Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-07

na-altogether one of the most notable col
| lections of the pre- Revolutionary period in
existence In the public library, which also
| occupies a conspicuous site. Is the table
| upon which Jonathan Edwards wrote his
celebrated treatise on The Freedom of
the Wi L. In the center of the town. OPP
posite the open green, is the site of the
| house in which he lived when he was in
charge of the Indian mission and during
| the seven years of his passionate. 1t is
unfortunate that so few relics of the Ed
wards family have been saved, but he
could not nave had very much. After his
Illuminating dismissal from the church at
Northampton his income must have been
barely sufficient to pI Divide sustenance for
himself, his wife and his sixty feet of
daughters" as he once described his family.
They must have been dreadfuly cramped
while they lived mere. because the remu-
neratiOn of an Indian missionary was mea-
ger, and the village of Stockbridge had only
between three and four hundred popula-
ton.
Features of the Village.
A beautiful clock tower with chimes.
erected by David Dudley Field in 1873 oc-
cupes the site of The church which Whit
tier described:
I'm the church Of the wilderness Edwards wrought
Shaping his creed at the forge OF thought;
And with Thor's hammer welded and bent
The iron links OF his argument,
Which stroye TO grasp in its mighty span
The purpose OF God and the fate Of man.
In his will Mr.. Field provided funds for
the perpetual maintenance of the memorial
clock tower and for playing the chimes
every afternoon at ) o'clock from the LIST
of May until the list of November.
There is a monument of red Scotch gran
lite at the forks in the road erected by his
descendants in the United States to the
memory of Jonathan Edwards. 1t will be
remembers that he pastor of this
little church when he was called to the
presidency of Princeton College. and it
was here in 1I52 that President Burr, his
predecessor at the head of that institution.
Courted and married Esther Edwards the
mother of Aaron Burr. 1t would be inter-
esting to know something about their
mance-how they met and how the attach
ment grew. But that has al been forgotten.
There were only Jew people in this little
village to watch the courtship of the college
president and the daughter of the Indian
missionary.
The Episcopal Church, standing opposite
the Red Lion Inn, is an exquisite little
gem of architecture and in striking con-
trast with the ugly four-square temple
in which the CongregatiOnalists worship.
The cemetery is also on the main thor
Oughfare. and the oldest grave was dug
24O years ago. All the members of the
famous Field family lie in contentment
under its far-spreading elms and their
family homestead is only a few steps
distant 1t is a modern-looking house,
and must have been remodeled within the
present generation. And it is very un-
pretentious. although l do not know of
men have been born.
The Noted Field Brothers
The Field family descended from one
Zachariah, who came from England in
1880. removed to Connecticut in 1889,
and in 1863 settled at Northampton, Mass.
The grandson of Zachariah the first
David Field married Anna Dudley of
Madison. Mass. and became the pastor
or 20
bridge. where Edwards had preached He
upon his death was borne to his grave
by his four sons, all men of fame and
emlnence 1T was a remarkable event
in family history.
The eldest of the brothers. David Dud-
ley Field, was born in 1905. graduated
from Williams in 1929, studied law in
Albany, and began practice in 1923 in New
YORK where he was recognized as the
leader of the bar for more than q third
OF century. until he died in 1894 at the
age of eighty-nine. He served in Con-
gress for several terms; declined several
offices of distinction; appeared in many of
the most important cases that ever came
before the Supreme Court and contribute
ed a great deal to the literature of Juris-
prudence.
Cyrus West Field was the only one of
the brothers who went into business.
When he was a boy of fifteen lie left
Stockbrldge and went to New York,
store of A. T. Stewart al salary of 81
month. Six years later he engaged in
the stationery business for himself in a
small way and afterward became a man
ufacturer of paper, by which he made a
fortune before he was forty years old.
He was promoter of some of the greatest
enterprises of his day, the most i'm
portant of which was the first Atlantic
cable. He originated the scheme, organ
lied the company, with Peter Cooper,
Moses Taylor. Marshall o. Roberts. Com
modOre Vanderbilt and other associates
and supervised the manufacture of and
laying of the cable He died In July 1892
stephen johnson Field. associate JUS
tice of the Supreme Court. was valedic-
torian of the class of 1887 at Williams
College. After his graduation he en-
tered the office of his brother. David
Dudley Field. in New York, where he
studied law and became a partner until
1si9, when he Joined the Argonauts and
opened one of the first law offices on the
Pacific coast. He was appointed to the
Supreme Bench in 1853, and served until
Henry Martin Field, the youngest of
the brothers. graduated from Williams
in 1888, became a minister, preached
at St Louis, New Haven and Springfield
Mass, until 1854. when he became editor
of the New York Evangelist and con-
tinued as such until his death two wears
ago. lie was yoluminous writer and
ography
Their sister married a missionary in
Asia Minor, and was the mother of David
J. brewer associate justice of the United
states supreme Court, who sat on the
bench with his uncle, Justice Field, for
several years.
Many Reverend Fields.
There seem to have been a good many
Fields in the pulpit up this way. At
Northfield 1 found the epitaph of the |
Rev Joseph r. Field, ABB, who died Au-
gust o, 1928. He must have been a model
pastor II we are to believe his cpitaph.
which describes him as:
''Unassumng in manner
In morals irreproa cha BILE
A most accomplished scholar
Mighty In the Scriptures
With argument invincible
He maintained and defended the
Great Doctrines OF the Reforna ton
Nearby Is the grave of SON or |
brother. although there is nothing to |
show the relationship. and he was also |
an excellent pastor. His name was Rev.