Male

May 1788

December 21, 1858

Chatham, CT

Woodbury, CT

Elsie Marshall Phelps (1809)
Amanda Parker Phelps (unknown)

Charles Bartlett Phelps was born at Chatham, now Portland, Conn., on May 31st, 1788. He was the eldest son of Dr. Elisha Phelps, a physician. He entered the Litchfield Law School, when he was only eighteen years of age. So assiduously did he apply himself to his studies, in order to keep pace with his fellow-students, most of whom had the advantage of age and a superior education, that his health failed. At last, being threatened with pulmonary disease, he left Litchfield for Woodbury, where he entered his name as a student with Hon. Noah B. Benedict. Here he became an inmate of the house which he occupied until his death—since known as the " Judge Phelps Place," but more recently as the " Parker Academy."

In 1809 he married Elsie, youngest daughter of the Rev. John Hutgers Marshall, ...first Rector of St. Paul's Church, Woodbury. They had six children. He later married Amanda, daughter of Dr. Joseph Parker, of South Farms, now Morris and had two additional children.

After the usual course of study, he was called to the Bar, and was a trusted and honored counsellor and advocate, to the day of his death. He was Judge of Probate for the District comprising Woodbury, Bethlehem, Southbury, and Roxbury, from 1823 to 1834; and was re-appointed in '35, '36, '37, '42, '43, and '46; and again from 1849 to 1858, when his age rendered him ineligible. During the twenty-five years that he held this most responsible office, he never had a decision reversed by the higher courts.

He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1831, '37, and '52. The latter year he was chosen Speaker. In 1843 he was a member of the Senate and President of that body. He was Postmaster of Woodbury from 1831 to 1841. In 1850 he was appointed Judge of the County Court for the County of Litchfield, and was re-appointed in 1852. He was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of New York.

On the 21st of Dec, 1859, he was present at a meeting of the Committee appointed by the Connecticut Legislature to superintend the erection of a monument to Col. Seth Warner, an officer of the Revolution. The Committee, (of which Judge Phelps was chairman,) met in Roxbury, at the house of Nathan Smith, Esq. Gov. Buckingham and other distinguished citizens were present. He was addressing the Committee and other gentlemen, upon the subject under discussion, when he suddenly paused, as if hesitating for a word, put his hand to his forehead, sank back into his chair, and died.


[more][less]

1806

Lawyer; Political Office

1809 in Litchfield County Court

He studied with Noah B. Benedict after attending the Litchfield Law School.

State Representative (CT) 1831, 1837, 1852
State Senator (CT) 1843

Speaker of the State House of Representatives in 1852.

Judge of Probate (Woodbury, CT) 1823-1844
Postmaster (Woodbury, CT) 1831-1841
Judge of the County Court (Litchfield County, CT) 1840

Litchfield County Bar Association Records, 1806 & 1809, Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany, and Company, 1849), 6.

Loomis, Dwight and J. Gilbert Calhoun. The Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut. Boston: The Boston History Company, 1895.

Kilbourne, Dwight C. The Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut 1709-1909. Litchfield, CT: Published by the Author, 1909.