Introduction

Biography

Sylvanus was the son of Is­ra­el and Mer­cy Phelps, hus­band of So­phia Em­e­lia Lins­ley, and fa­ther of Ar­thur Phelps. Oc­ca­sion­al­ly, his name is shown as Sa­mu­el D. Phelps.

He at­tend­ed the Con­nec­ti­cut Li­ter­ary In­sti­tute; Brown Uni­ver­si­ty, Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land (gra­du­at­ed 1844); and Yale Di­vi­ni­ty School, New Ha­ven, Con­nec­ti­cut.

After or­di­na­tion, he pas­tored at the First Bap­tist Church in New Ha­ven (1854–82), and the Jef­ferson Street Bap­tist Church, Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land (1876)

Later, he be­came ed­it­or of The Chris­tian Sec­re­ta­ry. His son was preach­er, au­thor and pro­fes­sor Wil­liam Ly­ons Phelps.

Works

• Eloquence of Na­ture, and Oth­er Poems (Hart­ford, Con­nec­ti­cut: Gur­don Rob­bins, 1842)
• The Ho­ly Land, with Glimps­es of Eur­ope and Egypt (New York and Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Shel­don and Gould & Lincoln, 1862)
• The Po­et`s Song (New York: Shel­don, 1867)
• Preface to The Po­ems of Eli­za­beth G. Bar­ber Bar­rett (New York and Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Hurd & Hough­ton and E. P. Dut­ton, 1866)