Phelps, William J.

Born: 1808-03-02 Connecticut

Died: 1883-XX-XX

Flourished: Peoria County, Illinois

Phelps was a farmer in Connecticut, where he met and married his wife, Olivia B. Johnson, in 1834. They had three children. Later that year, Phelps moved his wife to Illinois, and settled in Peoria County, where he purchased large tracts of land. In 1835, Phelps was elected as justice of the peace. He was also elected as a county commissioner in 1836. Phelps, a staunch Whig and later a Republican, was elected as a Whig into the Illinois House of Representatives for one term, 1840 to 1842, representing Peoria County. In 1860, he was a farmer living near Elmwood. He owned $75,000 in real estate and had a personal estate of $10,425. Phelps and his family were members of the Congregational Church.

The History of Peoria County, Illinois (Chicago: Johnson, 1880), 346, 747-48; Gravestone, Section C, Elmwood Township Cemetery, Peoria County, IL; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 209; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 348; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Elmwood, Peoria County, IL, 194.