Obituary of John Smith Phelps, Pulaski Co, AR

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Submitted by: Paul V. Isbell < >
 Date: 1 May 2011
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Obituary: Ex - Gov. John Smith Phelps, of Missouri, died at the Sister’s
Hospital in St. Louis last night. He had been an invalid for several months. He
served eight terms in Congress, and resigned to enter the Union Army during the
rebellion. He was elected Governor of Missouri in 1876 and served for four
years. He born Dec. 22, 1814, and was 72 years of age, a graduate of Trinity
College, and a native of Simsbury, Ct. He also served as military Governor of
Arkansas, to which position he was appointed by Pres. Lincoln in 1862. While in
Congress he was one of the foremost in advocacy of cheap postage schemes, and of
the Pacific railroad enterprise. New York Times, Nov. 21, 1886. Civil War Union
Brigadier General, US Congressman, Missouri Governor. Born in Simsbury,
Connecticut, he received a local education and attended Trinity College in
Hartford. He studied law under his father, Elisha, a respected politician and
lawyer in the state. He was admitted to the bar in 1835. Two years later he
migrated to the frontier town of Springfield, Missouri, establishing a
prosperous legal practice. Elected as a Democrat to the state legislature in
1840, and to the US House of Representatives in 1844, he developed a reputation
as a skillful debater. During his 18 consecutive years in the national Congress,
he championed Federal funding for the building of railroads, the establishment
of an overland mail line, and reduced postal rates. He was among the earliest
proponents of admitting California and Oregon to the Union as free states. After
the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861, he returned to Missouri from Washington
D. C., and organized Phelp's Regiment, a 6 - month unit he led in heavy fighting
on the second day of battle at Pea Ridge, on March 8, 1862. His brief military
career ended in July when President Lincoln appointed him military Governor of
Missouri. On November 29 Lincoln also appointed him Brigadier General, but his
commission expired in March 1863 when Congress failed to confirm the
appointment. Ill health forced him to resign the governorship, and by 1864 he
was once again practicing law. Better known as an efficient, personable
politician than a soldier, he reentered public life as the Democratic candidate
for governor in 1868. He was defeated because so many former Confederates within
the party had been disenfranchised by Reconstruction legislation pushed through
Congress by Radical Republicans. Over the next several years he labored
successfully to ease war - related antipathies within the state Democratic
party. He then led the party to victory in the gubernatorial election of 1876.
After completing his 4 - year term of office, he pursued his legal career until
his death in St. Louis. His son was Union brevet Brigadier General John Elisha
Phelps. Phelps County, Missouri, is named in his honor. 

Extracted from: 
New York Times via Ancestry.com