Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 January 1906 — MR. FIELD IS DEAD. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MR. FIELD IS DEAD.

. . -**3di ; - -- 4 CHICAGO’S RICHEST MERCHANT PASSES AWAY, Bailnrua Mnn Known Throußrliont fbe World Snccnmbs to I’nenmonla ■ In HfW ' Vork —Worlc of . Physicians Unavailing. . Marshall Fields the merchant, prince of Chicago, died at the Holland House In New York,- Tuesday, as a result of which developed from ■> a" cold. The best efforts of the physicians to prolong his life were unavailing. Mrs. Field, who accompanied him from Chicago, and other relatives were with him when the end came, ’ llbnday all hope was Abandoned and Mr, Field was thought to be dying all through the morning and early afternoon, but he rallied at 3 o’clock, awoke from Ida state of coma, and asked for food. His improvement continued during the night, and raised a fleeting hfipe that he might survive. Relatives of Mr. Field were hastily summoned by telegraph when it became known that ho was near death. Mrs. Marshall Field, Jr., who had just been released from attendance at the

death-bed of her father, Louis C. Huck, the wealthy Chicago maltster, engaged in a race with death, and three railroad systems lent every assistance to enable her to reach the bedside of Mr. Field before the end came. Shortly before he died Mr. Field opened Ills eyes and in a scarcely audible whisper called for his favorite little grandson, Marshall Field HI. Dr. Frank Billings, of Chicago, Mr. Field’s physician, was summoned to New York, and Dr. Walter B. James, Dr. Edward G. Janeway and Dr. Austin F. Riggs were in constant attendance and everything known to medical science was employed in keeping alight the flickering spark of life. At times there were alarming symptoms of heart failure and nitroglycerin, Btryehnlne and digitalis were frequently administered. The congested condition of the lungs failed to respond to medical treatment. His pulse and temperature were always unfavorable to recovery, and to the physicians it became apparent that Mr. Field’s vitality would not he equal to resisting the attack. The cold, which developed shortly before Mr. Field left Chicago and which was aggravated by the long railroad trip to New York on January 8 and 9, developed into deep-seated pneumonia that baffled the skill of the physicians. Among those at the bedside, besides the physicians and nurses, were Mrs. Field. Mrs. Marshall Field, Jr., Stanley Field, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dibblee, Jr., Norman B. Ream, William G. Beale and Robert T. Lincoln.

FIELD A MERCANTILE GENIUS. Ilomble Clerk Attains First Place In World’* Commerce. Ffom a clerk in a country store to the merchant prince of modern times is the gulf spanned by Marshall Field of Chicago. He was born on a farm near Conway. Mass., Aug. 18, 1835, a son of John Field, a sturdy New England farmer, and was the third of a family of nine children. The first actual work done by Marshall Field in this world was to drive the cows from a pasture to the barns upon his father's farm. Subsequently he learned to milk cows and as he grew older his spare time was spent in- various duties connected with farm work. His father, however, started him to the district school at the age of 6 and he continued to put in his time at the school and at an academy in Conway until he obtained a position in the general store of Deacon Davis at Conway. The first appearance of young Field In the mercantile world was not wholly a success, ind it was even counted a failure by the hard-shelled deacon-pro-prietor, who told John Field, the boy’a father, after the lad had been at work in the store for some weeks, that Marshall would never make a “storekeeper," and he advised the father to take the lad back to the farm for farm work. Marshall Field was dismissed from the service of the* owner of a country store, but be was not discouraged; he had seen jnst enough of trade to whet his appetite and he decided that his life work would be In the mercantile field. Young Field decided to disregard the advice of Deacon Davis at Conway ana he secnred a position in a general store in Pittafield. Mass., where he served an apprenticeship of four years in the mercantile business. He was 21 years old by this time and be decided to change his domicile tb the West, and Chicago was the point he settled upon for future operations. He worked four years for Cooley, ..Wadsworth ft Co., where he first applied (or a position. His duties were not of an elevating character, bat while in his h&nble position he became acquainted with Leri Z. Letter*, another awbitio'us yeung fellow, and shoulder to

-..i.- ja-g-irii-t - _- -. - -fy}~ ■ - - n . --y shoulder they started in thc battle for supreaHrer tuthe mercantihe -world; - His employers evidently recognized genius in his originality and daring, and after four years’ service in „18G0 Field was first identified with the business fortunes of Chicago, when he was made a partner in the firm, wbicty at that time was Cooley, Farwell & Co. Later the firm’s name whs changed to FarwelL Field & Co. The war followed and the firm netted large profits, and it was at that tinie Field’g savings became a nucleus of his later fortune. In 1865, after the war, the firm reorganized, and the new firm existed under the name of Field, Leiter & Palmer, the members being,. besides -Marshall Field, Levi Z. T/eTter a ncT Potter Farmer —The tatter withdrew froth the mercantile business two years later, leaving the firm Field, Leiter & Co., which for fourteen years -flourished} until the firm was the best and most favorably known of any mercantile house in the West. It was in. 1881 that Leiter withdrew from the firm and left Marshall Field the sole proprietor of the mammoth retail and wholesale business, which he proceeded to build into an institution immensely larger and more perfect than that controlled by the two. Since 1881 PSBPSfcstablishments have been operator by Marshall Field & Co., and for a onarter of a century the company, whidli has been practically Marshall Field and all direction his, has been branching out, purchasing new frontage, enlarging And improving, until the establishment is today recognize<l a 9.,.cne„ nf- the - world’s greafe&t mercantile houses. This ’in brief, ig the history of Marshall Field T s remarkable progress from obscurity and incompetence to v the height of wealth and proficiency, the most successful mer*. chant of the age.

FORTUNE OE OVER f 125,000,000. Marshall Field’s Wealth Invested in All Parts df the World. Although any valuation placed on the fortune of Marshall Field would necessarily be speculative, it is the consensus among Chicago business men that his -property--hotdtngs —represent at least $125,0001000.-~Mr. Field made-it.-the rul»" of his earlier business life never so give a note. His real estate holdings in Cook county alone are assessed at a full valuation around $30,000,000 and it is figured by real estate experts that they are . worth close to S4O,Q6QjQQ6, - He was the largest taxpayer in Cook county and had held that distinction for years. Moreover, he was reputed to be the most cheerful taxpayer in the county. Tax officials say he never complained of the assessment of his property. Mr. Field's dry goods business is "supposed to be worth $23,000,000, although this is or mere estimnte. He owned seventeen stores and factories in America and Europe and his Chicago establish-ment-is tho largest -and- wrost Complete dry goods house in the world. It is supposed to be worth $10,000,000. He owned real estate in many States as well as in foreign countries and h 5 stock holdings were large. Two years ago it Is said Mr. Field held $13,000,000 of common and $lO,000,000 of preferred stock in tlie United States Steel Corporation, of which he was a director. At present market values this stock would be worth around $17,000,000.. -He owned $5,000,000 of stock in the Pullman company, of which he was a director. This stock is suppos•ed to be worth $12,500,000. He also had $7,000,000 of preferred stock in the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, supposed to be worth $4,000,000, and, according to gossip, had $10,000,000 of St. Paul stock. He also was a large stockholder in the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company, the Erie, Union Pacific and New York Central. The aggregate of his holdings in these companies is estimated at $lO,000.000. Mr. Field owned great tracts of land in Australia and a large manufacturing plant there for the production of yarns and woolens. He was a stockholder in the American Woolen Company and had an interest In tlie Amory Cotton Company, which owns a score of cotton mills in New England. His woolen and cotton investments are roughly estimated at $5,000,000. So vast and varied were'Mr. Field's interests that the general business public had no adequate idea of his possessions. Mr. Field was rated as the second richest man in the United States, being ranked only by John D. Rockefeller. Yet he never was ostentatious in his living and at no time in his career craved notoriety. On the contrary, there appears to have been a studied effort on his part to, avoid publicity.

LOVER OF HOME. Despite Great Wealth, Merchant's Life Is Simple and Uutet. While a wizard of the commercial world, Marshall Field never dealt in fiats. His transactions always were over something tangible and real, and this characteristic reached to the interior of his home. Field was essentially a man of family and home. Marshall Field was married to Miss Nannie Douglass Scott, a daughter of Robert Scott of Ironton, Ohio, Jan. 5, 1863. Three children resulted from tha union, two of whom are still living; Mrs. Field died at Nice, France, a few years ago, where she had gone for her henlth. The flrsfchild, Lewis Field, died when an infant in 1860. Marshall Field, Jr. t who shot and accidentally killed himself last November, was born April 27, 1868, and married Miss Albcrtinc lluck of Chicago. The only daughter was Ethel Newcomb Field, who was born In 1873. She married Arthur Magie Tree in 1801, was later divorced and is now tha wifo of Captain David Beatty of the British navy. For several years Mr. Field spent a portion of hia winters in visiting his children and grandchildren in England and France. On Sept 5 of last year Mr. Field waa wedded to Mrs. Delia Spencer Caton, widow of the late Arthur Caton. Mr. and Mrs. Field were given a cordial reception on their return to Chicago, but their happiness was soon clouded by the death of Marshall Field. Jr., who accidentally shot himself with a magazine revolver at his residence. In religion, as in everything else, Marshall Field aiwnya avoided display. A steady churchgoer, what hia conjribntions to religions institutions were will never be known, as 1* was a modest thodgh genet ous giver.

MARSHALL FIELD.