FIELD
FIELD
and encouraged the project. It was necessary
to form submarine connection between Cape
Breton and Newfoundland and this led Field to
exclaim " If between these two points why not
between Newfoundland and Ireland?" and the
Atlantic cable was tlien first conceived. With
Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Roberts
and Chandler White, he organized and obtained
chartered rights for the New York, Newfound-
land and London telegrajih company and the in-
corporators subscribed §1,500,000 to the stock.
For thirteen years Mr. Field devoted his entire
time to the i^roject, visiting Europe thrice each
year, watching the manufactiu-e and testing of
cables and obtaining subscriptions from capital-
ists, concessions from Parliament, and advice
from leading electricians and engineers. The
Atlantic telegraph company was formed with a
capital of $1,750,000, Mr. Field jjersonally pur-
chasing one-fourth of the capital stock and sell-
ing three-foiu-ths to English capitalists. In 1858
after one unsuccessful trial a cable was laid, but
after a few days it suddenly became useless. The
civil war interfered with the immediate contin-
uance of the project, but in 1866 the Great Eastern,
ORfAT
after one partial failure, safely deposited a larger
cable on the "telegraph plateau" or bed of the
ocean. The cable of 186.'), which had parted in
midoceah, was repaired and the Atlantic cable
was a success. The congress of the United
States voted Mr. Field a gold medal and the
thanks of the nation; the prime minister of Eng-
land declared that only the fact of his alienshiij
prevented his receiving the highest honors in the
power of the British government to give; the
commissioners of the Paris exposition of ISOT
gave him the grand medal, the highest prize
tliey had to bestow; kings decorated him, and
states and cities vied with each other in doing him
honor. While Mr. Field was employed with the
cable his firm in the paper business failed in
1H5T, Ids warehouses were destroyed by fire in
1859, and the panic of 1860 forced him to compro-
mise with his creditors. He again paid off his
obligations and before the successful accomplish-
ment of his projected scheme he had placed him-
self in good financial standing with the world.
He afterward directed his energies toward pro-
jected submarine telegraphs between India,
China, the Sandwich Islands. Australia and San
Francisco, between the United States, Cuba,
South America, and toward the solution of the
question of rajiid transit in New York city. He
accomplished the construction of the New York
elevated railroad and on May 16, 1877, owned a
majority of the stock and was elected its presi-
dent. Having demonstrated the practicability
of the project and its value as a money-earner
he was mercile.ssly robbed b}' his associate, to
whom he trusted the control of the enterprise
during his absence in Europe, and he was left
during his declining j^ears with a few shares of
ocean telegraph stock and the semblance of
ownership of his home, " Ardsley-on-the-Hud-
son," but even this was of no material benefit to
his heirs. Severe domestic afflictions added to
the distress of his closing days. His medals,
decorations, plate, letters of congratulation and
paintings, the souvenirs of his successful accom-
plishment in ocean telegraphy, were deposited in
the Metropolitan museum of art. New York city,
and he was honored by election to fellowship in
various learned societies in both Europe and
America. Williams college conferred on him
the honorary degree of A.M. in 1859 and that of
LL.D. in 1875. He died at -Vrdsley, near Dobbs
Ferry, N.Y., July 12. 1892.
FIELD, David Dudley, clergyman, was born in East Guilford, Conn., May 20, 1781; son of Capt. Timothy and Anna (Dudley) Field. His first American ancestor, Zachariah Field, emi- grated from England about 1631 and settled in the colony of Plymouth, Mass. Zachariah's son Ebenezer removed to Guilford. Conn., and his son David died there in 1770. David's son. Cap- tain Timothy, an officer of the American army during the Revolution, was the father of David
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i
THE FIELD PLACE, STOCKBRn)GE
Dudley, who was graduated at Yale in 1802, jiay-
ing his way througli college by teaching school,
was licensed to preach by the a.ssociation of New
Haven east in 1803 and received his M..A.. degree
from Yale in 1805. He had charge of the church
at Somers in 1803, a:id while there was married
