He was born on the family farm near
Chesham, then the Pottersville section of
Dublin, New Hampshire, on March 6, 1848 to mother Mary Phelps and father Jayson Phelps. "Preston", as he was known, grew up helping out on the very active family farm, where his father in his spare time, liked to paint, build furniture and musical instruments. Preston drew constantly, when he wasn't tending the animals or mowing the fields. His father recognized the financial benefits of talents, as he too painted houses as extra income, and sent William on to the thriving mill city of
Lowell, Massachusetts to work for the sign painter Jeduthan Kittredge at the age of 14. A son, Edward, was born three years later. Phelps' talents began to shift away from signage, as people were so impressed by the intricacies and beauty of his work, patrons started to hire him for canvas paintings. To focus his talent, he began to take the train into
Boston for evening art classes, then he would paint landscape scenes that he sold out of the window of his shop. After a few years, at the age of 27, he had his first exhibition of his works, in Lowell, where a group of patrons were so impressed, they funded Phelps to study abroad in
Munich. ==Travelling years==