His father apprenticed Phelan to learn a trade, manufacturing jewelry. But after attaining the age of majority, and having married (circa 1837), Phelan was determined to adopt the billiards business for a livelihood. As his father had previously died, Phelan became an attendant at a billiard room. By 1850, Phelan had come to be looked upon as the most expert and scientific player in the country; and in the same year he prepared a work entitled "Billiards Without a Master," which enjoyed a large sale, and was the first book published in the US on the science, etiquette, and game rules of billiards. located at the corner of 10th Street and
Broadway in
Manhattan, January 1, 1859 Phelan was determined to produce an American billiard table that would become the standard model for the whole world. He visited Europe in the fall of 1851, and on his return, in 1852, he had the idea of starting a model billiard-table factory. He left the East Coast in the fall of 1854, and arrived in
San Francisco, where he opened an elegant billiard hall which immediately became one of the chief points of interest of the city. Phelan continued his success as a player and was again pronounced unconquerable. To assist with aim, he added diamonds to the table. Tobias O'Connor and Hugh William Collender manufactured some of the first tables as part of a distinct business, and, in 1854, Phelan gained an interest in the manufacturing business, with the company name changed to Phelan & Collender. On April 12, 1859, Phelan won the first U.S. national billiards championship. The company was dissolved by Collender in 1871 after Phelan's death. Phelan died in 1871. Billiards player, manufacturer and owner of billiard parlors, Phelan was the first billiards star in the US. He was inducted into the
Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1993. ==Personal life==