From this account of Mr. Field’s beginnings in New York it is evident that his subsequent success was not a matter of chance; the foundations of it were laid in the character which commanded the confidence of his employer and of his associates. This will be shown even more strikingly in the pages that are to follow. His own narration of his early experiences has an additional interest in the incidental and almost unconscious disclosure of the vast difference between the conditions of beginning a business career in New York now and sixty years ago. It seems worth while to secure an authentic memorial of a life that already seems so remote and is wellnigh forgotten.
CHAPTER III
MARRIAGE AND BUSINESS LIFE
(1840-1853)
“IN the spring of 1840 I went into business for myself in Westfield, Mass., as a manufacturer of paper, and on October 1st of that year I was invited to become a partner in the firm of E. Root & Co., of No. 85 Maiden Lane, New York. I was not yet of age when I entered as a junior partner in this house; the business of the firm was managed chiefly by my senior partner. My part was to attend to the sales and manage the business, principally away from New York, in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, and other places, making contracts and attending to the business generally. On November 30, 1840, I was twenty-one, and two days afterwards I was married to Mary Bryan Stone, of Guilford, Conn.”
Mrs. Field’s father, Joseph Stone, died of yellow-fever at Savannah, Ga., July 9, 1822. He left a widow and three little children. Mrs. Stone returned to her home and lived with her parents, and it was from their home that her daughter was married. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler had been married in 1776, and their house was built in 1784, and it was on account of their age and to avoid all excitement for them that Mr. and Mrs. Field’s wedding was very quiet. The invitations were informal.
“New York, November 25, 1840.
“My dear Parents,—I have only time to write a few lines, and will come to the point at once.
“The writer of this intends to be joined in the bands of matrimony to Miss Mary B. Stone one week from this day, that is, on next Wednesday morning, December 2, 1840, at 10 o’clock A.M., and requests the pleasure of meeting you both, with sister Mary, at the house of Mr. A. S. Fowler in Guilford, at the above-mentioned time. David and Stephen will be there. We expect father will perform the ceremony. I shall leave here Tuesday in the New Haven steamboat, and you will find me Wednesday morning at Bradley’s Hotel in Guilford, where you had better all stop.
“There will be only a very few friends at the wedding. Shall leave immediately after the ceremony is over for New Haven, and from there come to this city.
“If Henry is at home bring him with you, and send to Middletown for Mary.
“With much love to all at home,
“I remain your affectionate son,
“Cyrus W. Field.”