Phelps, Oliver
lawyer, jurist, was born in 1749 in Windsor, Conn. He opened the first land office in America at Canandaigua, and his system became the model for all subsequent surveys. In 1795 he was one of the purchasers of the western reserve, in Ohio, comprising three million three hundred thousand acres; and afterwards removed to Canandaigua. He represented that district in congress from 1803 to 1805, and was a judge of the circuit court. He died Feb. 21, 1809, in Canandaigua, N. Y.