James Phelan

Background

He was born on April 23, 1824 in Queen's (now Leix) County, Ireland. In 1827 his father emigrated to America, taking with him James and his two older brothers, John and Michael, and settled in New York.

Education

Such formal education as James received was secured in the public schools of New York city.

Career

After school he became clerk in a grocery store, acquiring much practical experience and developing unusual business capacity at an early age.

With his savings, he started a general merchandising business of his own, and was successful from the beginning. His trading operations extended to Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and even to New Orleans. By the time he was twenty-four years of age he had accumulated about $50, 000, the foundation of his later fortune.

News of the gold discoveries roused his interest in merchandising possibilities in the new communities springing up in California. Accordingly, in 1849, he disposed of his eastern business interests and started for California via Panama. With keen discernment respecting the needs of early California settlers, he shipped, before leaving the East, a large stock of miscellaneous goods on three different ships. One sank at sea, but the other two reached San Francisco about the time when he himself arrived (August 18, 1849).

He and his brother Michael, who had come to San Francisco in the preceding June, formed the partnership of J. & M. Phelan, and carried on a thriving and highly profitable trade until Michael's death in 1858. Thereafter, James continued the business, enlarging the scope of the enterprise and planning all his ventures with rare judgment and foresight.

During the Civil War he was among the first of California merchants to include in his operations exportations of large quantities of California wool and wheat to New York and even to foreign markets - always at a handsome profit. For some years, success in the wholesale liquor business added to his rapidly accumulating fortune.

At the same time he loaned large sums on first and second real-estate mortgages. On land owned by him, he erected (1881 - 82) the Phelan Building, a number of blocks in San José. By 1869, his fortune had become so great that he retired from commercial pursuits, spent a year in European travel with his family, and, upon his return, entered the field of banking, which was to be his chief interest during the rest of his life.

In November 1870 he made a trip to Washington and obtained the charter for the first national bank in California, the First National Gold Bank, which is now (1934) operating as the Crocker First National Bank. In 1889, with James G. Fair and others, he helped organize the Mutual Savings Bank in San Francisco, and was its first vice-president. He was also vice-president of the American Contracting & Dredging Company for dredging the French Panama Canal, a project which brought him large returns. He was identified with the organization of the Firemen's Fund Insurance Company, and later with the Western Fire & Marine Insurance Company.

By 1890 his financial interests had become so extensive that he formed a partnership with his brother John, who had been his New York agent in earlier years; and later, with his only son, James Duval Phelan.

He died at his unpretentious San Francisco home. His will, disposing of an estate valued at nearly $7, 500, 000, contained generous bequests for churches, schools, orphanages, and asylums both in California and in his native country.

Achievements

• James Phelan has been listed as a notable businessman by Marquis Who's Who.

Connections

On May 12, 1859, he married Alice Kelly, daughter of Jeremiah Kelly of Brooklyn, New York. They had a son and two daughters.

Spouse:

Alice Kelly

father-in-law:

Jeremiah Kelly

Son:

James Duval Phelan

Brother:

Michael Phelan

Brother:

John Phelan