Excerpt from Archives of the General Convention, Vol. 3

Phelps, was born in Hebron, Connecticut, in 1755. His mater nal grandfather, Dr. Eleazar Wheelock, was the well-known founder of the Indian School at Lebanon, Connecticut, which was removed to the grant of land made to it in the town of Hanover, New Hampshire, Where, under the name of Dartmouth College, it acquired under its first president an enviable reputation. His father removed to Hanover in 1770, and the son was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1775. He joined the army then forming for the reduction of Canada under General Montgomery and Colonel Burr. In the attack upon Quebec, on December 5, 1775, he was captured after he had displayed great gallantry. He brightened the tedium of a long imprisonment by a care ful study of the French language and literature. After his exchange he served with bravery to the close of the Revolution. He then engaged in business in Hartford With his maternal uncles for some years. He studied law, returned to New Hampshire, where he secured a large practice, and was chosen a magistrate. In 1785 he was married to Cath erine, daughter of Dr. Gideon Tiffany of Hanover, New Hampshire.

Having secured from Governor Simcoe of Upper Canada a large grant of land in connection with his near relative, James Wheelock, he removed to it to open it for settlement in 1792. He made his home at Niagara, near the famous falls. He did the full work of a pioneer in a new country, as farmer, merchant, and lawyer. He even became a printer. His intimacy with Captain Joseph Brant gave him an in tense desire to become a missionary among the Mohawks on the Grand River at Brantford. Captain Brant had long perceived the valuable qualities which Mr. Phelps had for the difficult work, and in 1797 made application to Sir John Johnson, the Bishop of London, and Dr. Jacob Mountain, Bishop of Quebec, for their approval and the ordination of Mr. Phelps. This was done without his knowledge.

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