William Joshua Phelps (March 2, 1808 – February 20, 1883) was an American politician from Connecticut.

On one of these trips, he found an appealing area of Illinois and decided to move west and settle with his new wife.

The land was rich in coal, which Phelps was able to ship out through the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad (later the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy).

Phelps was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as a Whig in 1840, serving one two-year term.

Phelps built a mansion near the mines and train station, which he named Elmwood after the surrounding grove of elm trees.