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Noah Phelps

Noah Phelps

Male 1740 - 1809  (69 years)

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  • Name Noah Phelps 
    Born 22 Jan 1739/40  Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Reference Number 10 
    Died 4 Nov 1809  Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I10  FelsingFam
    Last Modified 16 Feb 2024 

    Father David Phelps,   b. 7 May 1710, Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Dec 1760, Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 50 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Abigail Pettibone,   b. 22 Apr 1706, Canton, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 Oct 1787, Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 81 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Married 25 Apr 1731  Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F930  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 22 Jan 1739/40 - Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 4 Nov 1809 - Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    noah phelps birth
    noah phelps birth

  • Notes 
    • <http://family.phelpsinc.com/phelpsfam/d0012/f0000027.html> <http://family.phelpsinc.com/phelpsfam/d0012/f0000027.html>Maj. Gen. Noah Phelps <http://family.phelpsinc.com/phelpsfam/d0012/f0000027.html>(1) (born January 22, 1740, descended from the immigrant William Phelps) settled in Simsbury, Connecticut., where he was an active and influential man. He was a Yale graduate, a justice of the Peace, judge of Probate for twenty years, and was a Delegate to the Convention of 1787 to ratify the Federal Constitution. Early in the breaking out of the Revolutionary War he was chosen as a member of "Committee of War for the expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point."
      The committee considered the advisability of taking Fort Ticonderoga, then occupied by the British, and in which there was stored a large amount of heavy artillery and other war implements. Capt. Phelps, Barnard Romance, Ephraim Buell, and Capt. Edward Mott, with others, composed this committee, Capt. Mott acting as chairman. £300 was raised from the Public Treasury though guaranteed by several patriotic gentlemen. This fund was placed in the hands of Capt. Phelps and Barnard Romance, with the request that they should go north and press forward this project. This resulted in the great and bloodless victory - the taking of Fort Ticonderoga.
      It may be interesting to his descendants to know the part Capt. Phelps acted as a spy. At the southern part of Lake Champlain, Capt. Phelps was sent out to reconnoiter. He stopped over night at a farm house some little distance from Fort Ticonderoga. Some British soldiers occupied rooms adjoining Capt. Phelps, where they were having a dinner party. Capt. Phelps heard them discuss the condition of the fort, and the position taken by the rebels, as they styled the people. Early the next morning Capt. Phelps visited the fort disguised as a peddler.
      "Pretending that his object was to get shaved, he avoided suspicion, and had an opportunity to ascertain the construction, strength, and force of the garrison. And he had the good fortune to elude detection, though as it afterwards appeared, his presence had began [sic] to excite mistrust before he left the garrison."
      While returning through the fort, the commander accompanied him talking with him about the rebels, their object and movements. Capt. Phelps seeing a portion of the wall in a dilapidated condition, remarked that it would afford a feeble defence against the rebels, if they should attack in that quarter. The commander replied, " Yes, but that is not our greatest misfortune. All our powder is damaged, and before we can use it, we are obliged to dry and sift it."
      The Phelps Homestead Erected by Captain Elisha Phelps in 1776, who with his brother, General Noah Phelps, and others, was actively engaged in the capture of Ft. Ticonderoga. After the death of Captain Phelps, this old homestead was purchased by his nephew, Colonel Noah Amherst Phelps. (1) It was operated by three sucessive generations of Phelps tavernkeepers as a tavern and inn from 1786 to 1849. The Simsbury Historical Society <../geo/simsbury.htm> now owns and operates the Phelps Tavern Museum and Homestead located on two-plus acres in the center of Simsbury, Connecticut.
      Capt. Phelps soon after left the fort, employing a boatman to take him down the lake in a small boat. He entered the boat in full view and under the guns of the fort. He requested the boatman to exert himself and terminate the journey as soon as possible, The boatman then requested him to take an oar and assist, This the Capt. declined to do, being in full sight of the fort, by saying he was no boatman. After rounding a point that intercepted a view from the fort, the Capt. proposed taking an oar, which he did, and being a strong active man as well as a good oarsman, he excited the suspicion of the oarsman by his efficient work, who remarked with an oath, 'You have seen an oar before now, sir.' This excited the suspicion of the boatman at the time that he was not a good and loyal citizen, but fear of superior strength prevented an attempt to carry him back to the fort. This he confessed to Capt. Phelps after the surrender of the fort. Capt. Phelps returned safely to his command, reported the information he had gained [to General Ethan Allen], resulting in the great and glorious victory before referred to." (2)
      About this time Mr. Phelps raised a company mostly at his own expense, and was appointed Captain. He served under Col. Ward, was at Fort Lee, joined Washington's army, and was at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Later he acted as commissary, and after the war was chosen Maj. Gen. of Militia.
      Noah Phelps was clearly a leader within the Simsbury community. He chaired the town meeting that passed the articles of confederation in January 1778, and in November of 1787, the meeting picked him and Daniel Humphrey Esq., as delegates for the Convention of the State of Connecticut, set to convene in Hartford in January and vote on whether or not to adopt the federal constitution. They were directed to oppose it, but "one of the delegates though voting as instructed by the town, took occasion to state that his personal convictions led him to favor the proposed constitution."(3) This might or might not have been Phelps. He held a variety of important positions, including Surveyor of lands in 1772 and 1783, Justice of the Peace for Hartford County in 1782, Judge of Probate in 1787, and Major-General of the Militia, 1796-1799.
      He died in Simsbury 4 Nov., 1809, honored and respected. On his tombstone is inscribed: "A Patriot of 1776. To such we are indebted for our Independence."

  • Sources 
    1. [S2] Simsbury, Connecticut, Vital Records, 1665-1886, (Name: newenglandancestors.org;).
      noah phelps birth
      noah phelps birth