Scope and Contents

The Field Family Papers contains materials from multiple generations of the Field family, and totals some 1100 items. The collection includes letters and engravings of General Martin Field, a lawyer in Newfane, Vermont, and letters and other papers of his wife Esther Smith Kellogg. Also, letters and photographs of their son Charles Kellogg Field (1803-1880), another lawyer in Newfane, and a letter and other papers from his brother Roswell Martin Field, Sr. (1807-1869), well-known as the lawyer who represented Dred Scott. A large part of the collection is formed by the approximately 200 letters of Julia Kellogg Field (1829-1890), daughter of Charles K. Field and a schoolteacher in Virginia before her marriage to Elisha Payne Jewett. 

The papers of Eugene Field, son of Roswell M. Field, Sr., are varied and include articles, correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and ephemera.  Although Eugene Field is best known for his children's verses he was also a noted political columnist and editorial writer whose work helped shape the political mood in Chicago for many years. Julia Comstock Field (1856-1936), the wife of Eugene, is represented by letters and clippings.

Roswell Martin Field, Jr. was also a journalist and author, and the collection contains manuscripts of poetry and essays, articles, correspondence, photographs, twenty volumes of his works and other materials.

Charles Kellogg Field (1873-1948), grandson of Charles Kellogg Field, was the noted author and radio personality "Cheerio."  Included are letters, articles, music and poetry manuscripts.

The Field Family Papers are of interest not only for their materials relating to Eugene Field, but also for the light they shed on New England. The letters and papers show one family's growth and movement for the whole of the nineteenth century as the family traveled south and moved westward.