Isaac Newton Phelps (1802–1888) was a New York dry goods merchant who, after retiring in 1853, took up a second career in banking, brokerage and property.

They had lost their property by acting as guarantors for friends and this hardship ended young Phelps's schooling at the age of thirteen.

In 1828, he married Sarah Maria Lusk (1808-1867), and moved to New York where he started dry goods sales in partnerships, first with William.

An example of their projects was the development of the old Park Theatre site in 1850 with William Backhouse Astor Sr. At the same time Phelps was also on the board of several banks and insurance companies.

The bank's president, John Chester Eno, had speculated and lost millions of dollars on Wall Street during the panic of that year and was forced to resign, then fled to Canada.

[2][3] Amos Eno had formally been a partner of John Jay Phelps during the early part of the century, when they ran a highly successful mercantile business.