Native of Grantstown, County Queens, Ireland.
This biography is from a short account written by him, published in The log of of Sterling B. F. Clark, a forty-niner (1825-1852).
Upon learning the discovery of gold in California from the published report of Thomas O. Larkin, US Consul at Monterey, Mr. Phelan shipped three cargoes of diversified merchandise to the port of San Francisco and took passage to the Isthmus of Panama, where he contracted deadly Chagres fever.
His fever was ministered to by Dr. Carpenter, and by chance secured a rare steerage berth on the steamship "Panama" bound for San Francisco. During the passage he bartered some of his merchandise for a better berth, which he believed saved his life.
He arrived in San Francisco in August, 1849, at the tender age of 25 years.
Although one ship carrying his merchandise was lost at sea, the other two made the journey to San Francisco safely, and he made a thriving trade with the gold mines.
The difficulty of communication in those gold rush days made for fascinating business. He had the foresight to buy surplus US government property at Benicia for $70,000 via an acquaintance with John V. Plume, of the banking firm Burgoyne & Company, a fellow passenger on the "Panama." He sold this surplus property to the gold mines with a substantial profit.
With his brother, Michael, who arrived in San Francisco a few months earlier, he started the J. & M. Phelan trading company. Their business did well apart from heavy losses in the great San Francisco fires of 1850 and 1851. His brother died in 1858, but Mr. Phelan continued his business. He sold California wheat and wool in New York and helped found the great wheat export business in San Francisco.
In 1871 he switched careers from pioneer merchant to banking, becoming the first president of the First National Bank of San Francisco. He also helped organize the Firemans Fund and other insurance companies, and a company to dredge the Panama Canal, all of which were successful.
He also become prominent in real estate in California and New York City.
James Phelan proposed to Alice Mulhall Kelly in 1855 at Brooklyn, New York.
At age 35, James married Alice in May 1859 in old St. Mary's Cathedral, at California and Dupont streets, San Francisco, the Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, presiding.
Alice and James resided in San Francisco where their three children were born.
The Phelan Mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is one of the most opulent mausoleum's in that cemetery. The facade, interior, statuary, and stained glass window are superbly crafted.
By Tom Brocher
James's remains were placed in the Phelan mausoleum on 1 March 1893 after their transfer from Calvary Cemetery in San Francisco.
This biography is from a short account written by him, published in The log of of Sterling B. F. Clark, a forty-niner (1825-1852).
Upon learning the discovery of gold in California from the published report of Thomas O. Larkin, US Consul at Monterey, Mr. Phelan shipped three cargoes of diversified merchandise to the port of San Francisco and took passage to the Isthmus of Panama, where he contracted deadly Chagres fever.
His fever was ministered to by Dr. Carpenter, and by chance secured a rare steerage berth on the steamship "Panama" bound for San Francisco. During the passage he bartered some of his merchandise for a better berth, which he believed saved his life.
He arrived in San Francisco in August, 1849, at the tender age of 25 years.
Although one ship carrying his merchandise was lost at sea, the other two made the journey to San Francisco safely, and he made a thriving trade with the gold mines.
The difficulty of communication in those gold rush days made for fascinating business. He had the foresight to buy surplus US government property at Benicia for $70,000 via an acquaintance with John V. Plume, of the banking firm Burgoyne & Company, a fellow passenger on the "Panama." He sold this surplus property to the gold mines with a substantial profit.
With his brother, Michael, who arrived in San Francisco a few months earlier, he started the J. & M. Phelan trading company. Their business did well apart from heavy losses in the great San Francisco fires of 1850 and 1851. His brother died in 1858, but Mr. Phelan continued his business. He sold California wheat and wool in New York and helped found the great wheat export business in San Francisco.
In 1871 he switched careers from pioneer merchant to banking, becoming the first president of the First National Bank of San Francisco. He also helped organize the Firemans Fund and other insurance companies, and a company to dredge the Panama Canal, all of which were successful.
He also become prominent in real estate in California and New York City.
James Phelan proposed to Alice Mulhall Kelly in 1855 at Brooklyn, New York.
At age 35, James married Alice in May 1859 in old St. Mary's Cathedral, at California and Dupont streets, San Francisco, the Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, presiding.
Alice and James resided in San Francisco where their three children were born.
The Phelan Mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is one of the most opulent mausoleum's in that cemetery. The facade, interior, statuary, and stained glass window are superbly crafted.
By Tom Brocher
James's remains were placed in the Phelan mausoleum on 1 March 1893 after their transfer from Calvary Cemetery in San Francisco.
Native of Grantstown, County Queens, Ireland.
This biography is from a short account written by him, published in The log of of Sterling B. F. Clark, a forty-niner (1825-1852).
Upon learning the discovery of gold in California from the published report of Thomas O. Larkin, US Consul at Monterey, Mr. Phelan shipped three cargoes of diversified merchandise to the port of San Francisco and took passage to the Isthmus of Panama, where he contracted deadly Chagres fever.
His fever was ministered to by Dr. Carpenter, and by chance secured a rare steerage berth on the steamship "Panama" bound for San Francisco. During the passage he bartered some of his merchandise for a better berth, which he believed saved his life.
He arrived in San Francisco in August, 1849, at the tender age of 25 years.
Although one ship carrying his merchandise was lost at sea, the other two made the journey to San Francisco safely, and he made a thriving trade with the gold mines.
The difficulty of communication in those gold rush days made for fascinating business. He had the foresight to buy surplus US government property at Benicia for $70,000 via an acquaintance with John V. Plume, of the banking firm Burgoyne & Company, a fellow passenger on the "Panama." He sold this surplus property to the gold mines with a substantial profit.
With his brother, Michael, who arrived in San Francisco a few months earlier, he started the J. & M. Phelan trading company. Their business did well apart from heavy losses in the great San Francisco fires of 1850 and 1851. His brother died in 1858, but Mr. Phelan continued his business. He sold California wheat and wool in New York and helped found the great wheat export business in San Francisco.
In 1871 he switched careers from pioneer merchant to banking, becoming the first president of the First National Bank of San Francisco. He also helped organize the Firemans Fund and other insurance companies, and a company to dredge the Panama Canal, all of which were successful.
He also become prominent in real estate in California and New York City.
James Phelan proposed to Alice Mulhall Kelly in 1855 at Brooklyn, New York.
At age 35, James married Alice in May 1859 in old St. Mary's Cathedral, at California and Dupont streets, San Francisco, the Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, presiding.
Alice and James resided in San Francisco where their three children were born.
The Phelan Mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is one of the most opulent mausoleum's in that cemetery. The facade, interior, statuary, and stained glass window are superbly crafted.
By Tom Brocher
James's remains were placed in the Phelan mausoleum on 1 March 1893 after their transfer from Calvary Cemetery in San Francisco.
This biography is from a short account written by him, published in The log of of Sterling B. F. Clark, a forty-niner (1825-1852).
Upon learning the discovery of gold in California from the published report of Thomas O. Larkin, US Consul at Monterey, Mr. Phelan shipped three cargoes of diversified merchandise to the port of San Francisco and took passage to the Isthmus of Panama, where he contracted deadly Chagres fever.
His fever was ministered to by Dr. Carpenter, and by chance secured a rare steerage berth on the steamship "Panama" bound for San Francisco. During the passage he bartered some of his merchandise for a better berth, which he believed saved his life.
He arrived in San Francisco in August, 1849, at the tender age of 25 years.
Although one ship carrying his merchandise was lost at sea, the other two made the journey to San Francisco safely, and he made a thriving trade with the gold mines.
The difficulty of communication in those gold rush days made for fascinating business. He had the foresight to buy surplus US government property at Benicia for $70,000 via an acquaintance with John V. Plume, of the banking firm Burgoyne & Company, a fellow passenger on the "Panama." He sold this surplus property to the gold mines with a substantial profit.
With his brother, Michael, who arrived in San Francisco a few months earlier, he started the J. & M. Phelan trading company. Their business did well apart from heavy losses in the great San Francisco fires of 1850 and 1851. His brother died in 1858, but Mr. Phelan continued his business. He sold California wheat and wool in New York and helped found the great wheat export business in San Francisco.
In 1871 he switched careers from pioneer merchant to banking, becoming the first president of the First National Bank of San Francisco. He also helped organize the Firemans Fund and other insurance companies, and a company to dredge the Panama Canal, all of which were successful.
He also become prominent in real estate in California and New York City.
James Phelan proposed to Alice Mulhall Kelly in 1855 at Brooklyn, New York.
At age 35, James married Alice in May 1859 in old St. Mary's Cathedral, at California and Dupont streets, San Francisco, the Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, presiding.
Alice and James resided in San Francisco where their three children were born.
The Phelan Mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is one of the most opulent mausoleum's in that cemetery. The facade, interior, statuary, and stained glass window are superbly crafted.
By Tom Brocher
James's remains were placed in the Phelan mausoleum on 1 March 1893 after their transfer from Calvary Cemetery in San Francisco.
