Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/797

Rh a high reputation. After the death of Judge Phelps in 1847 she conducted it alone for the suc- ceeding eight years. Slie then settled in Balti- more, and spent her latter years in retirement. She was the second woman "that was elected a member of the American association for the ad- vancement of science, and read before that body in 1878 a paper on the religious and scientific char- acter and writings of Edward Hitchcock, and in 1878 one on the " Infidel Tendencies of Modern Sci- ence." Her educational works, which had a large sale, were devoted mainly to natural science. They include " Familiar Lectures on Botany " (Hartford, Conn., 1829); "Dictionary of Chemistrv " (New York, 1830); "Botany for 'Beginners" (Hartford, 1831) ; " Geology for Beginners " (Brattleborough, Vt., 1832) ; " Female Student, or Fireside Friend " {Boston, 1833; London, 1838); "Chemistrv for Beginners " (New York, 1834) ; " Lectures on Nat- ural Philosophy" (1835); "Lectures on Chemis- try " (1837) ; " Natui'al Philosophy for Beginners " <1837) ; and " Hours with My Pupils " (1869). She also wrote the tales " Caroline Westerly " (1833); " Ida Norman " (Baltimore, 1850) ; and " Christian Households " (1860) ; and edited " Our Country in its Relation to the Past, Present, and Future" {Baltimore, 1868), for the benefit of the Christian and sanitary commissions. — jlrs. Phelps's son, Charles Edward, jurist, b. in Guilford, Vt., 1 May, 1833, removed with his parents to Pennsyl- vania in 1837, and to Maryland in 1841. He was graduated at Princeton iii 1852, and at Harvard law-school in 1854. After a tour abroad he set- tled in practice in Howard county and subse- quently in Baltimore, Md. He joinecl the National army in 1862 as lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Maryland regiment, soon afterward became colo- nel, was severely wounded at Spottsylvania, while temporarily commanding a division of the 5th army corps, and was captured. He served in the Wilderness campaign, and in 1864 received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers for " gal- lant conduct in the battle of Spottsylvania." He was elected to congress as a Unionist in 1864, re- elected in 1866, and at the expiration of his term resumed the practice of law in Baltimore. In he declined the appointment of judge of the Maryland court of appeals. In 1877 he raised a volunteer regiment to serve during the riots of that summer. In 1882 he was elected associate judge of the superior court of Baltimore, for a term of fifteen years. -Judge Phelps has been for many years a member of the American society for the ad- vancement of science, was president of the board of school commissioners of Baltimore, is president of the Alumni association of Princeton, and professor of equity in the Baltimore law-school. In 1880, at the request of the Maryland Historical society, he delivered the address in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Baltimore. — Her stepson, John Wolcott, soldier, b. in Guil- ford, Vt., 13 Nov., 1813 ; d. there, 2 Feb., 1885. Five of his paternal ancestors were lawyers of high standing. His father, John Phelps, was a lawyer, and a lineal descendant of William Phelps {q. v.). The son was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1836 with the rank of 2d lieutenant. He served against the Creeks and Seminoles, and was engaged in the action at Locha Hutchee in 1838. He was put in charge of the emigration to the west of the Cherokee Indians in that year. At the beginning of the Mexican war he led a company, which was under his command for two years. During that time he was in the battles of Vera Cruz, Contreras, and Churubuseo. For gallant conduct he was brevet ted captain, but declined to accept the nomi- nal promotion until 1850, when he received the full commission. In 1852 he obtained a leave of absence, and spent a year in Eurojje. and on his return wrote and puljlished, anonymously, a volume entitled " Sibylline Leaves, or Thoiiglitsupon visit- ing a Heathen Temple " (Brattieboni. Vi.. 1S.5;}). In 1859 Capt. Pheli)s resigned his commission after serving for some time in the Utah expedition, and returned to Brattleboro, Vt., where lie had pre- viously taken up his residence. He had completed nearly twenty-three years of continuous military service. Much of the intervening period between his leaving the army and the civil war was spent in writing articles against the aggression of the slave power. He volunteered his services to lead tlie 1st company of Vermont volunteers in 1861, which, to- gether with one regiment from Massachusetts and one from New York under his command, took pos- session of the mouth of James river. Thence he was ordered to the southwest, whei-e he occupied Ship island with a New England brigade. On 17 May, 1861, he was made brigadier-general in the volun- teer service. Subsequently he took part in the re- duction of New Orleans. At that time he con- ceived the idea of organizing slaves as soldiers, but he was in advance of the time, and the government commandei- bade him cease and set them at work instead. As he could not conscientiously do the latter, he returned to Vermont, after resigning his commission on 21 Aug., 1862. During his occupa- tion of Ship island he issued a manifesto " to the loyal citizens of the southwest," in which he set forth his views on slavery. He declined a major- general's commission when the negroes were finally armed, and spent the rest of his life in Brattleboro, Vt. His acquirements as a scholar and linguist were considerable. He became vice-president of the Vermont historical society in 1863, and presi- dent of the Vermont state teachei"s' association in 1865. He was active until his death in the anti- masonic movement, and was the candidate for president of the American party in 1880. He con- tributed largely to current literature, puljlislied a volume entitled " Good Behavior," intended as a text-book for schools, which was adopted in western cities (Brattleboro, Vt., 1880) ; and a " History of Madagascar" (New York, 1884) : and the "Fables of Florian " (1888) ; and translated from the French Lucien de la Ilodde's " Cradle of Kebellions " (1864). See his Memoir by Cecil H. C. Howard (Brattle- boro, Vt., 1887).

PHELPS, Amos Augustus, clergyman, b. in Farmington, Conn., in 1805; d. in Koxburv, Mass., 12 Sept., 1847. He was graduated at Yale" in 182C, and at the divinity-school there in 1830, was pastor of Congregational churches in llopkinton and Bos- ton, Mass., in 1831-"4, became agent df llif Massa- chusetts anti-slavery society at the latter date, and was pastor of the Free church, and subsequently of the Maverick church. Boston, in 1839-'45. lie also edited the " Emancipation," and was secretary of the American anti-slavery society for several years. He published " Lectures on Slaverv and its Rem- edy" (Boston, 1834): "Book of" the Sabbath" (1841); "Letters to I)r. Bac(Mi and to Dr. St owe " (1842): and nuinenuis pamphlets on slavery.

PHELPS, Anson Greene, merchant, b. in Simsbury, Conn., 12 March, 1781 ; d. in New York city, 30 Nov., 1853. He learned the trade of a saddler, and established himself in Hartford, Conn., with a branch business in Charleston, S. C. In 1815 he became a dealer in tin plate and heavy metals in New York city. Having accumulated a large fortune, partly by investments in real estate, he de-