Carthage Historic Preservation, Inc.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 375 | Carthage, MO 64836
Phelps House: 1146 Grand Avenue, Carthage, MO
417.358.1776
PHELPS HOUSE
circa 1895
1146 Grand Avenue
Holmes Photography
Colonel William H. Phelps (1845–1916) was born and raised in Hinsdale, New York. He studied law under Hon. M. B. Chaplain and completed his legal education at Albany Law School, graduating in 1867. That same year, he ventured westward, arriving in Carthage in search of greater opportunities to practice law. Arriving with little means, Colonel Phelps would go on to become one of the wealthiest and most respected figures in southwest Missouri, prominent in state politics and deeply involved in Carthage’s industrial growth.
As the principal attorney for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad, he played a crucial role in securing the White River branch of the railroad for Carthage. He served three terms in the Missouri General Assembly as a State Representative. His influence was instrumental in the decision to use Carthage stone for the construction of the State Capitol Building in Jefferson City, Missouri. A well-known Democratic political figure, Colonel Phelps wielded considerable power in Missouri’s government, and the Phelps House regularly hosted important political figures of the time.
n 1875, Phelps clashed with James E. Hardin, a disgraced attorney notorious for swindling widows. After defending a widow from Hardin’s schemes, Phelps became the target of Hardin’s fury. On December 13, 1875, Hardin stormed into the Carthage courthouse and shot Phelps twice, wounding him severely before bystanders intervened. Phelps recovered, but two months later Hardin was killed by an unknown assailant. Though Phelps and his brother were charged, they were acquitted.
Beyond politics and industry, Colonel Phelps was known for his generosity. He privately assisted many individuals, helping struggling farmers and widows, funding the education of young men, investing in early Carthage businesses, and supporting churches of various denominations.
Upon his passing, the flag at the Jasper County Courthouse was flown at half-mast in honor of his significant contributions to Carthage, Jasper County, and the state of Missouri.
In 1868, Colonel Phelps married Lois Jane Wilson of Northfield, Illinois. In 1894, Mrs. Phelps tragically died at the age of 48 in St. Louis as the result of a runaway carriage accident, having never lived in the Phelps House.
William and Lois had three children: two daughters, Helene and Florence, and a son, William. Helene passed away at the age of 29 from tuberculosis, then commonly known as consumption. Both Florence and William lost their hearing due to childhood illnesses. As a result, Colonel Phelps became actively involved in securing a county tuberculosis hospital and in supporting the deaf community.
While attending Gallaudet College for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., Florence and Will met their spouses. Florence married Waldo H. Rothert, and together they had three sons. They lived for several years in Omaha, Nebraska, where Waldo taught at the Nebraska Institute for the Deaf, later moving to Los Angeles, California, where Florence passed away in 1962.
Will married Laura Alice Bigley and returned to Carthage, where they lived in a country home northeast of town in a similar style to the Phelps House. William was a successful farmer for several years. He and Laura had four children: William, Josephine, Howe, and Helen. Eventually, the family moved to Los Angeles, where William found success in the real estate business.
In 1905, Colonel Phelps married for a second time to Bridgey O’Leary who had emigrated from Ireland at the age of 18. Bridgey worked for several years as a housekeeper for the Phelps family but later attended business college. She then worked as Colonel Phelps's secretary and stenographer.
According to an October 16, 1905, Carthage Press article reporting the marriage, “the wife of one of Missouri’s best-known men and leading Democratic politicians, is a comely young lady of about 35 years. She has been in the Phelps household for many years and for the last five or six years has been the colonel’s stenographer and secretary having a more intimate knowledge of his private affairs than any other person. She is an unusually bright and cultured lady.” When asked about his father’s marriage, son William responded: “If father marries I would rather he marry Miss O’Leary than anyone else. She has been in the family so long she seems like one of us and is pure gold.”
Bridgey and William had two sons, Cyrus and George. Tragically, Cyrus was struck by a car and killed just before his eighth birthday while riding his bicycle in front of their home. George followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a Carthage attorney and serving in the Missouri Legislature. He married Elizabeth O'Keefe, and they had two sons, George and John "Pat."
George had a successful 35-year career with IBM in Dallas, while Pat attended Harvard and, like his father and grandfather, became an attorney. Pat and his wife, Carolyn, resided in Carthage and were actively involved with the Phelps House restoration until their passing.
Colonel Phelps passed away in 1916 at the age of 71. Bridgey continued living in the Phelps House until 1959, when she sold it to the Springfield/Cape Girardeau Diocese. After selling the house, Bridgey moved to the Drake Hotel, where she lived until her passing in 1962 at the age of 91.
The house served as St. Ann's Catholic School and as a residence for the nuns teaching at the school. Several rooms across all three floors, as well as the basement, were repurposed as classrooms and the school library.
Harlow Phelps Rothert, grandson of Colonel Phelps, son of Florence and Waldo Rothert, was a two-time Olympian in shot put. At the 1932 Los Angeles Games, he won a silver medal and later served as a torchbearer at the 1976 Atlanta Games. A three-time inductee into the Stanford Sports Hall of Fame, Rothert was named in 1978 as one of the five greatest athletes in Stanford University history.
From olympics.com/ioc:
Harlow Rothert was the outstanding sportsman of his generation at Stanford University. In 1928, 1929, and 1930 he was on their track, football, and basketball teams and was voted an All-America in basketball in 1930.
In track, Rothert won the NCAA shot put for three years from 1928 and, after placing seventh at the 1928 Olympics, improved to take the silver in 1932.
Rothert graduated from Stanford in 1930 and later earned a law degree from Stanford in 1937. As a trial lawyer, Rothert specialized in civil law and founded a law firm in San Francisco, also teaching at Stanford Law School and Hastings College of Law. He also served with the US Marines during World War II.
As a two-time Olympian, Rothert was invited to run a leg of the torch relay prior to the 1996 Games in Atlanta, but due to acute inflammation in his legs could not walk by himself. He practiced four times a day with a walker and a hardware store also provided this with a special holder for the torch. On 3 May 1996 he proudly mastered the 2 km distance.
