Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Biographical / Historical
Scope and Contents
Processing Information
Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: William Walter Phelps papers
Creator:
Phelps, William Walter,
1839-1894
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 27329-27485
Physical Description:
4.4 Linear Feet
(2 boxes and 2 expansion folders)
Date (inclusive): 1800-1925
Date (bulk): 1876-1893
Abstract: A collection of material related to the
life and work of William Walter Phelps, American lawyer, politician, and
diplomat.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. William Walter Phelps papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Mrs. Frances Phelps Penry, December, 1963.
Biographical / Historical
William Walter Phelps (1839-1894), was a lawyer, businessman, arboriculturist, and
diplomat. Phelps was born in New York, New York, and graduated from Yale University as
valedictorian in 1860; in the same year he married Ellen Maria Sheffield. He was active in
Republican politics and a good friend of James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House and Senator
from Maine. Phelps represented New Jersey in the Forty-third (1873-1875), Forty-eighth,
Forty-ninth, and Fiftieth Congresses (1883-1889). In 1881-1882, he served as Ambassador to
Austria-Hungary, and from 1889-1893 Phelps served as United States Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary to Germany. In 1888 President Harrison appointed him as one of the
commissioners to represent the United States at the Joint Conference on the Samoan Question,
which met in Berlin in 1889. Phelps died in his home in Teaneck, New Jersey on June 17,
1894.
Scope and Contents
A collection of political, business, diplomatic, social, and family correspondence of
William Walter Phelps, chiefly letters addressed to him. The collection numbers 199 items,
including items related to American politics and the Republican party, Phelps' diplomatic
service, his family, social life and literary interests. Correspondents include, among
others, Herbert Nikolaus von Bismarck, James Gillespie Blaine, Benjamin Harrison, Eugene
Field, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Joseph Pulitzer. Also included is the correspondence of
John Jay Phelps, a poem by Eugene Field dedicated to Phelps, an 1882 letter containing an
eye-witness account of the battle of Battle of Chapultepec, Mexico (1847), ephemera,
photographs, and newspapers clippings. The collection also contains papers related to John
Chester Eno's embezzlement from the Second Bank of New York (of which Phelps was a director)
and Phelps' negotiations with Eno's father, Amos Richard Phelps, to make good the loss
(1884).
Processing Information
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1970. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from legacy in-house summary report.
Arrangement
Chiefly arranged alphabetically by author: General correspondence, A-Ph (box 1); General
correspondence, P-T and miscellaneous (box 2); Berlin Conference on Samoan Affairs
(expansion folder 1); Second Bank of New York (expansion folder 2).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chapultepec, Battle of, Mexico City,
Mexico, 1847
Diplomats -- United States
Embezzlement -- New York (State) -- New York
Politicians -- New Jersey
Samoan question
Berlin (Germany) -- Social life and
customs
Germany -- Foreign relations -- United
States
Samoan Islands -- History
United States -- Foreign relations --
Germany
United States -- Politics and Government
-- 1865-1900
Ephemera -- United States -- 19th century
Family papers -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Personal papers -- United States -- 19th century
Photographs -- United States -- 19th century
Professional papers -- United States -- 19th century
Bismarck, Herbert, Fürst von,
1849-1904
Blaine, James Gillespie,
1830-1893
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne,
1835-1910
Field, Eugene, 1850-1895
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901
Phelps, John J. (John Jay),
1810-1869
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) --
History -- 19th century
Second Bank of New York