The National Cyclopedia of American Biography
DODGE, Walter Phelps, lawyer and author, was born at Beirut, Syria, June 13, 1869, son of David Stuart and Ellen Ada (Phelps) Dodge. His grandfather William Earl Dodge (q.v.) was the founder of the Phelps Dodge Co. (later Phelps Dodge Copper Co.) of New York, and leader in many civic, philanthropic and religious undertakings, among them the Syrian Protestant college at Beirut, of which he was a founder. His father (q.v. for ancestry) was professor of modern languages at the Syrian Protestant college, having the institution largely under his charge from its inception, was for many years president of the board of home missions of the Presbyterian church and was also president of the National Temperance Society and Publication house.
Walter Phelps Dodge spent two years studying in Greece and Germany under private tutors and on his return to America entered the class of 1891 at Yale, but left before graduation to continue his studies at St. John's college, Oxford. Later, after some three years of travel mainly in the south of Europe, he took a course in English law and in 1898 was called to the bar by the Middle Temple, London. In 1909 he was admitted to the New York bar. He made specialty of international law, practicing both in London and United States, but much of his time was spent in literary pursuits.
His published writings include "Three Greek Tales" (1892), "As the Crow Flies" (1893), "A Strong Man Armed" (1896), "The Sea of Love" (1898), "Piers Gaveston: a Chapter of Early Constitutional History" (1899), "From Squire to Prince" (1901), "That Disdainful Maiden" (1901), "The Real Sir Richard Burton" (1907), "The Crescent Moon" (1910), "King Charles I, a Study" (1912), "The Purple Iris" (1915), "Red Gold and Other Verses" (1915), "Studies of the English Sovereigns" (1918) and "Types" (1929). A biography of his wife, "Ethel Phelps Dodge," was published privately in 1929.
He was a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and a member of the Sons of the Revolution, the Reform and Wellington Clubs of London and the Racquet and Tennis Club of New York city. In religion he was an Episcopal and in politics a Republican. Personally he was a man of high ideals, somewhat aloof in manner, and with firm opinions which he stoutly defended. With these qualities he combined a lively sense of humor and a love for children. His hobby was the collecting the first editions and old coins. For recreation he enjoyed hunting, tennis, golf and above all travel.
He was married three times: (1) at Edinburgh, Scotland, July 21, 1888, to Ida, daughter of Alfred Godolphin Cooke, landowner of Manningham Hall, Yorkshire, England, by whom he had three children: Ellen Ada Phelps, who married (1) Gerald Curtis and (2) Capt. William Reynolds Purnell, U.S. Navy; Stuart Phelps, and Audrey Dodge (died in infancy); (2) at Sioux Fall, S. Dak., May 5, 1905, to Ethel Beatrice (Adlard) Coles, daughter of Percy Hamler Adlard, of Staverton Court, Cheltenham, England, by whom he had a daughter, Rosemary, who married Alexander Gregorieff, Jr.; (3) in London, England, Jan. 5, 1910, to Helen Louise, daughter of Edward Milton Steck, of Haverford, Pa.. He died in Paris, France, April 23, 1931.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography
