Prior to being elected to the United States House of Representatives he had a successful banking career in Manhattan, settling in Teaneck, New Jersey, across the Hudson River.

Phelps then attended private school at Golden Hill near Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his academic advancement was so rapid that he was fully prepared for college at the age of 15.

Phelps was considered by his colleagues to be a serious, well-versed and mature public servant - a successful young lawyer, ambitious, with money and energy who was expected to make his mark on politics and statesmanship.

After his term ended, Phelps returned in 1875 to his Teaneck home, where he planned improvements to the homestead and looked for additional land investments nearby.

While abroad, Phelps investigated institutions of learning and art in England, France and Germany, and enjoyed the society of scholars, authors and scientists.

Phelps' favorite room was a gallery which he had designed himself to hold his priceless collection of art treasures from the ends of the earth.

It was nearly midnight on April 1, 1888 when Phelps, returning to his apartments in Washington, D.C. after an evening with friends, found on the table in his bedroom two telegrams which told him that his mansion in Teaneck, where his family then was, had been totally destroyed by fire, with a loss of nearly all its valuable contents.

He disturbed no one upon receiving this startling news, but very early in the morning awakened his secretary, told him what had happened, and said that he was going to take an immediate train for New York.

On October 11, 1889, William Phelps was presented to the German Empress at a gala performance at the Royal Opera House, given in honor of the Czar of Russia.

See, there is one of my farm wagons on the pier, ready to take off my luggage and those lusty-looking fellows have come down fresh from Teaneck to give me an early welcome.

He traveled south, vacationing in Spain, Morocco, Tunis, Algiers and Italy, hoping the climate would improve his health.

Turning over the affairs of the legation to his successor, Phelps again returned to the United States to be sworn into his judicial role on June 20, 1893.