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The National Cyclopedia of American Biography

PHELPS, John Jay, financier, was born in Paris, France, Sept. 27,1861, son of William Walter and Ellen Maria (Sheffield) Phelps and a descendant of William Phelps, a native of England and came to America in 1630, settled first in Hull and later in Dorchester, Mass., and in 1635 was one of the founders of Windsor, Conn. From him and his wife, Elizabeth ______ , the line is through Joseph and Hannah Newton, Joseph and Mary Chase, David and Abigail Pettibone, David and Abigail Griswold, Alexander and Elizabeth Eno, and John Jay and Rachel Badgeley Phinney, the grandparents of John J. Phelps. His father (q.v.) was a lawyer and diplomat. His maternal grandfather, Joseph E. Sheffield (q.v.), was the founder of the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University. John J. Phelps received his preparatory education at Cheshire Academy, Cheshire, Conn., and at Siglar's School, Newburgh, N.Y., and was graduated B.A. at Yield University in 1883. He spent the ensuing two years in the employ of the Farmers Loan & Trust Co., New York city, where he receive training in the management of large financial interests. He later served as vice-president of the Hackensack (N.J.) National Bank, and as a director of the Hackensack Trust Co., United States Trust Co., and the Cayuga & Susquehanna Railroad. For some years he was president of Strong & Trowbridge Co., New York city, importers and exporters. Besides expensive land holdings in Bergen County, N.J., he owned large tracts in Texas, California and Michigan. He retired from business in 1938. Phelps earned a master mariners's license when he was a boy, and at twenty-one he built and commanded his own schooner, the "Brunnhilde." He sailed in this vessel around the world via the Suez Canal and Cape Horn, and was the first American yachtsman to accomplish this entirely under sail. During the Spanish-American War he was commissioned an ensign, U. S. Navy, and was acting lieutenant and signal officer aboard the USS "Celtic." When the United States entered the First World War he built his own submarine chaser which was commissioned by the Navy with Phelps as commanding officer. He served on this ship and on the USS "Calumet" throughout the war with the rank of lieutenant commander. He was a member of the National Child Welfare Association, Navy Relief Association, National Security League, American Forestry Association, American Museum of Natural History, U.S. Reserve Officers Association, Waterway League of America, Naval Order of the United States, National Association of Audubon Societies, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, Sons of the American Revolution, United Spanish War Veterans, New York Zoological Society, New Jersey and Bergen County historical societies, New York State Chamber of Commerce, Psi Upsilon, the Union League, University, Yale and Circumnavigators clubs of New York city, and the Scroll and Key Society of Yale University, and the Lantern League of Boston, the Pine Orchard (Conn.) Club, the Oritani Field Club and the Cruising Club of America. His religious affiliation was with the Episcopal Church. Politically he was a Republican. At one time he was a member of the Board of Freeholders of Bergen County, N.J. He was deeply interested in educational and welfare work in the community and gave assistance whenever needed. In later years he became greatly interested in gardening and horticulture. Phelps was married in New York city, April 26,1888, to Rosa Janet, daughter of Joscelyn Hutchinson of Staten Island, N.Y., who later moved to Caledonia, N.Y., and had two daughters: Dorothy, who married Davenport West, and Rose Phelps. He died in Stony Creek, Conn., July 3, 1948.

Vol. 37 page 144

(Note per Jeff Kelly, immediate past president of the Circumnavigators Club: I wish to draw attention to a slight change to [the] bio of John J. Phelps, [which says] that [JJP] attended Yield University. I believe the correct answer is Yale. Also in [the] listing of clubs, he was a member of the century old Circumnavigators Club. I ... have seen his name in our old volumes relating to his sail around the world and being on our roster then.)




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