James Phelan Jr. (December 7, 1856 – January 30, 1891) was a nineteenth-century lawyer and politician from Tennessee.

In 1874 he went abroad, and in 1878 received his Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig, having written his dissertation on the life and works of Philip Massinger.

He was admitted to the Tennessee bar that same year, and began the practice of law in Memphis.

[3] Elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives, Phelan served in that body from March 4, 1887, until his death in 1891.

[4] During his term in the House, he published his book, History of Tennessee, the Making of a State.