24 Facts About Oliver Phelps

Oliver Phelps was early in life a tavern keeper in Granville, Massachusetts.

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Oliver Phelps joined the Continental Army and fought in the Battle of Lexington.

Oliver Phelps left the service in 1777 and, relying on his experience as a merchant, became Massachusetts Superintendent of Purchases of Army Supplies, a Deputy Commissary of the Continental Army.

Oliver Phelps was introduced to Robert Morris, the great financier of Revolutionary times.

Oliver Phelps supplied troops and received commendation from General George Washington for his efforts.

Oliver Phelps was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1778 to 1780 and a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1779 and 1780.

Oliver Phelps was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth United States Congress, holding office from March 4,1803, to March 3,1805, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1804 on the ticket headed by Aaron Burr.

Oliver Phelps was the active agent for the syndicate and negotiated with the Indians to purchase their title to the land.

The Indians considered themselves to be the owners of the land, but Oliver Phelps persuaded the Chiefs that since they had been allies to the defeated British during the Revolutionary War, and since the British had given up the lands in the 1783 peace treaty, the tribes could only expect to retain whatever lands the United States would allow them to keep.

Oliver Phelps suggested that the Indians could take advantage of a grist mill to grind their maize which would relieve the women of the grinding work.

The Indians asked how much land was needed for a grist mill, and Oliver Phelps suggested a section of land 20 miles wide and 12 miles deep, about 288 square miles, along the western bank of the river.

Oliver Phelps spent generously on furnishings for the home, hired servants, and added a wing to the home in 1794, a display of his wealth and an "architectural masterpiece" that still features original Paris-made wallpaper.

Oliver Phelps opened one of the first land sales offices in the US in Suffield and another in Canandaigua.

Oliver Phelps was appointed the first judge of Ontario County, even before he moved to Canandaigua in 1792.

Oliver Phelps built the first framed house in Canandaigua and a grist mill.

Oliver Phelps maintained an interest in its affairs and in further land speculations.

Oliver Phelps was a founder and the largest stock holder in the Hartford National Bank and Trust Co.

Oliver Phelps was the largest financial contributor to the Hamilton-Oneida Academy built in 1793 by Samuel Kirkland on 300-acre acres he donated.

Oliver Phelps was appointed the first judge of Ontario County and served in Congress between 1803 and 1805.

Oliver Phelps continued to invest in land and by 1796 had purchased roughly a million acres of land along the Mississippi River.

Oliver Phelps helped organize the Connecticut Land Company which for $1,200,000 bought all but the extreme western portion of the Connecticut Western Reserve in the Northwest Territory from the state of Connecticut.

Oliver Phelps married Mary Seymour, daughter of Zachariah Seymour and Sarah Seymour.

Oliver Phelps tried to help those who had bought his land contracts but who could not fulfill their contracts, and Phelps died on February 21,1809, in the town he sold and helped develop.

Oliver Phelps was interred in the Pioneer Cemetery in Canandaigua, New York.