Doctor Henry Phelps

From Americana Magazine, Volume 13

VI. Dr. Henry Phelps, son of Captain Henry and Betsey (Herrick) Phelps, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1766, and passed away February 15, 1852, at the age of eighty-six years. He graduated from Harvard College in 1788, and in 1795 married (first) Mary Forbes Coffin, who died in 1820. This union was blessed with ten children. In 1821 Dr. Phelps married (second) Mrs. Mary Elliott, who died in 1825 at the age of forty-two years. In 1826 Dr. Phelps married (third) Mrs. Mary Foster, who died in 1847.

Dr. Phelps early in life chose the profession of medicine, and after studying with Dr. Plummer, of Salem, was established by him as a physician and apothecary in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1790. He acquired some practice as a doctor, but soon abandoned that branch of the business. Before the establishment of a post office in the town of Gloucester, the people received their letters by a messenger, who was sent twice a week to Beverly to secure them. A post office was established soon after the adoption of the Constitution, and was at first, and for several years, kept in the shop of the postmaster, Henry Phelps, who was postmaster for many years, and principal acting magistrate in the town, being often employed as a scrivener. Dr. Phelps continued to keep this shop until he reached the age of eighty years, when, becoming dependent upon filial support, he resided with a daughter.

Sources

1. Oliver Seymour Phelps. The Phelps family of America and their English ancestors, with copies of wills, deeds, letters, and other interesting papers, coats of arms and valuable records (Volume 2). (page 53 of 80)
2. Gatherings toward a genealogy of the Coffin family. Published 1896 by D. Clapp in Boston . Written in English. Page 29
3. History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: Geneologies (Google eBook) Charles Hudson, Lexington Historical Society (Mass.), Lexington, Massachusetts Historical Society. Houghton Mifflin, 1913 - Lexington (Mass. : Town). Page 526

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