Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/96

 FIELD

FIELD

to Submit, daughter of Capt. Noah Dickinson, an officer under Putnam in the French and In- dian war and also in the war of the Revolution. He was ordained April 11, 1804, as pastor of the Congregational church at Haddam, Conn., and served that congregation for fourteen years. He resigned his charge in 1818 and made a missionary tovir tlirough the wilderness of western New York, under direction of the Missionary society of Connecticut. He was installed pastor of the church at Stockbridge, Mass., in August, 1819, as successor to Dr.Stephen West, and remained there eighteen years. He returned to Haddam in 1836 and was pastor of his old congregation until 1844, when they divided and he took charge of a new church formed at Higganum, and in 18.")1 retired from the ministr}-. He passed his declining years at Stockbridge, Mass. He served for a time as vice-president of the Connecticut historical society, and was also a corresponding member of the Massachusetts anl Pennsj'lvania historical societies. He visited Europe in 1848 with his son Stephen. Williams college conferred on him the honorary degree of D.D. in 1837. Of his seven sons, six lived to maturity and gained national fame — David Dudley, lawyer; Jonathan Edwards, legislator; Stephen Johnson, jurist; Cyrus West, merchant; Matthew, civil engineer, and Henry Martyn, author. He published: History oj the County of Bprkshire (1839); History of the County of Middli'sf'x (1839); History of Pittsflehl (1844); and (h-m-dloyy of the Brainard Family (1857); be- sides numerous sermons and addresses. He died in Stockbridge, Mass.. April 1.5, 1867.

FIELD, David Dudley, lawyer, was born in Haddam, Conn., Feb. 13, 1805; son of the Rev. David Dudley and Submit (Dickinson) Field, and giandson ol ( 'apt Timothy Field and of Capt. Noah Dickmson, officers m the American army dur- ing the Revolution. He was graduated at Williams in 1825 and was admitted to the New York bar in 1828. His labors in the di- rection of law reform largelj' influenced li'U'islation in his
 * i'li'pted state and

, .sliaped constitutional amendments. He

was a member of the commission on prac- tice and procedure in y code of jirocedure
 * ^<;^^jj<- 1847 that formed the

introduced in February, 1848, and enacted into law their first report in April, 1848, and the entire code of civil and criminal procedure in

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four instalments completed January, 1850. Most of the .states of the union followed New York in adopting this system, and England and the Eng- lish colonies, including India, made it the basis of new judicature acts. Field's criminal pro- cedure was also adopted by the legislatures of at least half the states. In 1857 he was appointed by the state of New York the head of a commis- sion to prepare a political code, a penal code and a civil code designed to supersede the unwritten or "common" law. The work of the commis- sion was completed in 1865, and covered the en- tire province of American law. The penal code was adopted by the state, and other states drew largely from the civil code, California and Dakota adopting the entire scheme. In 1866 at a meet- ing of the British association for the promotion of social science he introduced a scheme for the revision of the general law of nations. In 1872 he presented to the social science congress the result of seven years" labor devoted to the formu- lation of his " Draft Outlines of an International Code,'' which attracted the attention of jurists and was translated into French, Italian and Clii- nese. This plan, which included the settlement of disputes between nations by arbitration rather than war, resulted in the formation in 1873 at Ghent of an institute of international law, an association formed to promote the principles of arbitration and to reform and codify existing laws, and Mr. Field was made its first president. He was originally a Democrat, but when the question of the perpetuation of slavery became uppermost as a political issue he supported the Republican party in 1856, 1860 and 1864. In the electoral dispute of 1876 he again took part with the Democrats and was a representative in the 44th congress to fill a vacancy caused by the elec- tion of Representative Smith Ely as mayor of New York city. In 1890 he presided at the great peace convention in London. He published: Letters on the Meform of the Judiciary System ( 1839); Tlie Reorganization of the Judiciary (1846); What Shall be Done with the Practice of the Courts? Shall it he Wholly Beformedf Questions Addressed to Lawyers (1847); The Electoral Votes of 1876: Who should count them, vihat should be counted and the remedy for a wrong count (1877); Suggestions Sespecting the Revision of the Constitution of New Tork (1867); Draft Outlines of an International Code (1872, 2ded., 1876); Speeches and Arguments before the Supreme Cotirt of the United States, and Miscellaneous Papers (3 vols., 1884): and American Progress in Jurisprudence, prepared for the Colum- bian Exposition in Chicago (1893). He died in New York city. April 18, 1894.

FIELD, Edwin Stanton, musician, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., June 6, 1869; son of Charles Jacob and Claire Sarab Jaoe (West) Field. He