John S. Phelps

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John S. Phelps was born in Simsbury, Connecticut on December 22, 1814. He grew up and went to school in Connecticut. His father was a lawyer. He studied law under his father. He was admitted to the bar to practice law. He was a lawyer in Hartford, Connecticut.

He married Mary Whitney. They had children. He and Mary decided to move west. John thought there would be more opportunities for a young lawyer in the west. The Phelps moved to Missouri in 1837. They decided to settle in the new town of Springfield. He was one of the first lawyers in Springfield. He was soon recognized as the leading member of the bar in southwest Missouri.

His public life began at an early age. In 1840 he was chosen to represent Greene County in the General Assembly of Missouri. In 1844 he was elected to Congress, to the House of Representatives, and served for eighteen consecutive years. He was a member of, and also served as the chair of, the ways and means committee, one of the most important committees in Congress.

He was an advocate of the federal government granting public land to the states to grant right of way land to railroad companies to help them build railroads. He worked to get these land grants in Missouri. He particularly worked to get a grant of land for a railroad to be built from St. Louis to the southwest corner of the state. He was an advocate of a trans-continental railway route from St. Louis through Springfield and the southwest of the state to go west to the Pacific.

During the Civil War, Phelps raised a regiment, known as the "Phelps Regiment, Missouri Infantry." He had the rank of colonel. He led the regiment into action at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, March 7-8, 1862. Mary Whitney Phelps, his wife, helped care for the wounded of her husband's regiment after the Battle of Pea Ridge. Colonel Phelps was appointed military governor of Arkansas, in 1862. After the Civil War, Mary Phelps established an orphanage in Springfield for the children of Union soldiers.

John Phelps retired from Congress during his service as military governor of Arkansas. In 1864 he retired from public service. He resumed his law practice in Springfield. He became the first president of the Greene County National Bank in Springfield.

In 1870 he gave a speech welcoming the railroad from St. Louis to Springfield, what he hoped would soon be a successful trans-continental railroad connecting Springfield to San Francisco.

The Missouri state Democrats were interested in his running for governor of the state. In 1876 he was elected governor of Missouri. He was elected to office by a larger majority than any governor of the state had ever received. He was a popular governor, and if the state constitution had not limited governors to one term, he probably would have been reelected.

He retired again from public service. He died in 1886.

He has been remembered in Springfield. Phelps Park is named for him.