CYRUS W. FIELD
HIS LIFE AND WORK
[1819-1892]

EDITED BY
ISABELLA FIELD JUDSON
ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1896
Copyright, 1896, by Isabella Field Judson.
All rights reserved.

TO
MY FATHER’S FAMILY AND FRIENDS
THESE PAGES
Are Dedicated

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

CYRUS W. FIELD
HIS LIFE AND WORK

CHAPTER I
PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME LIFE
(1819-1835)

Cyrus West Field, the eighth child and seventh son of David Dudley Field, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., November 30, 1819. He took his double name from Cyrus Williams, President of the Housatonic Bank (in Stockbridge), and from Dr. West, for sixty years his father’s predecessor in the pastorate of the old Church of Stockbridge. He was the sixth in descent from Zachariah Field, the founder of the family in this country, who was the grandson of John Field the astronomer. Zachariah was born in the old home in Ardsley, Yorkshire, England. He came over in 1630 or 1632, seemingly from Hadley, Suffolk, and settled first in Dorchester, Mass., afterwards making his way through the wilderness to Hartford, Conn. Then followed in the direct line his oldest son Zachariah Junior, Ebenezer, David, and Captain Timothy, who was born in the north part of Madison, Conn., in 1744. He served in the Continental Army under Washington, and was in the battle of White Plains.

David Dudley Field, Captain Timothy’s youngest son, was born May 20, 1781. In 1802 he graduated from Yale, the next year was ordained a minister of the Congregational Church, and a month later, October 31, 1803, was married to Submit Dickinson, daughter of Captain Noah Dickinson, of Somers, Conn., who first served under Putnam in the French War and afterwards in the War of the Revolution. Submit Dickinson was called “The Somers Beauty.”

David Dudley Field was first settled in Haddam, Conn., and remained as pastor of the Congregational Church for fourteen years. Seven of his children were born while he lived there: David Dudley was the eldest; then followed Emilia Ann, Timothy Beals, Matthew Dickinson, Jonathan Edwards, Stephen Johnson 1st (who died when he was six months old), and Stephen Johnson 2d. Cyrus West, Henry Martyn, and Mary Elizabeth were the three children born in Stockbridge, Mass. Among the reminiscences of his sojourn in Haddam is that it fell to him to preach the execution sermon of Peter Long. The grim Puritanical custom still survived, according to which a prisoner convicted of a capital crime, on the day on which he was to be hanged was taken by a body-guard of soldiers to church to be publicly prepared for his ending. He was placed in a conspicuous pew, where he was obliged not only to listen to a long and harrowing sermon, but when addressed by name to stand up facing the preacher and receive the exhortation as he had received the sentence. Dr. Field addressed the victim directly for some minutes, and closed with these words: “Before yonder sun shall set in the west your probationary state will be closed forever. This day you will either lift up your eyes in hell, being in torment, or, through the rich, overflowing, and sovereign grace of God, be carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. If in any doubt about your preparation, you may yet find mercy. He who pardoned the penitent thief on the cross may pardon you in the place of execution. Pray God, then, if perhaps your sins may be forgiven you. Cry to Him, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’ and continue those cries till death shall remove you hence. May the Lord Almighty support you in the trying scene before you, and through infinite grace have mercy on your soul.”

From the church the prisoner was led, clothed in a long, white robe, to the scaffold. It is said that on this occasion the rope was cut by the militiamen in attendance as a guard.

In May, 1819, Dr. Field accepted the call to the church in Stockbridge, and on August 25th he was settled there as a pastor. In those days the moving of a household from Haddam to Stockbridge was a formidable undertaking. Teams were sent to Connecticut, a journey of several days, to bring on the household furniture, and, most important of all, heavy boxes piled with the volumes that comprised the pastor’s library. The clearest statement of the impression made upon the youth of his flock by the ministry of Dr. Field is furnished in these words, written nearly fifty years after his settlement in Stockbridge, and a fortnight after his death, by the venerated president of Williams College:

“Williams College, April 30, 1867.

“Cyrus W. Field, Esq.:

“My dear Sir,—On my return I comply at once with your request to write out the remarks I made at your father’s funeral. In writing to me, Mr. Eggleston simply said he should like to have me take some part in the services, but he did not say what, and under the circumstances I did not think it best to attempt anything but a few remarks bearing on my personal relation to him. I give them below as well as I can.

“ ‘On coming here I was not aware what the order of exercises was to be, or what part I was expected to take in them; but as I am drawn here by a deep personal regard to the departed, the few words that I shall say will have reference to him chiefly in that relation through which this regard was awakened.

“ ‘It was under the ministry of Dr. Field that I first united with the Christian Church. By him I was baptized in this place.

“ ‘For a long period my mind was in a state of solicitude and careful inquiry on the subject of religion, and during much of that time I sat under his ministry. Well do I remember his sermons and his prayers; we worshipped in the old church then, and the whole town came together. His sermons were lucid, logical, effective, and his prayers remarkably appropriate and comprehensive. One of his texts I remember particularly. It was this: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the son of the living God.” From these words he preached several discourses of great power showing that Jesus was the Christ, and that there was no one else to whom we could go. I regarded them then, and still do, as among the ablest discourses I ever heard. They had a powerful effect upon my mind.

“ ‘In respect to feeling he was not demonstrative, and some thought him cold. No mistake could have been greater. On sitting near him I remember to have been struck by noticing the big tears rolling down his cheeks when he came to the more touching parts of his discourse, while there was scarcely a sign of emotion in his voice or in the lines of his face. Perhaps intellect predominated. Probably it did; but he was a man of deep feeling, and under the impulse of it, as well as of principle, he was a faithful, earnest, laborious pastor. It was in that relation that I feel that his character and life and preaching and prayers were an important formative influence with me for good, and I have never ceased to regard him with affectionate veneration, and never shall.

“ ‘And what he did for me he doubtless did for multitudes of others. There is no higher educating power than that of a pastor thoroughly educated and balanced, earnest by proclaiming God’s truths from Sabbath to Sabbath and dealing fairly with the minds of men. This he did, and in doing it was eminent among a body of men who have done more to make New England what it is than any other. In clear thinking, in able sermons, and in earnest labors, he was altogether a worthy successor of the eminent men who had preceded him.

“ ‘I see some here who will remember those earlier times. I am sure, my friends, you will verify all I have said, and that with me you do now and will continue to cherish with respect and with love the memory of our former pastor. It only remains to us now to emulate all in him that was good, and in deep sympathy with these mourning friends to aid in placing his dust where it will rest with so much other precious dust that makes this a hallowed valley, and where it will await the resurrection of the just.’

“In reading over what I have written I can only say that it seems to me altogether inadequate as an expression of the sense I have of your father’s worth and of the benefit he was to me, but having promised to do so I send it.

“With great regard, yours,
“Mark Hopkins.”

The recollection that his grandchildren have of him is of a quiet, dignified old gentleman, who seemed quite lost when his call for “Mis’ Field” was not answered at once by his energetic wife, upon whom he was very dependent. Occasionally he would gather his children’s children about him, and seemed to enjoy showing them how “the lady’s horse goes,” and the tumble that followed “and by-and-by comes old hobble-de-gee,” was looked upon as great fun. He would also delight his youthful audience by repeating a few of Mother Goose’s Melodies, and they never tired of hearing him.

Life in New England in those days, and especially the life of a pastor’s family, was earnest, with an earnestness that to the young, with the eagerness of youth for enjoyment, may well have seemed repulsive. The Puritanic rigor that has been so much relaxed during the past half-century was then much what it had been in the earliest colonial times.

IN MEMORY OF
David Dudley Field,
Pastor of this Church.
Born in Madison, Conn., May 20, 1781.
Settled in Haddam, 1804-1818.
In Stockbridge, 1819-1837.
Recalled to his Charge, he Preached
again in Haddam till 1851,
When he returned here
To spend his last days.
Died April 15, 1867,
Aged nearly 86 years.
The Hoary Head is a Crown of Glory
when found in the way of
Righteousness.

TABLET IN THE CHURCH IN STOCKBRIDGE

Morning and evening the entire family gathered in the sitting-room for prayers, each one with a Bible, and all were required to join in the reading. A chapter was never divided, and in turn the verses were read; often comments were made. Afterwards came the long prayer, when all, except Dr. Field, knelt; he stood, with his hands on the back of his chair, and one of his favorite expressions, and one which greatly impressed the younger members of his family, the more because they did not understand it, was that the Lord would “overturn, overturn, overturn ... until he come, whose right it is.”

That the Puritanic atmosphere was no harsh and unmirthful thing in this parsonage is shown by the story told by one who was a boy in Stockbridge at the time. A hen was sitting in a box in the woodshed; each morning Cyrus looked for the little chickens. One day in an adjoining box he found the family cat with a number of kittens. These he placed with the hen, and then with a very straight face asked his father to come and see the chickens.

The controversy as to the scriptural limitation of the Sabbath, whether it began at sunset on Saturday or at midnight, was then very active. When Dr. Field was questioned as to which evening was the one to be observed, he always advised those in doubt to keep both.

Once in speaking of the curious texts that he had known clergymen of his generation to choose, he instanced: “Parbar westward, four at the causeway and two at Parbar”; but he failed to give the lesson that was drawn from the words.

In those old days in western Massachusetts cooking-stoves were unknown. The pots were hung above the fire, the meats were broiled over the coals or before them, and the baking was done in a brick oven. Neither were there ice-closets nor travelling butchers. The winter’s stock of meat was laid in with the first cold weather; the chickens were killed and packed in snow in the cellar, to be brought out as they were needed; and pies were made in large quantities, and frozen and put away for future use; and the foot-stove was taken down from the shelf. This was a small iron box with holes in the top, and into it were put live coals. The box was carried in the hand, and used in place of a footstool in “meeting”; but even with this mitigation the cold was felt intensely.

The conflict in a conscientious pastor’s mind between his sense of duty and his kindness of heart was often severe and painful. Mrs. Field used to say that the most difficult act her husband was ever called upon to perform was to refuse church membership to those who had accepted Dr. Channing’s views. She was naturally more pitiful than he. A revivalist who had come to the village in the course of his mission took occasion at a service publicly to arraign one of the prominent men of the town for drunkenness. Mrs. Field strongly disapproved of the time and place chosen for the rebuke, and on her way home from the meeting expressed her disapproval, and when she reached her gate said, “Wait, Cyrus, and when Mr. —— passes bring him to me and I will pick his bones for him” (Micah iii. 2). She would not have approved of the method adopted, according to a story current in her son Cyrus’s family, by a pious man in Connecticut who, when he thought himself imposed upon by his neighbors, would say, with a long drawl, “Leave them to the Lord, leave them to the Lord—he’ll smite them hip and thigh.”

Her son always remembered, as one of the strongest impressions of his childhood, the deep and lasting grief of his mother at parting with her eldest daughter, who married and went to Smyrna, Asia Minor, as a missionary, when he was but ten years old.

An old lady in Stockbridge tells to his niece this story of him at about the same age. “Your grandmother had been very ill. I watched with her; many of us watched. I thought to keep her from talking by coming up behind her to give her medicine, but she found out who I was and talked a great deal. After she was better she still needed some one to sleep in her room, keep up the fire and give her medicine. Your uncle Cyrus did this one whole winter when he was a little boy, I should think not ten. It was lovely of him.” And it was just like him. He always remembered that during this same illness his mother called him to her and said, “Cyrus, the doctor says I am very ill, but I shall be up to-morrow.” And he would add, “She was.”

By all Stockbridge tradition he was the hero of another tale, although he himself always gave the credit of it to one of his brothers. A certain rat-trap (perhaps of new and efficient style) had been lost. After much search and questioning the minister gave orders that whenever found it should be brought at once to him. So one day at a service, when the sermon was in full progress, there came a clanging noise up the aisle, and the missing article was set down in front of the pulpit with the words, “Father, here is your rat-trap!”

Another laughable reminiscence occurred at the burning of the parsonage, which took place about 1830. In 1822 or 1823 Dr. Field had bought a small house in the village and had moved there. The fire was first seen as the children were coming from school, and very soon after it was discovered all hope of subduing it was given up, and the first thought was to save the study furniture and books, and the study table was thrown from the window. Imagine the surprise of the crowd and the consternation of their pastor as the drawers of this, his private repository, came open, and a shower of playing-cards fluttered forth and whitened the grass. They had been found in the possession of his children and confiscated.

It is remembered of Cyrus Field as a child that his dealings with his playmates were most exact. He paid punctually all that he owed, and required the same punctuality in return. He was the chosen leader in all the games, and he was the victor in a race around the village green, one of the stipulations being that a certain amount of crackers should be eaten on the way.

His half-holidays were passed in roaming over the country-side, and he has often said that the meal he enjoyed the most in his life was one gotten on a Saturday afternoon when he had stopped, tired and hungry, at a farm-house, and was given a plate of cold pork and potatoes. He was obliged to be at home before sunset on Saturday, as every member of the family was required to be in the house by that time, and all work to cease; and as the children entered their father greeted them with the words, “We are on the borders of holy time.” Sunset on Sunday was watched for most anxiously, for they were then again quite free to come and go.

The simple life of the Massachusetts village was not without its pleasures. There lies before me a yellow programme, printed sixty years ago, which commemorates what was very likely at once the first appearance of Cyrus W. Field on any stage and his last appearance in his native village, and forms a fitting conclusion to the story of his childhood.

EXHIBITION.—STOCKBRIDGE ACADEMY,
MARCH 26-27, 1835.
THURSDAY EVENING.
ORDER OF EXERCISES.

.

CHAPTER II
EARLY LIFE IN NEW YORK
(1835-1840)

IT was on Wednesday, April 29, 1835, and only a few weeks after “She Stoops to Conquer” had been performed in the village academy at Stockbridge, that Cyrus Field, having persuaded his parents that he was old enough to go out into the world and seek his fortune, left his home. For three years before he had kept the family accounts, and had most carefully entered every item of expense in a small paper book, and he was well aware that it was only with strict economy that the eight dollars given to him by his father at parting could be spared from the family purse. Stockbridge in April lies bare and brown in the valley of the Housatonic, and the tops of the mountains that are near are at that season often still white with snow, and his heart was in harmony with the scene as he looked back for the last sight of his beloved mother’s face. His first letter is dated

“New York, May 12, 1835.

“Dear Father,—I received yours, Henry’s, and Mary’s kind letters of the 7th on the 9th by Jonathan, and I assure you that it did me good to hear from sweet home.

“I stopped at Mr. Moore’s, in Hudson, and they had not seen mother’s handkerchief.

“Your account of the Field family I was glad to receive, but I wish to know also from whom we are descended on my mother’s side.

“Tell Stephen, Henry, and Mary that I intended to write them all a long letter, but as I have not been very well for the last two days, and have a good deal to do to-day, it is impossible.

“The purse which Mary mentioned in her letter Jonathan says that he did not bring.

“I have seen R. Maclaughlin, and he sends his love to Henry. Tell George Whitney that the store boy sends his love to him. I do the same, and also to Edwin Williams, Mr. Fay, S. and A. Hawkings, and all the good people of old Stockbridge.

“Uncle Beales and his daughter arrived here last night.

“Mr. Mark Hopkins came from Stockbridge this morning. No letters.

“Take good care of mother, and tell her she must not get overdone.

“All send their love. Love to all.

“From your affectionate son,
“Cyrus.”

He does not speak of his loneliness, although we know that it was great, for his mother’s last words to another son, who was going to New York a few weeks later, were, “Bring Cyrus home if he is still so homesick.”

It was on one of his first Sundays in New York that, after he had been to church, and gone to his brother David’s for dinner, his unhappiness was apparent to the family and also to Dr. Mark Hopkins, their guest, whose sympathy was never forgotten, nor his words, “I would not give much for a boy if he were not homesick on leaving home.” He has said that many of the evenings during the long summer that followed his coming to New York were passed on the banks of the Hudson watching the boats as they sailed northward, and as he lay by the riverside he pictured himself as on board of one of the vessels, and the welcome that he would receive on reaching Stockbridge.

Towards the end of his life Mr. Field began the preparation of his autobiography. From so much of this as serves the purpose of this narrative, extracts will be made from time to time without express credit.

In 1835 it took twenty-four hours to go from Stockbridge to New York, and first there was a drive of fifty miles to Hudson on the river, and then a long sail by boat.

Almost immediately on reaching the city he entered as an errand-boy the store of A. T. Stewart, which had already a more commanding reputation than any mercantile establishment possesses or perhaps can attain at present.

His home was in a boarding-house in Murray Street near Greenwich, where he had board and lodging for two dollars a week, a fact which is in itself eloquent of the difference between life now in New York and life sixty years ago. Stewart’s was then at 257 Broadway, between Murray and Warren streets. There the young clerk received for his services the first year $50, and the second the sum was doubled. Even so, and with what would now be the incredible frugality of his living, it is plain that he could not have supported himself by his earnings. Of his life at that time he said in after-years, “My oldest brother lent me money, which, just as soon as I was able, and before I was twenty-one, I returned to him with interest.” The letter that follows tells how his first money was spent:

“New York, June 12, 1835.

“Dear Father,—I received by Mr. Baldwin five nightcaps, a pin-cushion, and some wedding-cake, for which I am very much obliged to mother and Mary.

“Mary wrote to me to know of what color I would have my frock-coat; tell mother instead of having a linen frock-coat that I would prefer another linen roundabout, as they are much better in a store; I am not particular about the color.

“When you write to me, direct your letters to Cyrus W. Field, at A. T. Stewart & Co., No. 257 Broadway, New York; if you do so, they will come to me quicker than in any other way. There is in the store besides the firm twenty-four clerks, including two book-keepers, one of whom is Mr. Smith, of Haddam; he says that he remembers you, mother, David, Timothy, and Matthew very well. Give my love to mother, brothers, sister, Mr. Fay, George Whitney, and other friends.

“From your affectionate son,
“Cyrus.

“P.S.—On the other side you will find a list of my expenses.

From the 29th of April to the 12th of June.—Cyrus W. Field, expenses.

“When I left home I had $8, $7 50 of which is expended, leaving in my hands 50 cents. I do not know of anything that I want, but I think you had better send to me $4 more.”

In all his letters of this period he calls his eldest brother by his first name, David, and it was not until many years later that his second name, Dudley, is added.

At first Mr. Field was obliged to be at his work between six and seven in the morning, and after he was promoted from errand-boy to clerk the hours for attendance at the store were from a quarter-past eight in the morning until into the evening. “I always made it a point to be there before the partners came and never to leave before the partners left. Mr. Stewart was the leading dry-goods merchant at that time. My ambition was to make myself a thoroughly good merchant. I tried to learn in every department all I possibly could, knowing I had to depend entirely on myself.”

In his simple country home a theatre had always been thought of and spoken of as an entrance to hell, but being of an inquiring mind he determined, as so many country lads have done before and since, upon giving one of his first evenings in the city to finding out for himself what hell was like. The kindred desire to see a large fire was also soon gratified, and the ardor of his curiosity on this subject was at once cooled, for, as he stood watching the blaze, the hose was turned for a moment in the wrong direction, and he was drenched.

The subject of the next letter is the “great fire of 1835,” which took place on December 16th, and destroyed 600 warehouses and $20,000,000 of property.

“New York, December 25, 1835.

“Dear Father,—Last week, on Wednesday night, a fire broke out in a store in Merchant Street which proved to be the largest that was ever known in this country. It burned about 674 buildings, most of which were wholesale stores, and laid waste all of thirty acres of the richest part of this city.

“I was up all night to the fire, and last Sunday was on duty with David as a guard to prevent people from going to the ruins to steal property that was saved from the fire and laying in heaps in the streets.

“The awful state that the city was in can be better imagined than described.

“Mr. Brewer has arrived, and will take to Stockbridge some parcels, one of which is for Mrs. Ashburner.

“In haste, from your affectionate son,
“Cyrus.

“P.S.—I wish mother would make for me a black frock-coat (she knows the kind that I want) and a plain black stock.

“Perhaps you had better send me the $6 that you were to let me have.

“C. W. Field.”

On July 25, 1836, he writes to his father:

“I shall leave New York on Thursday evening the 11th of August, in the steamboat Westchester, which goes no further up the river than Hudson, and be at that place on Friday morning, the 12th, where I shall want to have some one to meet me and Mr. Goodrich with a good horse and wagon to take us immediately to Stockbridge.... I want to have some one be at Hudson rain or shine, and I would like to have you write to me and let me know who is coming, and where I shall find him if he is not at the wharf.... Mr. G. and myself will pay the expense of coming to Hudson.”

And in another letter:

“The fare in the steamboat to Hudson is only 50 cents.”

A month later, in a letter to his mother, dated New York, August 29th, he says:

“I arrived here on Thursday morning with Goodrich, in good health and fine spirits. I have sent to you by Mr. Platner, of Lee,

“If Mary should like the merino for a cloak I will obtain another remnant for a dress.

“Father has let me have $25 00 since I have been in New York, and if he wishes me I will pay the above amount, and then I shall be indebted to him $16 62½. I will send the balance in money or obtain that amount worth of goods for him here at any time....

“I wish you would all write to me by every opportunity, and tell me of anything and all things that happen at home and in good old Stockbridge.

“Give my love to all friends. In haste.

“From your affectionate son,
“Cyrus.

“To my dear mother.”

He wrote to his mother again on October 31, 1836, and in the postscript says:

“Tell father that I have read through the Pilgrim’s Progress which he gave me when at home, and that I like it very much; and also that Goodrich and myself take turns in reading a chapter in the Bible every night before we go to bed, and that we have got as far as the 25th chapter of Genesis.”

His indebtedness to his father seems to have weighed heavily upon him, for on November 25th he again alludes to it:

“I am now in debt to you $4 75, which I will pay to you at any time you wish, or will obtain things for you here.”

The thought that his home in Stockbridge is to be given up causes him pain. On January 24, 1837, in a letter to his mother, he says:

“I am sorry that father is going to leave that beautiful place Stockbridge, but when you do move to Haddam I hope that you will take everything, even the old and good dog Rover.”

In a letter written to his father on April 15, 1837, he mentions various articles he has sent to him, and then adds:

“And also a silk handkerchief, which I wish you to accept for the interest on the $25 you lent me.”

Towards the end of the letter is this sentence:

“The election has closed and the Whigs have elected Aaron Clark their candidate for Mayor by a majority of nearly 5000 votes. Good.”

His clothes were all of home manufacture. On May 1, 1837, in a letter to his mother, he writes:

“I wish you would make for me, as soon as convenient, a black broadcloth coat with skirts, and covered buttons, and as I wish it for a dress-coat the cloth must be very fine and made extremely nice. You cannot be too particular about it.”

In his letter written from New York on July 15, 1837, he says:

“David arrived on Monday, July 10th, in the packet ship Oxford, from Liverpool. He had a passage of thirty-seven days. He is in very good health. The Ladies’ Greek Association of Stockbridge held their fair the 4th of July on Little Hill, and raised one hundred and twenty-seven dollars ($127). Well done for old Stockbridge.”

The Mercantile Library in Clinton Hall, at the southwest corner of Nassau and Beekman streets, proved an attractive place to him, and whenever it was possible he went there in the evening to read; and he also joined an “Eclectic Fraternity,” to which Mr. Jackson S. Schultz belonged. The Fraternity met for debate every Saturday evening in a fourth-story room over a leather store in the Swamp.

Mr. Stewart’s rules were strict. One of them was that every clerk must enter in a book the minute that he came in the morning, left for dinner, returned from dinner, went to supper and came back; and if he was late in the morning, at dinner over an hour, or required more than three-quarters of an hour for supper, he must pay twenty-five cents for each offence. The fines thus collected, Mr. Stewart told his clerks, would be kept and given to any charity that they should select. This went on until September 30, 1837, and then this paper was drawn up:

“New York, September 30, 1837.

“We, the undersigned, hereby nominate and appoint Cyrus W. Field treasurer to receive the fines of the young men paid during the month of September to Messrs. A. T. Stewart & Co.:

The clerks were paid at the beginning of each month, and on the 1st of October the paper was presented, and the cashier was asked for the money, which he declined to give. An appeal was taken to Mr. Stewart, who ordered it to be given to the young men.

“I took the funds, and all of the clerks left the store that night in a body and proceeded up Broadway to the corner of Chambers Street. We then agreed to go into a large, well-known oyster-saloon in the basement. The clerks at once voted unanimously that we should have an oyster supper, and that the treasurer should pay from this fund the expense of the supper, which was done. Then there was a long debate as to what charity the balance should be given to. At last it was unanimously resolved that there was no such charity in the city or State of New York as the clerks of A. T. Stewart & Co., and that Mr. Field, the treasurer, should return to each clerk the exact amount of his fines, less his proportion of the supper. This occupied until nearly or quite daylight.

“Some one of the clerks or waiters told Mr. Stewart of what had occurred, and we were all requested to remain at the store the next evening after business hours, when Mr. Stewart called me up and asked me to give him an account of what had been done with the funds paid to me the previous evening. I told him the exact truth in regard to the matter, when he dismissed us, saying that in the future he should be very careful that the firm selected the object of charity that this fund was given to.”

At a dinner at the Union League Club on October 26, 1881, Jackson S. Schultz, the beginning of whose acquaintance with Mr. Field has just been referred to, related this incident: “Perhaps I cannot do better than tell you an anecdote that was told me by Mr. Stewart at the great celebration which we had at the Metropolitan Hotel after the laying of the Atlantic cable. He said to me, ‘Perhaps you don’t know that I have taught Mr. Field all the art of telegraphing he knows.’ ‘No, I am not aware of that, Mr. Stewart.’ He said, ‘It is quite notorious in our house.’ Mr. Field was for a long time a clerk in that establishment, and Mr. Stewart said Mr. Field was in the habit of watching the old gentleman, and by a sort of tick, tick, giving notice to his fellow-clerks of the fact that he was coming, so that every man was in his place, and from that simple idea Mr. Field got the idea of telegraphing, which had made his fortune.”

The first intimation we find of his having decided to leave Mr. Stewart is in a letter to his father, written on January 8, 1838:

“I expect to go to Lee to live with Matthew on the 1st of March. He will give me two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) the first year, and my board and washing.”

And again, on February 25th, he refers to the proposed change that he intends making:

“I have been very busy for the last five or six weeks in the evening attending Mr. Wheeler’s school to obtain a thorough knowledge of book-keeping by double entry, so as to be able to keep Matthew’s books when I go to Lee.... I have made arrangements with Matthew so that I shall not commence my year with him until the 1st of April.”

He arrived in Lee, Mass., on Friday evening, March 30th.

It was early in this year that Mr. Stewart, having heard that Mr. Field intended giving up his place as clerk after his three years’ apprenticeship to business, sent for him and urged him to agree to remain with him for several years, and made him a very liberal offer if he would do so. On the 2d of March Mr. Bunours, one of Mr. Stewart’s partners, sent him this note:

“Dear Field,—You will accept the accompanying trifle as a token of esteem and sincere friendship, and whatever be your future pursuits, to know that they are successful will be a source of much gratification to

William H. Bunours.

March 2, ’38.”

“The trifle” was a small diamond pin that the recipient of it wore for over twenty-five years. Upon the same occasion this invitation was received:

“The undersigned, anxious to show their respect and esteem for their fellow-clerk, Cyrus W. Field, do hereby agree to give him a complimentary supper on Friday evening, March 2, 1838.

A letter written on March 6, 1838, by his brother David to his parents ends with these words:

“Cyrus has, as you will see from his letters, etc., left Stewart’s, with the best testimonials of esteem from all his employers and associates. He is a noble young man—and I am proud of him.”

His father had said on parting from him in 1835: “Cyrus, I feel sure you will succeed, for your playmates could never get you off to play until all the work for which you were responsible was done.”

These few words tell us briefly how the following eighteen months were passed:

“On leaving New York I went as far west as Michigan on business for my brother Dudley. I went up the Hudson in a boat to Albany, from thence to, I think, Syracuse in the cars, thence by stage to Buffalo, from Buffalo by steamer to Detroit, and from there to Ann Arbor. On my return East I went to Lee, Mass., as an assistant to my brother, Matthew D. Field. He was a large paper manufacturer; he often sent me on business to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and New York.”

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.”

A cousin writes: “It is a long time to remember what passed fifty years ago. It was a lovely morning, the 2d of December, 1840. Your dear father came to our old home in Guilford. My memory says ten o’clock was the hour for the ceremony, and it took place in the north room, now the parlor. Your grandfather, Dr. Field, was the clergyman. I was bridesmaid. Your dear mother and I wore dresses made alike of gray cashmere. Lunches were an unheard of arrangement in those days; the refreshment was three kinds of cake and wine. Then we drove to New Haven; your uncle, Joseph Stone, lived there. I went to visit some cousins; your parents went to a hotel, and came and spent the evening with us.”

Mr. Justice Field of the United States Supreme Court was groomsman for his brother. Fifty years after this same group stood once more together at the Golden Wedding on December 2, 1890. The married life thus begun was singularly happy. It is impossible for the children of this marriage to recall a word of unkindness as having been spoken by either father or mother. Their little son’s death in 1854 drew them closer to one another. He writes that during his business troubles his wife was perfectly calm, and that she looked upon the loss of money as but slight in comparison to the happiness that had been left to her.

On December 3d Mr. and Mrs. Field left New Haven and came to New York by boat; immediately on their arrival they drove to the house of Mrs. Mason in Bond Street, and it was there that they boarded for the next two years.

“In six months” (that is, on April 2, 1841) “E. Root & Co. failed, with large liabilities, and though I was not the principal of the firm, yet on me fell the loss and the burden of paying its debts. Such was the condition in which I started in life, without capital or credit or business, and with a heavy load of debt upon me. We were for many months afterwards getting the affairs settled. I dissolved the firm immediately and started on my own account. Some of the creditors came to see me, and those that did not come I went to see, and on the best terms I could settled and compromised and got released.

“My office at this time was in Burling Slip, and it was in 1842 or 1843 that the partnership of Cyrus W. Field & Co. was formed, the company being my brother-in-law, Joseph F. Stone.”

With characteristic regularity the home life as well as the business life went on. I have on the table before me two account-books, which show both how methodical were the young merchant’s habits and how simple was his life at the outset of his career.

“No. 1, Cyrus W. Field, 1840, ’41 and ’42,” and
“No. 2, Cyrus W. Field, 1843.”

The following are extracts from No. 1:

“The above are our expenses for one year, from December 2, 1840, to December 2, 1841.

“Cyrus W. Field.”

From this time until 1842 the accounts were kept with the same exactness; some of the items for this latter year are:

“The above were our expenses for one year, December 2, 1841, to December 2, 1842.

“Cyrus W. Field.”

And on December 1, 1843, at the end of the book we read:

[A] This amount is for sundries sold, and entered the past year in our expenses, and for which I refund back the money.

“The above are our expenses for one year, from December 2, 1842, to December 2, 1843.

“Cyrus W. Field.”

In 1842 he rented a house in East Seventeenth Street, No. 87, and his brother Dudley questioned the wisdom of his living so far up-town, and said that he must not look for frequent visits from him, that he could only go to him on Sunday. He lived in this house for ten years, and in the interval his brother Dudley moved to one immediately in the rear, and Mrs. Robert Sedgwick and Mrs. Caroline Kirkland were near neighbors and dear friends.

For many years Mr. Field took his breakfast by lamplight, and his dinner and supper down-town. His children saw him only on Sunday. At this time, he wrote long afterwards, “I was an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, and in politics a Whig,” and accordingly he took a warm interest in the election of 1844.

“In 1844 I was not worth a dollar. What money I had made had all gone to pay the debts of the old firm. My business was conducted on long credit; we did a general business all over the country. I built up a first-rate credit everywhere. All business intrusted to me was done promptly and quickly. I attended to every detail of the business, and made a point of answering every letter on the day it was received.”

Mr. Schultz said of him at the dinner already referred to:

“But, sir, I do recall the early days of Mr. Field. I remember him when he was first a clerk and then a merchant.... He had peculiarities then as he has always had. One I recollect was, he had over his desk ‘Are you insured?’ For no one that was not insured could get credit of him. He could not afford, he said, to insure himself and others too. Thus in all his transactions he had ideas and principles to carry out, but always good principles and ideas. I well remember when he came into the Mercantile Library Association; he had his own ideas, which did a great deal to add to the dignity and usefulness of that institution. In all his early life he was what he has been since—useful, practical.”

It seems odd now to be reminded by the sight of old letters that at this time envelopes were not in use. The sheets of paper were large, of letter size; three sides were closely written on, and then it was folded into nine, and it was not permitted to enclose even a slip of paper in this sheet; the postage was usually thirteen cents. The currency was puzzling; there was the short or “York” shilling of eight to the dollar (that is, twelve and a half cents), and the New England or long shilling of six to the dollar (sixteen and two-thirds cents). So rooted was each kind of currency in its own section as often to cause travellers annoyance and confusion.

The first and part of the second page of the New York Tribune for August 26, 1844, is most interesting. There is given an account of “The Berkshire Jubilee,” held at Pittsfield, Mass., on August 22d and 23d. The paper mentions among those present, Dr. Orville Dewey, of New York, William Cullen Bryant, Miss Catherine Sedgwick, Dr. Mark Hopkins, Mr. Macready, the actor, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mrs. Fanny Kemble, Dr. D. D. Field, and David Dudley Field. This “Jubilee” lasted for two days. There were forty-four vice-presidents appointed, and forty-four tables were laid to accommodate the three thousand people who dined together. On the first day, at two o’clock in the afternoon, Dr. Hopkins preached a sermon on Jubilee Hill, west of the village, and Dr. D. D. Field “offered up an eloquent prayer.”

After dinner on the 23d there were speeches and singing.

“A young lady, as amiable as she is beautiful, and as intelligent as she is both amiable and beautiful, gave the following sentiment by proxy:

“ ‘You scarce can go through the world below
But you’ll find the Berkshire men,
And when you rove the world above
You’ll meet them there again.’

“At the close of Dr. Holmes’s speech he read the poem that appears in his works under the title of ‘Lines recited at the Berkshire Festival,’ beginning:

“ ‘Come back to your mother, ye children, for shame,
Who have wandered like truants for riches or fame;
With a smile on her face and a sprig on her cap
She calls you to feast from her bountiful lap.”

And it appears from the report that “the recitation of this poem was the most popular exercise of the day.”

We have a book of French exercises with page after page written by Mr. Field. They begin with “Avez vous le pain?” and the last sentence is, “Votre ami a-t-il le miroir que vous avez ou celui que j’ai? Il n’a ni celui que vous avez ni celui que j’ai, mais il a le sien.” He never spoke French, but one can fancy that these exercises were written before he went to Europe, in April, 1849, and in preparation for the exigencies of intercourse with the natives that might arise.

Mr. and Mrs. Field sailed for England in a packet-ship commanded by Captain Hovey. They were eighteen days in crossing, and landed at Plymouth, and posted through Cornwall. This journey was taken by the advice of his physician. The excitement and work of the past fourteen years had told very decidedly upon him, and perfect rest was imperative. Their four little girls were left under the care of an aunt in New Haven, Conn., and on arriving in England the parents’ first thought was of their children; and great was the joy with which these hailed the advent of a box of toys, and in it was a blue-and-white tea-set which gave unusual happiness. Here is one of the messages that came back across the sea:

“Precious Little Isabella,—What are you about just now? Can mother guess?

“Well, Belle is singing her German song.

“No. Does Belle say no? She is rocking her doll to sleep, and she is making a nice dress for dolly.

“I have put up a little bundle of pieces for Grace, Alice, and Isabelle, and now you can make a great many dresses. Mother wishes much to see her little Belle and Fanny, and to give them a good number of kisses. Mother always wished to kiss all her little girls before she went to bed, but now she cannot reach them.

“Will Belle kiss her sister for her mother and will she kiss her cousins, too?

“Mamma hopes Belle will always mind her aunt, Miss Oppenheim, her cousins, and Anne.

“Anne loves Belle and is very kind to her and does all for little Belle that she can.

“Now, dear little Belle, good-bye, and do not forget

“Mamma.

“Mother sends Belle her bird in the cage.”

Some of the reminiscences of this journey come back quite distinctly. One of them was the indignation of an Irishman at being asked the name of the river they were passing, which, unluckily for the questioner, happened to be the Boyne. Another was of a service at a kirk in Scotland, during which an old lady said to Mrs. Field, “Remember that you are in the house of God.” Her offence was that she had offered to share her book of psalms with her husband. Indeed it must have seemed impossible for those who did not know to believe that they were husband and wife and that they had been married nine years, for both looked very young at this time.

They travelled rapidly during the following five months. They visited Manchester, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, and London, Paris, Geneva, and from there to Milan over the Simplon, to Leghorn, Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, from Frankfort down the Rhine to Cologne, to Brussels, back to England and Liverpool, and from there by the steamship Europa to Boston, and to their home in New York in September.

They had been interested spectators of the events succeeding the great uprising of the people in France, Germany, and Italy, and of their failure to free themselves and obtain self-government.

Mr. George Bancroft was a fellow-passenger on the voyage home. He had made an engagement to dine in Boston on a certain day, and while at sea was troubled lest he should not arrive in time; but as Mr. and Mrs. Field drove to the train they passed Mr. Bancroft on his way to dinner, and he waved his hand to them. On his return to New York, Mr. Field amused his friends by stating the characteristic fact that the first word he learned of each new language, as he crossed from one country to another, was “faster.”

Mr. and Mrs. Field lived simply. The summer outings were short, sometimes for only a few weeks were they and their children away from the city, but their children look back with pleasure to the drives that they took, during the long summer days, to Hoboken (the Elysian Fields), to Astoria, to Coney Island, all very different places from those of the present time. And the family cow was driven each morning to pasture on land that is now known as Madison Square.

January 24, 1850, a son was born. Dr. Field, supposing that he was to be named Cyrus, addressed the following letter, superscribed:

“Master Cyrus W. Field, Jr.,
“Of the Firm of Cyrus W. Field & Co.,
“No. 11 Cliff Street,
“New York.”
“Higganum, January 28, 1850.

“Master Cyrus W. Field, Jr.:

“Dear Grandson,—We were happy in hearing of your safe arrival last Thursday morning, and hope you will be a great honor and blessing to your parents and to your delighted sisters. Your grandmother sends you much love, and says she hopes you will make as good a man as your father.

“Give our love to your parents, to Grace, etc., etc., and by-and-by come up and see whether Higganum pleases you as well as New York. The Lord bless you and all your friends. Tell them that we are well and happy.

“Your affectionate grandfather,
“David D. Field.”

And Mrs. Kirkland sent a note beginning:

“A boy! a boy!
I wish you joy!”

She also wrote: “The pleasantest thing I have to tell you is that Miss Bremer promises me a visit, and will probably be here in two or three weeks.” The visit was paid and gave great pleasure. Mrs. Field told of one evening passed at Mrs. Kirkland’s, when the Swedish novelist was quite unconscious that from her cap hung a paper on which was written 2/6.

The autumn of 1850 was long remembered by parents and children. Early in September the two-seated covered wagon and buggy were filled by the entire family, who left New York for a drive of four weeks; first to Guilford, Conn., then to Stockbridge, returning from Hudson to New York by the night boat.

It was Mr. Field’s custom to give an annual supper to his clerks. That which took place in December, 1850, was signalized by the proceedings thus officially recited:

A meeting of the salesmen in the employ of Messrs. Cyrus W. Field & Co. was held December 20, 1850. S. Ahern was appointed to preside. After the objects of the meeting were made known by the chairman in a few brief and appropriate remarks, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That in consideration of the innumerable acts of kindness manifested towards us by Cyrus W. Field, Esq., we deem it expedient to acknowledge them, not alone in expressions of gratitude, but by tangible proof of our appreciation of them.

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to decide upon an appropriate testimonial of our esteem, to be presented to Cyrus W. Field; and that Augustus Waterman, John Seaman, and James Barry be appointed said committee.

Resolved, That Augustus Waterman, in view of his long services to Cyrus W. Field, be deputed in behalf of himself and fellow-salesmen to make such presentation as the committee shall decide on.

Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions accompany the presentation, and that said presentation and resolutions be presented on the occasion of the annual supper given by Cyrus W. Field to his employés, and that they be accepted by him as a faint token of our esteem.

Augustus Waterman,
James Barry,
Simeon J. Ahern,
Andrew Cahill,
John Cahill,
John Seaman (per A. W.).

The testimonial took the form of a silver pitcher suitably inscribed.

Early in June, 1851, Mr. and Mrs. Field left New York, and made quite an extended journey over the then Southern, Western, and Northern States. First to Virginia, where they had the pleasure of staying with Mr. and Mrs. Hill Carter at their plantation, Shirley, on the James River; then to the Natural Bridge, and it was while there that Mr. Field asked Mr. Church to make a sketch for a picture, and suggested that it would be wise to take a small piece of the rock back to New York. This Mr. Church did not think necessary, but Mr. Field was so intent upon having the color exactly reproduced that he put a bit in his pocket. When the oil-painting was sent to his house he found the piece, and there had been no mistake made in the color. From Virginia the party went to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. It was in the course of the trip either up or down the Mississippi, on one of the famous high-pressure boats of those days, that the stewardess coolly remarked, when some of the passengers expressed alarm at the racing, that it made no difference whether or not the boat they were on happened to blow up, since it was in any case her last trip. In the ardor of the race the fires were fed with any fuel available: even the hams that formed part of the cargo were sacrificed. At St. Paul they heard that a treaty was to be made with the Indians, and Mr. Field immediately hired a boat for $400 to take him to the scene. As many others were anxious to go he allowed the captain to sell tickets at $10 to as many people as the boat would accommodate, and the captain made a handsome profit, as he was required merely to reimburse Mr. Field for his outlay. The Indians were frightened at the advent of the party and at the noise of the whistle, and the treaty had to come to a standstill until the boat could be sent out of sight.

Mr. Field was again at St. Paul in 1884, when the changes he found seemed to him marvellous. Mr. F. E. Church, the artist, who had originally been of the party, but had left it before the arrival at St. Paul, wrote early in August:

“I am delighted that you were able to be at the Indian treaty, which, from the description in your letter and the numerous letters published in the daily prints, convinces me that the occasion must have been one of extraordinary interest....

“I am telling marvellous stories here of our adventures to gaping audiences, and exhibiting my blind fishes with tremendous effect....

“All accounts from the children in Stockbridge bring alarming intelligence; it is said that they are getting fat, and nothing which has been tried has succeeded in stopping the spread of the complaint. I recommend a month on a Western steamboat in hot weather.”

One of the party, a lady, was not at all times a pleasant travelling companion. The stage drive, one morning in Kentucky, began at four, and by six o’clock the sun poured down against the side of the coach in which the lady was seated. As the heat increased, in the same degree her irritability was manifested. At last she asked a Southern gentlemen who was by her to let down the curtain. His answer was: “With pleasure, madam, if you won’t look so damned sight cross.” This proved to be the remedy required; from that time she was good-natured.

From a letter written to a New York paper this is copied:

“Niagara Falls, August 11, 1851.

“Among the recent arrivals at the Clifton House are Mlle. Jenny Lind and Cyrus W. Field and family....

“Jenny Lind arrived yesterday from New York by way of Oswego. She keeps strictly private, and has her meals served in her own room. Last evening she was amusing herself by singing, accompanied by Mr. Scharfenberg, in her own rooms, with closed doors. Soon a crowd of a hundred had gathered round her door, without a whisper being heard. She sang for about half an hour, when, suddenly opening her door, she stepped in the hall for a candle, and then you would have laughed outright to see the people scamper, she looking so indignant.”

When Mr. Field built the house on Gramercy Park, which was at first numbered 84 East Twenty-first Street, that and the one next to it were the only ones between Lexington and Third avenues, and the east side of Gramercy Park was a large vacant lot. This house was afterwards known as 123 East Twenty-first Street, and there forty happy years were passed.

CHAPTER IV
OUT OF DEBT—A VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA
(1853)

ALTHOUGH upon the failure for which he was not responsible of the firm of which he was a member Mr. Field had effected a compromise with the creditors of the firm which had procured his release from all legal obligations, and which satisfied them as the best that they could hope for, it did not satisfy him. He felt that in reality he was still their debtor, and one of the chief incentives to his intense devotion to business in the years following his fresh start was the hope of clearing off the debt, so that no man should have lost by trusting him. In this he succeeded. He himself says in the incomplete autobiography already cited:

“There was no luck about my success, which was remarkable. It was not due to the control or use of large capital, to the help of friends, to speculations or to fortunate turns of events, it was by constant labor and with the ambition to be a successful merchant; and I was rewarded by seeing a steady, even growth of business. I had prospered so that on the 1st of January, 1853, I was worth over $250,000. I then turned to my books for a list of the old claims which I had settled by compromising ten years before, found the amount which my generous creditors had deducted from their claims, added to each one interest for that time, and sent to every man a check for the whole amount principal and with seven per cent. interest, a sum amounting in all to many thousands of dollars.”

The letters that follow tell their own story and how the money was received. Two of them indicate that he made use of his prosperity to release his own debtors at the same time that he was paying in full his creditors:

“Hartford, Conn., 2d March, 1853.

“Cyrus W. Field, Esq., New York:

“Dear Sir,—Your favor of yesterday’s date was duly received, and we would now acknowledge the same, and with no ordinary feeling of satisfaction, for in these degenerate days it is in truth a rare occurrence to find men who like yourself—as is evidenced by this act—are honest from principle, and who never consider themselves morally quit of a just debt, even though legally released, until the debt is paid in full. We would now express to you our thanks for the sum enclosed, not so much for the value thereof in currency as for the proof it affords that ‘honesty still dwells among men.’ With our best wishes for your continued prosperity and an assurance of our high regard,

“We are truly your friends,
“Woodruff & Co.,
“By Sam. Woodruff.”

“Lowell, March 3, 1853.

“C. W. Field, Esq.:

“Dear Sir,—Yours of the 1st inst. was duly received, with check enclosed for $114 41, for which please accept my grateful acknowledgments.

“I congratulate you upon the success of your business pursuits, which has enabled you thus honorably to liquidate your by-gone pecuniary obligations, and I hope your life and health may be long continued in the enjoyment of the well-earned fruits of your persevering enterprise.

“It will always give me great pleasure to see you at my house in Lowell, and I hope to find opportunity during the coming season to visit the Empire City and the World’s Fair and to avail myself of that occasion to call upon you.

“With much regard, I remain
“Yours truly,
“John Wright.”

“Pittsfield, March 3, 1853.

“My dear Friend,—The many and various exhibitions of kindness and good-feeling from you heretofore have placed me under very great obligations.

“Language fails me to express my feelings on the receipt of your letter of the 1st, and this morning with your check for $317 20 for a claim amicably and satisfactorily adjusted about ten years since, and for which I have no legal or moral claim on you, nor, indeed, had it entered my mind for several years.

“This act, entirely voluntary on your part, exhibits moral honesty, that all fair men approve, but few make known by their acts. I value it the more because it exhibits in my friend a conscience alive to right. You have made this present (for I have no claim) not because you considered I needed it, but because the ability that did not exist in 1843 does exist in 1853, and the act itself would be carrying out the principles of the Golden Rule. Please accept my warmest thanks for this token of love and friendship. May peace, prosperity, and happiness attend you all your days.

“I am truly your friend,
“Walter Laflin.

“To Cyrus W. Field, Esq., New York.”

“Springfield, Mass., March 5, 1853.

“Cyrus W. Field, Esq., New York City:

“Dear Sir,—Allow me hereby to acknowledge the receipt of yours of March 1st with its contents.

“We are perfectly conscious that in a legal point of view we had no claim upon you for this very unexpected document, but to your personal high sense of honor we are indebted for it, and for this act of honesty and fairness you have our very grateful acknowledgments.

“With the best wishes for your future prosperity and good health, we remain,

“Dear sir, very respectfully,
“Your obedient servants,
“Parker, Douglass & Co.
“Per O. O. Parker.”

“P. S.—I shall be in your city soon and will be pleased to call upon you.

“S. Parker.
“Per O. O. Parker.”

“Housatonic Bank, March 7, 1853.

“Cyrus W. Field, Esq.:

“Dear Sir,—At the request of the Board of Directors of the Housatonic Bank I enclose resolutions passed by them this day.

“Allow me to add, individually, my sincere thanks; and I am requested to ask if you will allow us to make mention of it, to show that such high moral principles in business have much to do with a man’s prosperity.

“With great respect I remain,
“Your obedient servant,
“J. D. Adams, Cashier.”

“At a meeting of the directors of the Housatonic Bank, held at their banking-house on the 7th day of March, 1853, the cashier laid before the board a letter from Cyrus W. Field, Esq., dated 1st of March instant, enclosing a check on the Union Bank, New York, for seven hundred 62-100 dollars, being an unpaid balance and the interest in full on a note against the late firm of E. Root & Co., due in 1841, which note had long since been given up to Mr. Field, the firm having become insolvent. Whereupon it was unanimously

“Resolved, That the conduct of Mr. Field in voluntarily paying a debt for which the bank had no claim evinces a high degree of moral integrity, alike honorable to him as a merchant and gentleman.

“Resolved, That such an instance of high-minded magnanimity should be held up as an example worthy of the more commendation because of rare occurrence.

“Resolved, That we tender to Mr. Field our congratulations in view of his present prosperity, and our best wishes for its continuance.