and was well known as a party manager, devoting the larger share of his time to the promotion ot the interests of public men and the political organiza- tion of which he was a member.
FIELD, Benjamin Hazard, philanthropist, b.
in Westchester co., N. Y.. 2 Mny, 1814; d. in New
York city, 17 March, 1893. He was educated at
North Salem academy,
came to New York in
1832, and entered the
office of his uncle,
whom he succeeded in
business in 1830. He
retired in 1875. Mr.
Field was connected
with many charities in
and about New York.
He was one of the
incorporators of the
Home for incurables,
had been its president
from the beginning,
and built a chapel for
its use. He was presi-
dent in 1886 of the
historical society, an
incorporator of the
American museum of
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natural history, the Sheltering Arms, and the So- ciety for the prevention of cruelty to children, and was president of the free circulating library and the eye and ear infirmary. He supported a high- school in Yorktown, N. Y., for many years, and was interested in educational matters. In 1887 he offered to endow a free library and home for the poor in Westchester county.
FIELD, David Dudley, clergyman, b. in East
Guilford (now Madison), Conn., 20 May, 1781 ; d.
in Stockbridge, Mass., 15 April, 1867. He was a
son of Capt. Timothy Field, who had been an
officer in the Revolutionary army, and subse-
quently settled in Guilford. Young Field was
fitted for college with Jeremiah Evarts, father of
William M. Evarts, under the instruction of the
Rev. John Elliott. The two boys roomed to-
gether during their college course, and were
graduated at Yale in 1802. Mr. Field then
studied theology with the Rev. Charles Backus, of
Somers, and was licensed to preach by the associ-
ation of New Haven east, in September, 1803.
After preaching for a short time in Somers, where
he married Submit Dickinson, he accepted a call to
the Congregational church in Iladdam, Conn., and
was ordained on 11 April, 1804. Here he remained
for fourteen years, resigning in 1818, and then spent
five months on a missionary tour through west-
ern New York. On his journey homeward he
preached in Stockbridge, Mass., where, a few
months later, he was to succeed the Rev. Stephen
West. The journey from Haddam was made in
wagons, filled with his possessions, and in August,
1819, he was installed pastor of the church, then
the only one in the village. He ministered to this
parish for eighteen years, and then returned to
Haddam, and remained there until 1844. During
the latter year the congregation was divided, and
he took charge of the new church in Higganum
until 1851, when he retired, returning to Stock-
bridge, where he passed his remaining days. Mr.
Field received the degree of D. D. in 1837 from
Williams. In 1848 he spent some months in Eu-
rope with his son Stephen. Pie had a natural
fondness for historical research, and was at one
time vice-president of the Connecticut historical
society ; also a corresponding member of the
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania historical socie-
ties. Besides occasional sermons and historical
addresses, he published " History of the County of
Berkshire" (1829); "History of the County of
Middlesex " (1839) ; "History of Pittsfield " (1844) ;
and "Genealogy of the Brainerd Family" (New
York, 1857). — His son, David Dudley, lawyer, b.
in Haddam, Conn., 13 Feb., 1805; d. in New York,
13 April, 1894, was graduated at Williams in 1825.
He studied law first in Albany with Harmanus
Bleecker, but after a few months removed to New
York, where he completed his studies. Soon after
Ml-. Field's admission to the bar, in 1828. he be-
came a junior partner in the law firm of Henry
and D. Sedgwick, with which he studied. From
then until 1885 he was continuously engaged in
the active practice of his profession. Mr. Field
has attained special prominence in connection with
his labors in the cause of law reform. As early
as 1839 he wrote a " Letter on the Reform of
the Judiciary System," and afterward addressed
a committee of the New Y^ork legislature on the
subject. In 1841 he prepared three bills, which
were introduced, but the judiciary committee, to
whom they were referred, failed to take any action
on them. In 1846 he wrote a series of articles
on " The Reorganization of the Judiciary," which
were widely distributed in pamphlet-form. His
influence was felt in the Constitutional convention
of 1846, and their report called for a general code
and the " Reform of the Practice." Before the
legislature met in January, 1847. he published
"What shall be done with the Practice of the
Courts? Shall it be wholly Reformed? Ques-
tions addressed to Lawyers." In September, 1847,
he was appointed commissioner on practice and
pleadings, and as such took part in the prepara-
tion of the code of procedure. The commission
reported the first installment to the legislature in
February, and it was enacted in April, 1848. The
remainder was •i-eported in four sections at differ-
ent times until January, 1850, when the completed
" Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure " were
submitted to the legislature. Both these codes
have been enacted into law. The radical design
of the new system of civil procedure was to ob-
literate the distinction between the forms of action
and between legal and equitable suits, so that all
the rights of the parties in relation to the subjects
of litigation can be determined in one action, in-
stead of dividing them between different suits.
This system has been adopted in twenty-four of
the states and territories, and is the basis of the
legal reform established by the new judicature act
in England, and of the practice in several of the
English colonies, including India. Eighteen of
the states and territories have adopted his code
of criminal procedure. For some years following
the enactment of these laws he continued to pub-
lish numerous pamphlets, including the "Law-
Reform Tracts," also frequent articles in the jour-
nals, and drafted bills that were introduced into
the legislature for the purpose of effecting the
completion of codification. In 1857 Mr. Field
was appointed by the state of New York head of
a commission to prepare a political code, a penal
code, and a civil code. These, with the two codes
of procedure previously made, were designed to
supersede the unwritten or common law. They
were completed in 1865, and covered the entire
province of American law, and presented to
the people in compact form the whole law by
which they were governed. The state of New
York has, as yet, adopted only the penal code,
although other states have drawn largely from
