Samuel Shethar Phelps (13 May 1793 – 25 March 1855) was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, to John Phelps (1756–1833), an American Revolutionary War soldier and great-great-grandson of William Phelps. Samuel S. Phelps graduated from Yale University in 1811. He studied law at Litchfield Law School and in the office of Horatio Seymour, and was admitted to the bar. He served as a military paymaster during the War of 1812.
Following the war, he settled in Middlebury, Vermont, and became a lawyer, soon entering politics. He served in the Vermont State House from 1821 to 1832, as a judge on the Vermont Supreme Court from 1832 to 1838, and as a member of the Vermont Senate from 1838 to 1839.
Phelps married Frances Shurtleff and they had three children: Edward John Phelps, James Shether Phelps and Charles Henry Phelps. Phelps later married Electa Satterlee Phelps, with whom he had eight children. Edward John Phelps was prominent politician, lawyer, and diplomat.
In 1839 he was elected as a Whig to a seat in the U.S. Senate from Vermont and served there until 1851. During that time(1) he was chairman, Committee on the Militia (Twenty-seventh Congress), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Twenty-seventh Congress), Committee on Pensions (Twenty-seventy Congress), Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (Twenty-eighth Congress), Committee on Territories (Twenty-eighth Congress).
He returned to the United States Senate in 1853, having been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Senator William Upham, who had died. However, this was disputed by some, and in 1854 he was forced to resign when a senate committee ruled that he was not entitled to the seat. He died the following year in Middlebury, Addison County, Vt., on March 25, 1855; interment in West Cemetery.
(1) Biographical Guide to the United States Congress (accessed June 18, 2008)
Copyright © 1998 Brian Phelps | Disclaimer | Contact Us