Oliver Phelps

Oliver Phelps
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district
In office March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805
Preceded by	None; new seat
Succeeded by	Silas Halsey
Personal details
Born	October 21, 1749 Poquonock, Connecticut
Died	February 21, 1809 (aged 59) Canandaigua, New York
Resting place	Pioneer Cemetery, Canandaigua, New York
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Seymour
Children	Oliver Leicester, Mary
Occupation	Merchant, commissary, land speculator
Profession	Judge, politician

Oliver Phelps was early in life a tavern keeper in Granville, Massachusetts. During the Revolution he was Deputy Commissary of the Continental Army and served until the end of the war. After the war ended, he was appointed a judge, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and became a land speculator in western New York state. A depressed real estate market forced him to sell most of his holdings.

Phelps (October 21, 1749 – February 21, 1809) was born in Poquonock, Connecticut. His father died when he was 3, and his mother was left to raise their seventeen children. Phelps took a job at age 7 in a local store to help support his family. He married Mary Seymour, daughter of Zachariah and Sarah (Steele) Seymour. When he was 21 in 1770, they moved to Suffield, Connecticut, where he apprenticed to a local merchant, and in 1770 the couple moved to Granville, Massachusetts where he opened his own store. They had a son, Oliver Leicester (22 September 1775 – 9 October 1813), and a daughter, Mary (5 September 1778 – 11 September 1859).

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Phelps joined the Continental Army and fought in the Battle of Lexington. He left the service in 1777 and, relying on his experience as a merchant, became Massachusetts Superintendent of Purchases of Army Supplies, a Deputy Commissary of the Continental Army. He was introduced to Robert Morris, the great financier of Revolutionary times. He supplied troops and received commendation from General George Washington for his efforts. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1778 to 1780 and a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1779 and 1780. After the war ended, he became a prominent businessman and was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1785 and served on the Governor’s council in 1786. He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1805, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1804 on the ticket headed by Aaron Burr.

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