Phelps, Edward John, 1822–1900, American lawyer and diplomat, b. Middlebury, Vt. He attended (1841–42) Yale law school, was admitted (1843) to the bar, and practiced law in Vermont and later in New York City. He was second comptroller of the U.S. Treasury (1851–53), U.S. minister to Great Britain (1885–89), and senior counsel (1893) for the United States in the arbitration of the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Controversy with Great Britain. He was a founder and president (1880) of the American Bar Association and taught law at Yale after 1881. His Orations and Essays appeared in 1901.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies
