Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/98

 FIELD

FIELD

turned by "the great and terrible wilderness" to the Holy Land; which altogether furnished material for three volumes, that appeared one after the other, at intervals of two or three years, viz: "On the Desert," "Among the Holy Hills," and "The Greek Islands and Turkey after the War.'' His next route of travel was in another direc- tion, to the southwest corner of Europe, to Spain and Gibraltar, from which he crossed over into Africa, an excursion which he repeated several years later, and out of ■which came three books; Old Spain and

/hU^M (TClIdj GihraUar (1892) ; and

Z^' 77/ e Barbary Coast;

while home topics were treated in Blood Is Tlii'-krr Than Water, and Brirjht Skies and Dark .s/iiiihiirf!, both giving his impressions of the southern states after the civil war; followed by Our Western Archipelago, in which he pictured Alaska as he saw it in the summer of 1894.

FIELD, James Qavin, lawyer, was born at Walnut. C'vdpeper county, Va., Feb. 24, 1826; son of Judge Lewis "Yancey and Maria (Dun- can) Field ; grandson of Daniel Field and of Charles Duncan, and a descendant of Sir John Field of England. He acquired a classical educa- tion, engaged in mercantile business in Fairfax, Va., taught school and became clerk to Major Hill, paymaster in the U.S. army, with whom he went to California in 1848 and was employed in the pay department of the United States army. He was one of the secretaries of the California constitutional convention in 1850. He returned to Virginia in October, ISoO, studied law with his uncle, Judge Richard H. Field, and was admitted to the bar in 18.52. He was the common- wealth's attorney of Culpeper county, Va., 1859- 61. He entered the Confederate army as a pri- vate and rose to the rank of major, serving on the staff of Gen. A. P. Hill, 1861-65. He was wounded at Cold Harlior and lost his leg at the battle of Slaughter Mountain, Aug. 9, 1863. He was attorney-general of Virginia, 1877-83, when he retired to a farm in Albemarle county. He was the People's party candidate for vice-presi- dent of the United States in 1892 on the ticket with James B. Weaver for President and re- ceived 22 electoral and 1,041,028 popular votes.

FIELD, Kate, author, joiu-nalist, lecturer, was born in St. Louis. Mo., Oct. 1, 18.38; daughter of Joseph M. and EUza (Riddle) Field. Both pa-

rents were actors and persons of culture and re- finement. The first patei-nal American ancestor, Mathew Field, came from Ireland, the family having come originally from Warwickshire, Eng- land. Mathew Field was noted for his benevolence

His property was

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and was called "the saint, confiscated in 1798 and he removed to America, settling in Baltimore, at that tinie the Mecca of the Roman Catholics. He became a publisher and brought out the first American Cath- olic almanac. He left two sons, Mat- thew, a poet, and Joseph, the actor, poet, journalist and story writer. Jo- seph M. Field founded in St. Louis, Mo., the Reveille which he edited for .some years and also had his own theatre in St. Louis, and in Mobile. He died in the latter city in 1856 at the age of forty-five. His wife died at sea in 1871. Their daughter, Kate (baptized Mary Katherine Keemle Field), at the age of nine corresponded with her parents in French and for recreation copied French poetry. She wrote for newspapers before she was fifteen, and at that age was placed in a seminary near Boston. A little later she was sent to Florence, Italy, where she was under the care of Isa Blagden, Mrs. Browning's devoted friend. Through tliis companionship, Mrs. Browning became deeply attached to the young gill and often had her at her home, Casa Guidi. She was taught Latin by Walter Savage Landor, from whom she received a portfolio of valuable drawings from the old masters. She inspired a warm friendship from George Eliot ; and Vedder painted her portrait, which is placed in the Museum of fine arts, Boston. Miss Field developed as a writer of comedies, an exceptional press correspondent, a musician, a poet, a dra- matic critic, and a lecturer who was also an orator. She passed most of her life in America although through various years she was in London, Paris and Italy, and she made two trips to Alaska. An injury resulting from a fall from a horse im- paired her voice and ended her preparations for the lyric stage. She turned to the drama, to lite- rary work and the lecture platform. She inade her debut on the English stage under the name of Mary Keemle and plaj-ed for two years in Lon- don and the provinces with a fair degree of suc- cess: but when she appeared at Booth's theatre, New York, in 1876, to make her American dfibut