William Walter Phelps - Early Life

Early Life

Young Phelps' first school experience was at Mount Washington Institute in New York. He was described by contemporaries as a round-faced, rosy-cheeked boy, with sparkling dark eyes; active though not physically strong. Phelps then attended private school at Golden Hill near Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his academic advancement was so rapid that he was fully prepared for college at the age of 15.

He graduated from Yale University in 1860, valedictorian of his class and a member of Skull and Bones. In the same year he married Ellen Maria Sheffield of New Haven, Connecticut. They traveled in Europe, where, in Paris, in 1861, their first child, John Jay II, was born. Phelps attended Columbia Law School, graduating in 1863. Following this, he practiced corporate law in New York City. In 1864, their second child, Sheffield, was born.

Phelps followed the family career in banking and industry, serving as a director for the National City Bank, the Second National Bank of New York, the United States Trust Co., the Farmer's Loan & Trust Co. and nine railroads.

After the birth of his two sons, he bought a summer home in Bergen County an old-fashioned Dutch farmhouse on the "Teaneck Ridge," an area of Teaneck now adjacent to Route 4 that had been the Garret-Brinkerhoff House in Revolutionary War days. Phelps extensively renovated the old homestead, converting it into one of the most beautiful and celebrated mansions of its time. In 1868, the last child, Marian, was born; she would go on to give birth to his grandson Phelps Phelps. In 1869, following the death of his father, John Jay, Phelps retired from his law practice and moved the family full-time to Teaneck.