Charles Phelps Sr.

Charles Phelps Sr. gravestone, Phelps Cemetery, New Marlboro, Vermont

Charles Phelps Sr. was born on August 16, 1717, likely in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was the son of Nathaniel Phelps (1678-1747), a bricklayer and Lieutenant. Following his father's footsteps, Charles became a successful bricklayer and also worked as a lawyer in Hadley.

In 1760, he was "read out" of the Hadley Congregational Church because he would not attend communion. Shortly afterward, in 1764, he became an early resident of New Marlborough, Vermont. There, Charles Phelps emerged as a prominent member of the New York party against the "Green Mountain Boys."

On April 24, 1740, he married Dorothy Root, who was 25 at the time. Sadly, she died on September 11, 1777. Soon after, in November 1778, Charles remarried. His second wife was Esther Kneeland of Boston, the widow of Timothy Kneeland. Charles Phelps died in April 1789.