Lancelot Phelps

Lancelot Phelps (November 9, 1784 – September 1, 1866) was an American physician, businessman, and politician who served two terms as a United States Representative from Connecticut from 1835 to 1839. He was the father of James Phelps, who was also a United States Representative from Connecticut, continuing the family’s involvement in public service at the national level.

Phelps was born in Windsor, Connecticut, on November 9, 1784. In 1794, when he was about ten years old, he moved with his family to Colebrook, Connecticut, a rural community in the northwestern part of the state. He attended the common schools there, receiving the basic education typical of the period, and grew up in an environment shaped by small-town New England life at the turn of the nineteenth century.

After completing his early schooling, Phelps studied medicine, preparing for a professional career as a physician. He commenced medical practice in Colebrook, where he served the local population as a country doctor. In addition to his medical work, he became involved in business and economic life in the region. He engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits in Riverton, Connecticut, a village within the town of Barkhamsted, participating in both farming and trade. Following this period of commercial activity, he returned to Colebrook, where he continued to combine his professional, business, and civic interests.

Alongside his medical and business endeavors, Phelps held various local offices, reflecting his growing prominence in community affairs. His public career advanced to the state level when he became a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. He served multiple, nonconsecutive terms in the state legislature in 1817, from 1819 to 1821, and again in 1824, 1827, 1828, and 1830. Through these repeated elections, he participated in shaping state policy during a period of political realignment and economic change in Connecticut.

Phelps entered national politics in the 1830s. He was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and reelected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress, serving from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1839, as a United States Representative from Connecticut. His party affiliations reflected the transition from the Jacksonian movement into the broader Democratic Party during the Second Party System. During his two terms in Congress, he represented his state in the U.S. House of Representatives at a time marked by debates over banking, internal improvements, and the scope of federal power, though specific details of his committee assignments and legislative initiatives are not extensively documented.

After leaving Congress in 1839, Phelps returned to private life in Connecticut. He resumed his medical practice and business interests and remained a respected figure in his community. He spent his later years in Colebrook, where he had long been established both professionally and politically. Lancelot Phelps died in Colebrook, Connecticut, on September 1, 1866. He was interred in Center Cemetery in Winsted, Connecticut, a nearby community in Litchfield County, closing a long life that combined medicine, commerce, and public service at the local, state, and national levels.