My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published by Biographical Review Publishing Company in 1896.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

* * * *

LEMUEL BATES FIELD, who has been superintendent of lumber and construction for the Nonotuck Silk Company of Leeds for the past thirty years, is recognized as a man of unusual business acumen and a most worthy and valued citizen. He is a native of Franklin County, having been born July 28, 1832, in the town of Whately, in the same house, on the old Field homestead, where his father, John Field, was born, October 10, 1792.

Zenas Field, the father of John Field, was born August 10, 1753, and on March 12, 1778, married Sarah Burroughs. She died September 10, 1810; and the following year he was again married, but of this union there were no children. The children borne to Zenas Field by his first wife were as follows: Lydia; Orange; John; Lydia, second; Orange, second; John, second; Sarah; Zenas; and Esther B., the wife of John Bridgman, who was an uncle of Sydney Bridgman.

John Field was a lifelong farmer, working hard on his hilly land, and improving a good property. He married Abigail Warner, a daughter of Paul Warner, of Williamsburg; and they became the parents of eight children. The following grew to mature years: Clymenia, who was the wife of Cornelius Pomeroy, of Southampton; Paul W., who is still living on the old homestead; Lemuel Bates; and John Wright Field, who was a volunteer soldier in the Union army, belonging to Company F, Thirty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and lost his life at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, being Sergeant of his company, and dying with the regiment’s colors in his hands. He left a wife and one daughter, the latter being now the wife of Clifford Haynes, of Springfield. Mrs. Pomeroy, the eldest daughter, departed this life in 1854, aged thirty-six years, and leaving two children.

Lemuel B. Field attended school regularly until nine years of age, his schooling the next eight years being limited to three months during the winter season. Not being satisfied to earn his living by delving in the rocky soil, he decided upon a mechanical trade, and accordingly entered the employment of a Mr. Graves in Whately, serving as an apprentice until attaining his majority, and then remaining with him six months more. By the terms of the apprenticeship he was to receive forty dollars per year, and after that the agreement was for one dollar per day; but this sum was withheld, the dishonest employer leaving the town without paying his debts. Mr. Field next worked for four years with Harvey Moore, a millwright in Whately, going thence to Allegan, Mich., where he was engaged in carpentering when the panic of 1857 occurred, putting an end to all building operations. From that time until 1863 he was engaged, in company with the Densmores, as a carpenter and millwright in Hatfield, Mass. In 1864 Mr. Field came to Leeds, locating here in the month of March; and since that time he has been the faithful and trusted employee of the Nonotuck Silk Company. He has been very industrious and thrifty, investing his surplus money judiciously, and has accumulated a goodly estate, being the owner of four tenement-houses here besides his residence property, containing three acres of land, which he purchased in 1879, on which he has since erected his present fine dwelling.

Mr. Field was first married on June 14, 1855, to Harriet Lilly, a daughter of Chipman Lilly, of Ashfield. She died in Leeds, September 20, 1868, leaving one child, Mrs. Lilly Isabelle Clark, who has one son, Daniel L. Clark, a student in the high school. On September 2, 1869, Mr. Field was united in wedlock with Augusta Jane Robbins, a daughter of the late T. M. Robbins, of Guilford, Me. Mrs. Field is one of four children born to her parents, her only sister being a resident of Guilford, and Leroy T. Robbins, her surviving brother, being a resident of Leeds. A brother George was killed at the close of the war. Mrs. Augusta J. Field was engaged in teaching school before her marriage, and since then has done efficient service in this place as a member of the Board of Education.

In politics Mr. Field is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and in the administration of local affairs he is a conspicuous figure. Though never an office-seeker, he is now serving his third term as Alderman, having been elected in 1892 by eight votes, and the following term by sixteen, and at the last election by a majority of seventy-two votes, being now President of the Board, and, in the absence of the Mayor, chairman of the Committee on Highways and of the fire department. Mr. Field belongs to the Knights Templars, being Past Eminent Commander, and having passed all the chairs of the Northampton Royal Arch Chapter and Jerusalem Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He is a leader in the social life of Northampton, and, whenever he absents himself from the club, is greatly missed. Business associates and friends who know his worth hold him in high esteem, and strangers are attracted toward him by his pleasing personality and cordial manners. That he is happily endowed mentally and physically may be seen from his portrait here given.

* * * *

This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published in 1896. 

View additional Hampshire County, Massachusetts family biographies here: Hampshire County, Massachusetts Biographies

View a map of 1901 Hampshire County, Massachusetts here: Hampshire County Massachusetts Map

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.