Eugene Field - (1850-1895)
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Belleville Township High School East in Belleville, Illinois
I. Upbringing, Education, and Professional Life
Eugene Field, born in St. Louis, Missouri on September 2, 1850, was the son of lawyer Roswell Martin Field and Frances (Reed) Field. After Field's mother passed away in 1856, he
and his brother Roswell (Jr.) went to live with their mother's cousin in Amherst, Massachusetts. While living in Massachusetts, Field attended a private school in Monsoon.
After graduation in 1868, he attended Williams College until the next year, when his father died. One teacher referred to him as "an average boy…who
did not care very much for his books or his lessons. He was bright, but babyish, poor in much and often sick" ("Pork…" 1). Many teachers described Field as a prankster. After
his father's death, Field left Williams College and moved to Galesburg, Illinois to attend Knox College. He completed his first school year and then transferred, again, to the
University of Missouri, where his brother was also attending school. Failing to graduate from college, Field moved on to attempt acting, where he failed once again.
In 1871, he became engaged to fourteen-year-old Julia Sutherland Comstock. The following summer, Field and a friend took a trip to Europe, where he spent all of his
inheritance from his father. Upon returning, he married Julia Comstock on October 16, 1873, in spite of her disapproving parents. Field and his wife were a happy couple, and were the loving parents of eight children. After their honeymoon, Field looked to newspaper work, which he would do for the rest of his life. He held successful positions as editor on the St. Joseph Gazette, the Kansas City Times, and the
Denver Tribune. In 1883, Field moved to Buena Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and joined the Chicago Morning News. It was during his time spent in Chicago
that Field wrote the poems and books for which he is now famous. For the paper, he wrote the editorial page "Sharps and Flats." He was one of the earliest columnists and his
column was nationally famous. Field was also very devoted to his work with the paper, and even when he took a trip to Europe in 1889-1890, he continued to contribute to the
paper every day. Field would continue to contribute to the paper through the day he died, on November 4, 1895. Field died from heart failure in his sleep, at the age of forty-five.
II. Local Significance
Eugene Field is often considered an Illinois writer because of his later life in Buena Park. Here he wrote some of his most famous works, such as "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" (also
know as "Dutch Lullaby") and "Little Boy Blue." Field lived in a house that he built not long before he died, which he nicknamed "The Sabine Farm". His experiences in
remodeling and planning provided material for his series of sketches called "The House". Eugene's Missouri home is now open to the public. On display at the Eugene Field House
is Eugene's extensive collection of dolls. The Field home in Buena Park is no longer in existence due to a fire.
III. Field's Literary Works
Eugene Field has written many different types of works, including stories for men's
magazines, children's stories and newspaper editorials. His primary work was writing children's poems. Examples of his works include: Little Boy Blue (1888)
A Little Book of Western Verse (1889)
A Little Book of Profitable Tales (1890)
Echoes From the Sabine Farm (1892)
Second Book of Verse (1892)
With Trumpet and Drum (1892)
Dibdin's Ghost (1893)
The Holy Cross and Other Tales (1893)
Facts, Confessions, and Observations (1894)
Love Songs of Children (1894)
Little Willie (1895)
Auto-Analysis (1896)
Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac (1896)
Second Book of Tales (1896)
Lullaby-land (1897)
IV. Links to Related Topics
A site by Richard J. Yanco which includes an extensive list of works (many of which are readable) and links to other sites about Eugene Field.
http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco/literature/eugenefield/menu.html
A site with not just Eugene Field, but all of the inductees to the Saint Louis Walk of Fame.
http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/eugene-field.html
V. Sources
"Field, Eugene." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1989 ed. Garber, Eugene K. "Eugene Field." World Book Encyclopedia. 1998 ed. "Eugene Field."
St. Louis Walk of Fame. 4 Nov. 1999
Yanco, Richard J. Eugene Field Poems. 3 Nov. 1999
http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco/literature/eugenefield/poems/menu.html
This essay was submitted by students of Kimberly Richey, a teacher at Belleville Township High School East, in Illinois.