Edward John Phelps

Edward John Phelps (July 11, 1822 – March 9, 1900) was a lawyer and diplomat from Vermont. He is notable for his service as Envoy to Court of St. James's from 1885 to 1889. In addition, Phelps was a founder of the American Bar Association, and served as its president from 1880 to 1881.

A prominent Democrat even as Vermont was trending towards the Republicans, Phelps was the son of Senator Samuel S. Phelps and his first wife, Francis (Shurtleff) Phelps. Edward Phelps graduated from Middlebury College in 1840, taught school in Virginia, and studied for a career as an attorney, first in the office of Middlebury attorney Horatio Seymour, then at Yale Law School. He practiced in Burlington, and served as Second Comptroller of the Treasury from 1851 to 1853. Phelps supported the Union during the American Civil War, but was a critic of what he regarded as the excesses of the Abraham Lincoln administration. He served as a delegate to the Vermont constitutional convention of 1870, and was one of the founders of the American Bar Association. Phelps served as ABA president from 1880 to 1881. In 1880, he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont.

Phelps was Envoy to Court of St. James's in Britain from 1885 to 1889. He later taught law at Yale Law School, the University of Vermont, and Boston University. He supported Republicans after 1896, in response to his disagreement with the Democratic Party's turn towards the Free Silver movement. He died in New Haven, Connecticut, and was buried at Greenmount Cemetery in Burlington.

Phelps was born in Middlebury, Vermont on July 11, 1822, the son of Samuel S. Phelps and Francis (Shurtleff) Phelps. He was educated in the schools of Middlebury and then began attendance at Middlebury College, from which he graduated in 1840. He worked as a school teacher and principal in Virginia, then began studying law in the Middlebury office of Horatio Seymour. Phelps completed his legal studies with a year at Yale Law School, attained admission to the bar in 1843, and began a practice in Middlebury. Phelps moved to Burlington in 1845, where he continued to practice law.

Phelps practiced in Burlington with different partners at various times, the most prominent being Lucius E. Chittenden and David Allen Smalley. The Phelps and Smalley firm counted George F. Edmunds among the prospective attorneys who studied law under their tutelage.

Originally a Whig, after that party's demise he became a Democrat. In 1851, Phelps was the successful Whig nominee for state's attorney of Chittenden County, defeating Democrat Leverett B. Englesby in the general election. He received a federal appointment before assuming office, and Aaron B. Maynard filled the vacancy. From 1851 to 1853, Phelps served as Second Comptroller of the Treasury. He then practiced law in New York City as a partner in Wakeman, Latting & Phelps, the senior partner of which was Abram Wakeman. He returned to Burlington in 1857 and resumed practicing law. Phelps served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1870.

Phelps was one of the founders of the American Bar Association and was its president from 1880 to 1881. He also served as a trustee of the Vermont State Library, a position he held for more than 20 years. From 1881 until his death he was Kent Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Phelps lectured on medical jurisprudence at the University of Vermont from 1881 to 1883, and on constitutional law at Boston University from 1882 to 1883.

In politics, Phelps was always conservative. He opposed the anti-slavery movement before 1860, the free-silver movement in 1896, when he supported the Republican presidential ticket, and after 1898 becoming an "anti-expansionist" with respect to American foreign policy.