CORRESPONDENCE,, 1870-1894

Summary: Letters Received, 1868-1894

In this first subseries of the series CORRESPONDENCE, Letters Received folders are arranged in chronological order, but with certain gaps. In all, there are a total of five folders. The letters that are written to Mr. Phelps cover an extensive period at a time when he held various positions. Some are addressed to Mr. Phelps when he was a lawyer, but the majority of the letters are written during his tenure as U.S. Congressman from New Jersey. The letters that are addressed in the 1890s occur at a time when Mr. Phelps was appointed Judge of the New Jersey Court of Appeals and Error. As one researches the collection one will find that many people wrote to Mr. Phelps during his tenure as Congressman. A considerable amount of the letters are requests to Mr. Phelps for patronage positions considering his prominent position as Congressman. Other letters deal with financial and business matters regarding his estate.

Legal Agents, 1873-1893

A total of three folders, the letters in each of the folders are arranged chronologically. These letters are addressed to Mr. Phelps' Legal Agents, Jacob Wetmore and William Bond. These two men were responsible for the Phelps' estate and other legal expenses. One will find in these letters various topics ranging from the Texas Land Company, subsequently the New York and Texas Land Company, the International and Great Northern Railroad, and lands that fell under Phelps' estate. People who are writing these letters are lawyers and businessmen. Some of the letters do not reveal much information but they are nevertheless pertinent to the collection.

Immediately following the three folders are four letter books kept by Mr. Phelps' legal agents. The years for these letter books range from 1885 to 1889. Three of the letter books belong to Jacob S. Wetmore. The fourth and final letter book belongs to both William Bond and Thomas White. The letter books cover a wide variety of topics. Some topics deal with personal affairs, others deal with legal and everyday business matters, such as property holdings. In essence, the letters are short-hand accounts written like a journal.

Other Individuals, 1871-1893

We have a total of ten folders under this heading. The folders are not arranged chronologically but the letters inside the folders are. There are many prominent people that are included in these folders. One is a Mr. Hugh Herrick, a close associate of Mr. Phelps. Mr. Herrick would go on to write a biography of Mr. Phelps after the latter's death. (The biography is owned here by Special Collections.) There are two folders that hold the letters relating to Mr. Herrick. Mr. Phelps' name is mentioned at times in these letters. The next is John S. Kennedy, Secretary Treasurer of and lawyer for the Texas Land Company in its early days before the consolidation, which was subsequently named the New York and Texas Land Company. There are also letters addressed to Supreme Comi Justice Joseph Bradley, one of them written by the famous New York City merchant William E. Dodge. Two letters are addressed to the future vice-president of the United States Dr. G. A. Hobart. Mr. Hobart served under President William McKinley in the last decade of the nineteenth century.