Phelps, George D.

Born: 1804-04-06 Connecticut

Died: 1872-08-31 Simsbury, Connecticut

Flourished: New York, New York

George D. Phelps was a businessman, railroad executive, and officer for several charitable ventures. In addition to being a trustee for the Asylum for Friendless Boys, manager of the Protestant Half Orphan Asylum, and manager of the Demilt Dispensary—all in New York City—he also served as a director of the American Home Missionary Society and on an executive committee for the Southern Aid Society. He was also involved in the property and life insurance business in both Connecticut and New York City, and served as president of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company. He did well in his business ventures, amassing a personal estate worth $50,000 and another $110,000 in real estate by 1860. He was married three times over the course of his life. His first wife, Frances H. F. Randolph, died in January 1831. He had at least two children with his second wife, Mary Ayres, before she died January 1844. His third wife, H. Augusta Ayres, outlived him.

D. T. Valentine, Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York for 1853 (New York: McSpedon & Baker, 1853), 247, 251, 260; The Thirty First Report of the American Home Missionary Society (New York: John A. Gray, 1857), 139; The First Report of the Southern Aid Society (New York: D. Fanshaw, 1854), 7; The Boston Directory (Boston: Adams and Sampson, 1860), 542; Henry Wilson, comp., The Directory of the City of New-York, for 1852-1853 (New York: John F. Trow, 1852), 17; Benjamin Homans, The United States Railroad Directory, for 1856 (New York: B. Homans, 1856), 35; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 21, New York, New York County, NY, 69; Gravestone, Simsbury Cemetery, Simsbury, CT.