James Phelan, Sr.
James Phelan | |
---|---|
File:James Phelan, Sr..jpg | |
Confederate States Senator from Mississippi |
|
In office February 18, 1862 – February 17, 1864 |
|
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | John Watson |
Personal details | |
Born | Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
October 11, 1821
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
James Phelan, Sr., (October 11, 1821 – May 17, 1873) was a senator in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War from the state of Mississippi.
Contents
Biography
He was born in Huntsville, Alabama to John Phelan and Priscilla Oakes (Ford) Morris, a niece of Sir Richard Oakes of Scotland. They married in 8 June 1807. His father John Phelan was a native of Marysbourough, Queen's County, Ireland. John Phelan was the grand-nephew of James Phelan, Bishop of Ossory (d. 1695). John Phelan married Mary Sluigan, of Cloncons Castle, King's County, and came to the United States in 1793, at the age of twenty-four. He settled first in New York city, and afterwards moved to New Jersey, where he was cashier of the Bank of New Brunswick, moving to Huntsville, Alabama in 1818.[1]
James Phelan was apprenticed as a printer to the Democrat at fourteen years of age, subsequently edited the Flag of the Union, a Democratic organ, and became state printer in 1843. He was admitted to the bar in 1846, moved to Mississippi in 1849, and settled in Aberdeen, where he soon established a large practice.
He became a member of the Mississippi State Senate in 1860, then was elected as a Senator from Mississippi in the First Confederate Congress 1862–64. In 1863, he introduced what was called the “Crucial bill of the Confederacy,” which was a proposition to confiscate all the cotton in the South, paying for it in Confederate bonds, and using it as a basis for a foreign loan. The bill passed the house, but was defeated in the senate, and created so much indignation among the planters that Phelan was burned in effigy, and defeated in the next election. After 1864, Phelan served as judge advocate till the end of the war, when he settled in Memphis, Tennessee, and practised law in that city until his death.
He was interred in Aberdeen, Mississippi, following his death at the age of 51.
Family
His brother, John Dennis Phelan, was a noted lawyer, jurist and politician. His son, James Phelan, Jr., became a congressman.
Notes
- ↑ Robert Early Phelan entry at Encyclopedia of American biography: New series, Volume 22, American Historical Society, 1959
References
- This article incorporates facts obtained from: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Confederate States Senate | ||
---|---|---|
New constituency | Confederate States Senator (Class 1) from Mississippi 1862–1864 Served alongside: Albert Brown |
Succeeded by John Watson |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Pages with broken file links
- Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from Appleton's Cyclopedia
- 1821 births
- 1873 deaths
- American editors
- American jurists
- American printers
- Confederate States Senators
- Mississippi State Senators
- People from Huntsville, Alabama
- People of Mississippi in the American Civil War
- Mississippi politician stubs