Of Connecticut birth and Puritan ancestry but a Pennsylvanian and resident of Wilkes-Barre from 1862 until his death, Mr. Phelps as banker and business man was a well-known, highly influential man of affairs in both New York City and the city of his adoption, Wilkes Barre. he was one of the potent factors in the industrial development of that city, and in addition to a wonderfully successful private business life he was mainly instrumental in securing for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company those immense tracts of coal lands that are the rock-bed upon which the prosperity of that corporation rests. He was a man of striking handsome appearance, with sterling qualities of heart and mind, kindly hearted, generous, and genial. He won his way upward, beginning as clerk, then merchant, banker, manufacturer, and official, proving his right to rank with Pennsylvania's "Captains of Industry." He was a warm supporter of all measures tending toward Wilkes-Barre's progress, and gave freely of his time and means to aid the cause of philanthropy. For thirty years. 1862 -1892, Wilkes-Barre was his home, and no native son was more genuinely interested in the up-building of the city than he.