agreement to the Government at Washington it was felt that American interests had been admirably safeguarded. By the terms of the agreement Malletoa, who was in exile, was restored to the Samoan throne, an indemnity was assessed against the Samoans for the murder of the Germans, and Great Britain and United States joined Germany in the establishment of an advisory council. Before the conclusion of the international negotiations had been reached it was predicted in Berlin that Mr. Phelps would be the next United States Minister to Germany; and this prediction went into speedy fulfillment. On June 26,1889, President Harrison appointed him to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Germany. He qualified at once, and spent eight or ten weeks in adjusting his private affairs. In September he presented his credentials to the German Emperor, and from that time to his retirement from politics in May,1893, he devoted himself assiduously to the promotion of his country's affairs at the German Foreign Office. His geniality, familiarity with foreign tongues and charming domestic life had it aided in making his administration of the high office markedly successful, and won for him the friendship and admiration of the eminent men with whom he came in contact. It was his privilege to see the consummation with his aid of efforts that had long been making (in which, indeed, he was an agent while Minister to Austria) to remove the embargo which Continental Europe had maintained on American pork. After a year service he returned his home on a three months' leave of absence. In January,1892, he found it necessary to spend three weeks for the benefit of his health in Algiers, and it would appear the climate and labors of Berlin were partly responsible for hastening the progress of the disease which finally took his life. Mr. Phelps became warmly attached to Mr. James G. Blaine during his first term in Congress and was his ardent supporter in the conventions of 1876, 1880 and 1884, in the last two of which he was delegate-at-large for New Jersey. In 1888 he was convinced that Mr. Blaine was the strongest man before the country, but when the latter refused to be a candidate Mr. Phelps gave his hearty support to Benjamin Harrison, whom for months he had urged upon his friends as the easiest man to elect, after Blaine. In the Convention canvass the New Jersey delegation gave him a unanimous vote toward the Vice-Presidential candidacy.
Mr. Phelps Private And Judicial Life.
Minister Phelps remained in Berlin to receive his successor, Theodore Runyun, and show him the usual official courtesies. He made his farewell visit to the German Foreign Office on May 30, 1893, and presented his letter recall on June 4. He then sailed for home. Three months before he had been asked by Governor Werts of New Jersey, whether he would accept an appointment as lay Judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals of that State. This is New Jersey's court of last instance. It consists of fifteen members, nine of whom are chancellors and judges of the Supreme Court. The other six have for a long time been appointed from others than the legal profession, and have come to be called lay judges. In appointing Mr. Phelps Governor Werts intended to inaugurate a change from this policy, and it was probably for that reason that Mr. Phelps accepted a post which caused not a little wonderment to his friends. He returned to United States on June 15, and five days later he took the oath of office in Trenton, and announced that he was out of political office for all time. At a reception given to him by his old friends and neighbors in Englewood, on July 13, he explained what he met by the statement. "It means," he said, "that after thirty years of active practical political life -- and that includes attending caucuses, suggesting some candidates, suppressing others, attending primaries, stumping all Octobers, attending conventions, peddling tickets at the polls, etc., etc. -- I think I have done my duty and am entitled to a rest. And were I not discharged by completion of a pretty good round term of political service, I should feel that I was debarred from partisanship, offensive or otherwise, when I became a judge."
With characteristic energy and devotion to the public he entered upon his duties. Once a week, or oftener, he went to Trenton to listen to law arguments so long as his health permitted. His salary as judge was $6,000 per annum, but of course that never occupied his thoughts. He found his reward in the service he was rendering, and some diversion in the new and strange position into which he been put. "Isn't it funny," said he last December to a Tribune correspondent: "Isn't it funny that I should sit right next to Judge Leon Abbett all the time? We have been political opponents for years, and, perhaps, to a certain extent, political rivals. Yet here we are, as chummy and friendly as you please. The funniest part of it all is that in the months we have presided together we have always agreed on the points presented and in the decisions rendered. Our unanimity of judgment is quite remarkable."
"How do you like the office of judge?" was asked.
"Well, I find it rather tiresome and laborious. It is not the motions and the long arguments I mind so much. But I am trying to think of the law that for thirty years I thought out of my mind. You see I paid no attention to the law for years, being occupied with other matters. Now I am compelled to try and recall what I once knew, and apply it to the facts as presented."
In 1865 Mr. Phelps, who had on the night of his graduation from Yale College married Miss Ellen Sheffield, of New Haven, daughter Joseph E. Sheffield, the founder of the Sheffield Scientific School, bought a farm on the Teaneck Road, about two miles west Englewood, N. J., as a summer home, and added to the old farmhouse from time to time until it was one of the most unique and attractive of country houses. Here he continued to live, having sold his residence in New York after his father's death, and taken up his legal residence in New Jersey, until it was destroyed by fire six years ago the first of last April [sic], together with a valuable collection of paintings, worth over $200,000, that had just been placed in a newly finished picture gallery. Mr. Phelps then purchased the adjoining place, to which he made large additions, intending to make it a temporary home while rebuilding the destroyed house, but his absence as Minister to Germany prevented the consummation of his plans. The original farm of a few hundred acres was added to by purchase from time to time, until it reached from the Hudson River to the Hackensack River, a distance of five miles, and contained over 2,000 acres. Through this magnificent estate run two railroads, the Northern Railroad of New Jersey and West Shore Railroad, on both of which are stations -- Nordhoff and Teaneck. On it are thirty or more tenant houses, and twenty-five miles of macadamized roads, five gate houses now being erected. Besides the home estate, Mr. Phelps was a liberal purchaser called Bergen real estate, and became the largest landowner in the county. Some of his last energies were devoted to the improvement of his beautiful homestead. His interest in literature, especially the classics, never suffered abatement in spite of his private and public duties. It was characteristic of the bent of his mind that he that on his last bed of sickness he frequently were averted wanderingly to the writings which had inspired him in his youth and quoted them, sometimes the what seemed to be a delirium. He maintained in active interest in Yale College, and was largely instrumental in securing to the alumni a share in the government of the institution. For some years he was a member of the corporation. He was also an honorary member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and at one time vice-president of the Yale Alumni Association, president of the Columbia Wall School Alumni Association, one of the founders of the Union League and University clubs, and a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Rutgers College conferred the honorary degree of L. L. D. upon him in November, 1889. He was also under appointed by Governor Werts, a member of the Constitutional Convention of New Jersey, one of the first acts of which was the passage of a resolution expressing regret for his sickness and hope for his speedy restoration to health. He was a generous contributor to Yale College, his gifts aggregating about $100,000. One of his acts of generosity that will long be remembered by the people of New Jersey was the sending a telegram from Italy on the failure of the Bergen County Savings Bank at Hackensack, instructing his agent to pay all depositors of $100 and less in full, out of his own funds, although he was not connected with the institution. One of his last public-spirited acts was the gift of a town clock, which cost $1,000, to Englewood. Mr. Phelps left a widow and three children, all of whom are married. They are Captain John J. Phelps, Sheffield Phelps, and Mrs. Franz von Rottenburg, wife of the Under Secretary of the Interior in the German Government.
Among Mr. Phelps's more notable speeches separately published are those on the Franking Privilege, February 24, 1874; Sound Currency, April 1, 1874; the Civil Rights bill, February 4, 1875; Fitz-John Porter's case, February 1, 1884; the Lasker Resolutions, March 19, 1884; an oration before General Grant and his Cabinet at a Grand Army Reunion in Patterson, N.J., on "The Dangers of War," and one at Mouth Holly, N.J., on Decoration Day, 1886, on "The Dangers of Peace"; the tariff address before the Agricultural Society of New Jersey, February 5, 1884, and one on Commerce before the New England Society, New York, and December 22, 1886.
New York Tribune, June 18, 1894, p. 1
FRIENDS UNITED IN DEATH
Funeral Services of Col. Bayne and Judge Phelps
ENGLEWOOD, N.J., June 18 -- The funeral of Judge Wm. Walter Phelps will take place at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning at the Presbyterian Church in Englewood. The service will be conducted by Rev. Dr. Henry M. Booth, the former pastor of that church, who was an intimate friend and classmate of Mr. Phelps. Dr. Booth will be assisted by Rev. James E. Ells, the present pastor of the church.
The pallbearers will be employees of Mr. Phelps.
After the service the remains will be taken to Simsbury, Conn., where they will be placed in the family vault at Busherville cemetery.
Evening Star, Washington, D.C., June 18, 1894, page 3
An Example to Youth of the Land
Such, Declares Republican Club, Was the Life of William Walter Phelps
At the meeting of the Republican Club held last night in the clubhouse, 450 Fifth Avenue, Dr. Thomas, Chairman of the committee which had been appointed to present an appropriate memorial on the death of Judge William Walter Phelps, offered the following:
In Judge Phelps the Nation lost a citizen who deserved well of his country and of the Republican Party. A zealous leader in every capacity in which he acted, he achieved distinction. As a student, he aspired to and reach the highest honors; as a Congressman, he quickly attracted the attention of his fellow citizens by his ability and eloquence; as a foreign Minister, his skill, energy, and patriotism elicited the gratitude of his countrymen and the respect of the governments to which he was accredited.
He had a noble ambition to become eminent by the worth of his public services. He was not one of those who thought that fitness for high political office is best shown by previous neglect of all political duties. He did not believe that loyalty to a great political party lessens true patriotism. He has shown by his life and works that he serves his party best who serves his country first. He has left an example to the youth of the land that political activity is consistent with a highest civic virtue, usefulness, and honor.
In his character as a private citizen we respect his spotless integrity and wide benevolence; in his career as a legislator, diplomat, and jurist we recognize his ability and wisdom; in his earnest labors as a fellow-Republican we lament his loss, and we honor his patriotic services. If his death has wrought sorrow, his life brings that encouragement and hope that springs from the conviction that, while such men live, the Republic cannot die.
The memorial was adopted unanimously, and a copy will be sent to the family of the late Judge Phelps.
New York Times, New York, NY, July 17, 1894, page 4
