This web site is devoted to interests of the members of one branch of the Phelps family, the descendants of Dr. McKinnie Lee Phelps and his beloved wife, Carolyn McCleery Phelps.
As is the case with most residents of the U.S. with the surname Phelps, this family is descended from William Phelps. He arrived at Nantasket, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1630, with his wife, six children, one brother, and 131 other passengers aboard the ship Mary and John, a relatively large vessel of that era, with a displacement of 400-tons, which would imply a length of about 100 feet and 30 foot width (beam). William and the other passengers of the Mary and John settled in Windsor, Connecticut. Every generation of this branch of the Phelps family, up to and including McKinnie, was born and raised in an agrarian setting. McKinnie, who grew up on a farm near Monmouth, Illinois, broke the 10-generation family tradition of farming to become a physician. He graduated from Monmouth College, received his medical degree from Rush Medical School in Chicago, and had a thriving practice as an anesthesiologist in Denver, Colorado, from 1946 until his retirement in 1970, at which time he and Carolyn moved to Sun City, Arizona.Both the parents are deceased, and are survived by three sons: Hugh, a retired physician; Charles, an economist and academic administrator; and Lewis, a former journalist and crisis public relations expert. Chuck and Lew are identical twins, 18 months younger than Hugh.
Although McKinnie thought he had done a superb job of perpetuating his branch of the Phelps family name by fathering three sons, nature played a bit of a trick on him; five of his six grandchildren are girls.
This page is an introduction to the various web sites created by members of the family devoted to their personal interests. See the navigation panel at the left side of this page for links to their individual web sites. Clicking on any of those links will open a new window on your browser and take you to that web site.