Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-05-20
CAPT. PHELPS WILL
REST At COLUMBUS,
HIS FORMER HOME

Funeral services for Captain Will
liam H. II. Phelps, widely-known
Confederate veteran and a former
leader in religious movements and
civic reforms, who died Sunday aft
ernoon at the Confederate Soldiers
Home, were held Monday after
noon at 4 o'clock from the chapel of
H. M. Patterson & Son, funeral d.
rectors
At 7:40 o'clock Tuesday morning
the body will be sent to Columbus.
Ca, the place of his birth and the
scene of many of his herioc activi-
ties during the War Between the
States, to be buried with honors by
the Masonic order, of which he was
a lifelong member.
The Rev. Marvin Williams, pastor
of the Wesley Memorial church, OF
which Captain Phelps was a mem
Der, and DR.. c. o. Jones, a lifelong
friend, will otficiate at the funera:
services here, while honors will be
paid by the Gideons Association of
Atlanta, members of which have
been invited to attend.
Sacrificed His Fortune
Before the War Between the
States, Captain Phelps was in bust.
ness in Columbus, where he was
born on February 10, 1889. He was
possessed OF a considerable fortune.
practically all of which was wiped
out in the expenses of war and his
widespread benevolent activities dur.
ing the period Of reconstruction.
At the outset of the war, Captain
PAelps organized and drilled fight
ing unit known as the "Muscogee
Rifles" and led this command as
first lieutenant through many bloody
encounters during the early part of
the war.
Returning to Columbus in the
spring of 1862 on brief leave of
absence, Captain Phelps married
Miss Lucy Elizabeth Briggs, of that
city, and it was in her honor that
he named the next fighting unit
organized by him, The Lula
Guards" He was appointed captain
OF his company when he presented
it to the Confederate government,
leading it through many fierce bat
ties from 1862 to April g. 1865, when
he surrendered to General Benth-
we'll, of the Union army.
At the time of the surrender, Cap
tain Phelps company was fighting
in the brigade commanded by Gen
eral Howell Cobb, in the vicinity of
Columbus,
Equipped His Companies
In equipping and training the two
companies which he presented to
the Confederate government and in
furnishing them with food and am
munition during the four years of
war, Captain Phelps expended more
than $4,000, he later told intimate
friends
And after the war, when his state
and section still was staggering from
the effects of the great conflict,
Captain Phelps expended other large
sums. One of his notable acts dur
ing this period was at the Anderson
vile prison camp, in south Georgia,
where he personally furnished food
for hundreds of guards and Union
prisoners who were at the point of
starvation.
For this and other acts of kind
Illness and heroism, Captain Phelps
I was awarded a hero medal in 1856
by the original ku klux Khan, of
which he was a member. He kept
this medal until his death, treasur-
ing it sile by side with the Con.
federate Veterans Cross of Honor
which he always wore.
Captain Phelps activities during
and after the War Between the
States, according to his intimate
friends, were typical of the fine spir
| it of benevolence and thoughtfulness
or others that was manifested
/ throughout his life.
! He was an outstanding leader in
many civic movements, taking a
/ particularly active part in the fight
/ for prohibition. He was the owner
/ of the bell that called together the
! citizens of Madison, Ga, for the
/ first anti-saloon league rally ever
/ held in the state, more than a quar-
| ter of a century ago.
/ He also was particularly active
/ =" r1urch work and was a member
/ of the Methodist church for more
/ than fifty years. Twenty years ago,
/ when he first came to Atlanta, he
/ Methodist church and lated with the
/ Wesley Memorial church, in which
/ ne was a steward at the time of his
/ death. He was for many years a
/ teacher i'm the Sunday school Of that
/ church. relinquishing his duties only
/ when his health failed.
/ For many years Captain Phelps
was engaged in the brokerage bust
ness in Atlanta, being forced to re.
4 tire several years ago, however, be-
/ cause of failing health.
On June IS, 1928, he entered the
/ Old Soldiers Home. and there sur
! rounded by his comrades of the
7 sixties, he spent his last days
Captain Phelps is survived by one
daughter, Mrs +. r. Schaldach, of
Santa Maria, Cal; two granddaugh.
tiers, Mrs. f. S. Astin, Atlanta,
and Mrs. NJ. A. Davis, Chicago, and
/ one grandson, Wilbur Phelps, of Nj
ami, Fla.