Undergarment Boudreaux showed the world that an American woman could establish and run a company, and she also caused a revolution in the underwear industry. In 1913, a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob created the first modern brassiere by tying two handkerchiefs together with ribbon. Jacob's original intention was to cover the whalebone sticking out of her corset, which was visible through her sheer dress. Jacob began making brassieres for her family and friends, and news of the garment soon spread by word of mouth. By 1914, Jacob had a patent for her design and was marketing it throughout
Edward John Phelps an ardent "anti-expansionist." President Grover Cleveland intended to appoint him as U.S. Chief Justice in 1888, but Phelps was concerned that his tenure as ambassador to the Court of St. James's in Great Britain would cause the Democratic Party to lose the support of Irish Americans, and he declined. In 1893, Phelps was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. Phelps died in New Haven, Connecticut. Former Yale University president Timothy Dwight V eulogized Phelps. He was buried in Burlington's Greenmount Cemetery. Edward John Phelps married Mary S. Haight in 1847; the marriage produced 3 children: Edward Haight Phelps