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Aaron Noble Phelps 1873
Premium for Best Farm in Knox County, Illinois
In 1871, Noble Phelps was recongized as having the best farm in Knox County, Illinois. The History of Knox County, where the circumstances were revealed.
Noble Phelps was born in Westfield, Mass., September 8, 1819. "He came, with his mother and two sisters, to Galesburg [Illinois] in 1836. The amount of his worldly possessions at that time was enough to buy a box stove and a cow, valued at $30. The eldest daughter [of Col. Phelps, or Aaron's sister, Seraphina Princess Mary Phelps became Mrs. George Avery, of Galesburg, and the youngest [Sybelana Phelps] the wife of B. Killbourn, of Wisconsin. The mother died at Galesburg, November 29, 1855.(2)
The father, Aaron Noble Phelps, had died previous to the family's moving west, at Westfield, Mass., in March 1830. He and his wife (Miss Clarissa Root Phelps) were married in 1814. Their only son, Ronald A. N. Phelps and Mrs. Sarah J. Adams were married March 29, 1847, and moved to their present home in 1856, which has since taken the premiums already mentioned."(2)
Illinois State Agricultural Society Award to Mrs. A. N. Phelps
"Section 8 [of Sparta Township, Illinois] also includes the premium farm owned by A. N. Phelps, Esq., and contains 200 acres without a foot of waste land. As anhiefs/austria.asp fourth great-grandfather, and of his journey from New York to Illinois. I also got an earful from my mother, who had early in her marriage thought the silver service would be hers.
Hidden From the Japanese—The Premium for Best Farm
During World War II, many Californians feared they would be invaded by the Japanese. This fear was so strong within our family that they buried the silver service at their cabin in the mountains outside Los Angeles. The service remained hidden there for a number of years until after the war, around 1953. My parents were visiting my father's Aunt Helen in at 822 S. El Molina Ave. in Pasadena. A single piece of the silver service was in the house. My mother admired the piece, and Aunt Helen told of the remaining pieces buried in the Los Angeles forest. She told my mother, Annabeth, that they ought to be hers now.
My mother passed on this story to her mother-in-law, Betty Phelps. The next year, as my parents prepared to visit Aunt Helen again, Betty asked Annabeth to please do her a favor and pick up a box that Aunt Helen wanted Betty to have. The box contained the silver service. Thus it remained in my grandparent's home for the next 40 years, until they and my mother had passed away, and my father gave it to me.
"Hezekiah Buffum settled on Section 23, in 1834. Asay DeLong, Lyman Field, and Wm. Heath, on Sec. 31, in 1836. Asay DeLong built the first house between Henderson and Knoxville timber. First Supervisor was Thomas H. Taylor; first Constable, M. P. DeLong; first Justices of the Peace, Ransom Babcock and Mariam Booker. Coal is in abundance on Sections 16, 17, 22 and 23. Over three quarters of the Township is best of fine rolling prairie, with best of improvements, and the best of citizens. J. M. Holyoke, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, M. P. DeLong, President of Agricultural Society, Wm. Robson and W. S. Patterson, extensive stock dealers, are from Sparta. Phelps' celebrated farm, which took the first premium at State Fair, is on Section 8, and is certainly as fine a farm as we ever saw. ....."(4) (Atlas Map of Knox County, Illinois, Andreas, Lyter & Co., Davenport, Iowa, 1870, 91 pages. Emphasis added.)
"Mr. Phelps was born in Westfield, Mass., September 8, 1819. He came, with his mother and two sisters, to Galesburg [Illinois] in 1836. The amount of his worldly possessions at that time was enough to buy a box stove and a cow, valued at $30. The eldest daughter [Seraphina Princess Phelps] became Mrs. G. Avery, of Galesburg, and the youngest [Sybelana Phelps] the wife of B. Killbourn, of Wisconsin. The mother died at Galesburg, November 29, 1855. The father, Aaron Noble Phelps, had died previous to the family's moving west, at Westfield, Mass., in March 1830. He and his wife (Miss Clarissa Root) were married in 1814. Their only son, A. N. Phelps and Mrs. Sarah J. Adams were married March 29, 1847, and moved to their present home in 1856, which has since taken the premiums already mentioned." (History of Knox County, p. 489)
About the Coffee and Tea Service
The service has been appraised as a "Monumental Victorian Egyptian Revival Coffee and Tea Service Set." The fact that the pieces were given as prizes and are silverplated suggests to me that the pieces may have been manufactured in quantity. The engraving says 1871. The two stamps are:
- "Quadruple Plate Wilcox Silver Plate Co. 1881 W" encircling crossed hammers
- "New Haven Conn. Rogers Smith & Co. 1881"
"1881" refers to the style number of the pattern. My research has found that the service was manufactured after 1862 and before 1868, since the Rogers, Smith factory was moved from Hartford to New Haven in 1862 and six years later to Meriden.
The coffee service has seven pieces, as illustrated above. Each is silver-plated; the base metal appears to be nickel and lead, as it is visible on a couple of pieces where the silver plate has worn away. Each piece is engraved with a vine or ivy motif. The tops of the handles and legs are decorated with what appears to be an Indian-head. The pieces are, from left to right in the picture above:
- The coffee server, 15" tall, 11 1/2" across, with a spigot and kerosene warmer
- A teapot, 8" tall and 5" across, with a spout and handle.
- A sugar bowl, 4 1/2" by 7".
- A creamer, 4 1/2" by 7", with a hinged lid.
- A covered sugar bowl, 6" tall and 5" across, with a lid and handles.
- A sugar bowl, 6" tall and 5" across.
- A covered sweat meats bowl, 7" high and 9" across, with a lid and handles.
- A large bowl 8" high and 10" across. This bowl is different from the others in that there is no vine design on the bowl, and the lid is engraved with clusters of leaves. The side of the bowl has what appears to be a holder for the lid.
Excerpted from History of Knox County, by Charles C. Chapman. 1870. Knox County Historial Society. p. 489.
(4) Atlas Map of Knox County, Illinois, Andreas, Lyter & Co., Davenport, Iowa, 1870, 91 pages. (Emphasis added.)