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Dr. Francis Phelps
Representative and Senator
Francis Phelps (1) 1, M. D., A. Milford, Sussex Co., Delaware, 31 Jan., 1799. At the age of sixteen he attended a classical school at Milford, and later the academy at Lewis, Del. On completing his course at this academy he commenced his medical studies in the office of Dr. William Handy, of Baltimore, and attended lectures at the University of Maryland, from which he graduated in 1819. He first settled in Fredericksburg, Md., where he practiced until 1833, when he removed to his residence in Cambridge, Dorchester Co., Md.
In 1836 he relinquished practicing in consequence of loss of health, and purchased the estate five miles from Cambridge, formerly owned by the Hon. James A. Bayard of Del. Here he made his home until 1864, when losing all his slaves by the war, he returned to Cambridge and engaged in mercantile pursuits. During all this time Dr. Phelps had been largely engaged in public life. In 1828 he was elected on the Adams ticket to a seat in the General Assembly. He declined reelection until 1839, when he was again elected to the Lower House, and served for five consecutive years. In 1844 he was elected by the Whig, to the State Senate and served for six years.
In 1850 he was elected member of the Convention which convened in Annapolis, 15 Jan. 1851, to amend the State Constitution, This body was composed of the most able men of the state. In this convention he bore an active and influential part. In 1852 he was elected and made vice-president of the National Convention of the Whig Party, which nominated Gen. Scott for President. In 1860 he was a member of the National Convention which nominated Bell and Everett. He was elected in 1862 as a Union Delegate to the General Assembly of Maryland, and in 1866 was a member of the Lower House and of the Committee to re-enfranchise the citizens who had been disfranchised by the Convention of 1864.
In 1873 he was unanimously nominated by the Democratic Convention as Senator for his county and served for five years.
For nearly fifty years he has been in public service, and during that time he has never been defeated at the ballot box.
He married Hannah White, in Lewis, Del., in 1824. She was daughter of Dr. John P. and Catharine (Hall) White, and granddaughter of Col. David Hall, Ex-Governor of the State, and who at the time of his death was Judge of the Circuit Court. He served in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Phelps d. 1 Feb., 1890, at Cambridge, Md. Dr. Phelps d. at Cambridge, 18 Nov., 1886.
(1) From The Phelps Family of America and Their English Ancestors, (Save $200 by ordering through us.) By Oliver S. Phelps and Andrew T. Servin. (Get a free, updated index here.)