including California and Florida, and the
I'iahama Islands, and portions of Canada.
Frederick H. Harris married, January 26,
1846, Martha Asenath Bliss, who was born
April I, 1825, and died January 22, 1890; she
was the daughter of Theodore Bliss of Spring-
field, born March 4, 1789, died December 13.
1844, and his wife Juliet Henrietta Mann, died
Ajiril g, 1879. (See Bliss). The children of
this marriage are two: I. Mary Chapin, born
in S])ringfield, March 19, 1847, died in Florence.
Italy, January 28, 1900; she married (first)
February 18, 1873. Fdward Whitney Lambert,
merchant, of West Newton, son of Henry and
Katherine (Porter) Lambert. He died of
consumption at Aitken. South Carolina. March
25, 1874. She married (second) Sejitcmber
26, 1877, Charles Theodore Farlow, merchant,
of Xewton, son of John Smith and Nancy
Wright ( I'llanchard ) h'arlow ; he died in Flor-
ence. Italy, h'ebruary 7, 1900. 2. Frederick,
born September 26, 1853: married, September
3. 1879 Emily, eldest child of David M. and
Eliza (Wright) Osborne, of .Auburn, .\ew
York. They have two children : Florence
Osborn. born in Springfield, November 12,
181S2: Helen ( )sborne, born in .Sjiringfield.
May 14. 1SX8, .Mr." Harris is now (iiK>;i
cashier of llir Third Xatiimal Bank.
William Richard Cutter, author
CUTTER and editor, is a direct descend-
ant of Elizabeth (i) Cutter, a
widow, who came to New England, about
1640. and died in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
January 10. 1663, (1663-64). In her will she
gave her age as about eighty-seven years, but
as she lived about two years longer, she was
at death aged about eighty-nine. She dwelt
with her daughter in Cambridge about twenty
years. Three of her children emigrated to this
country: William, who after living in .Amer-
ica about seventeen years, returned to his
former home in Xewcastle-upon-Tyne, in Eng-
land : Richard, the founder of the Cutter
family in .America; and Barbara, her daugh-
ter, who came to this country unmarried, and
later married Mr. Elijah Corlet, the school-
master of Cambridge. In a relation Elizabeth
made before the church she is called "Old
Goodwife Cutter," and she makes a statement
to the effect that she was born in some small
place, without a church, near Xewcastle-upon-
Tyne. -She "knew not" her father, who may
have died in her infancy, but her mother sent
her, when she was old enough, to Xewcastle,
where she was placed in a "godly family,"
where she remained for about seven years,
when she entered another where the religious
privileges were less. Her husband died, and she
was sent to Cambridge, Xew England, and
came thither in a time of sickness and through
many sad troubles by sea. What her maiden
name was is not known to the present writer.
From her own statement the inference is
drawn that her mother at least was in humble
circumstances. She had with her in Cambridge
a sister or a sister-in-law, a widow named Mrs.
Isabella Wilkinson, who undoubtedly was
from Xewcastle-upon-Tyne. There is more
known of the Cutters in Xewcastle, where it
is said an English antiquary has discovered the
name of the grandfather of W'illiam and Rich-
ar<l Cutter, and this information is as yet
withheld from us.
( II ) Riciiard Cutter, son of Elizabeth, died
in Cambridge, at the age of about seventy-two,
June 16, ifK)3. His brother William had died
in England before this time. Richard was
under age and probably unmarried when he
came to .America. He was one of the first to
build a house outside of the settlement, in that
l)art of Cambrielge called Menotomy. and his
house for defense against the Indians was
furnished with flankers. In December, 1675.
ill' sent four young men of his family — his two
sons E])hraini and (iershom, and his stepsons
MASSACHUSETTS.
3"
Isaac and Jacol) Amsdcn — to tlie severe cam-
paign in Rhode Island whicli culminated in
the Xarragansett tight, in which a great jiart
of the Xew England military were engaged.
Richard Cutter was twice married : First,
about 1644. to Elizabeth Williams, who died
>[arch 5, 1661-2. aged about forty-two years
(gravestone) : she was the daughter of Robert
Williams of Roxbury and his wife. Elizabeth
(Stalham) Williams. .Second. February 14,
1662-3. to Frances (Perriman) .\msden. par-
entage unknown ; she was the widow of Isaac
Amsden. and survived Richard Cutter's de-
cease, and died before July 10, 1728. Four-
teen children, seven by each wife.
Elizabeth, eldest daughter and child <if
Richard Cutter, married William Robinson,
and several of lier descendants became famous
as governors. She probably died a long time
before her father, and was omitted in his will.
Two of her sons laid claim to their share of
tlieir grandfather Cutter's estate at a later
periol. William Robinson. Jonathan Robinson
and Elizabeth (Iregory. and also .Samuel Rob-
inson, children of Elizabeth Robinson, daugh-
ter of Richard Cutter, quitclaimed their rights
to their grandfather Richard Cutter's estate
(Middlesex Registry Deeds. 39: 113. etc.)
William Robinson died in 1693.
( III) William Cutter, third son and fourth
child of Richard Cutter, the immigrant, was a
thriving farmer, and died in Cambridge. .Xjiril
I, 1723. in the seventy-fourth year of his
age (gravestone). By his wife Rebecca he
was father of ten children. She was Rebecca,
daughter of John (2) Rolfe (Henry i) and
his wife Mary Scullard (Samuel i). Rebecca
Rolfe married for her .second husband John
Whitmore, Senior, of Medford, and died Xo-
vember 13, 1751. aged ninety.
( I\' ) John Cutter, second son and fifth child
of William, born (Jctober 15, 1690. died Jan-
uary 21. 1776. in his eighty-sixth year, and
thirty-seventh in his office as a deacon. He
was a farmer. He married Lydia Harrington
(John (3), Robert (2), and possibly .Ann
(l); she was formerly of Xewcastle-upon-
Tyne. England, and she died January 7. 1755.
in her sixty-fourth year. Eleven chililrcn.
(V) Ammi Cutter, tenth child of John, born
October 27. 1733, died April 19. 1795. in his
sixty-second year. He was a farmer and a
miller, and bad three wives and twenty-one
children. By his first wife, Erther Pierce, he
had ten children, the ninth of whom was Eph-
raim Cutter, born (October 31, 1767, died
March 31, 1841, who by his wife, Deborah
Locke, had fourteen children, the tenth of
whom was Benjamin Cutter, a |)hysician. born
June 4. 1803, died .March 9, 1864, who by his
wife .Mary Whittemore had six children.
t \'I ) William Richard Cutter, youngest
child of .\mmi Cutter, was born in Woburn,
.\ugust 17. 1S47. He was educated in the public
schools of his native town mitil his fifteenth
year, when he was sent to the Warren .Acad-
emy in Woburn, where he remained luitil
.\pril, 1865, when he entered Xorwich L'niver-
sity at Xorwich, Vermont — the institution now
situated at Xorthfield. Vermont, and known as
the Military College of the State of N'ermont.
When at \Voburn at the Warren .Xcademy he
commanded ( i8()3-iS65) a corjis of cadets
known as the Warren Cadets, lie |)erformed
his share of duly at Xorwich .Military Univer-
sity during the two years of 1865 and 186^),
and leaving there in the latter year returned to
W'oburn, where he pursued his studies under a
jirivate instructor. In the fall of 1867 he
entered the .Sheffield .Scientific .School of Yale
I'nivcrsity at .Xew Haven, Connecticut, as a
sjiccial student, and left there in 1869. In the
meantime having access to the large college
library at Yale, he became interested in the
study of history and more especially geneal-
ogy, as he had the use of a larger and more
valuable collection of books here than he had
ever had before, and he decided to publish a
histor)' of the Cutter l''aniily, and issued, while
at Xew' Haven, his jiroposals for that work.
He traveled extensively in his pursuit of
material, and published his book at Boston in
1871, under the title of "A History of the Cut-
ter Family of Xew England."
He was married, on August 31, 1871, to
.Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Kimball,
teacher, editor and lecturer, and his first wife,
Mary ,\nn (,\mesi Kimball, and a grand-
daughter of Rev. David Tenney Kimball, for
upwards of sixty years minister of a church in
Ipswich. Massachusetts. One child. .Sarah
Ilamlcii. was hnrn to them, July 25, 1873, but
died .April 26, 1890. .Another died in infancy
in t88o.
in 1871 Mr. Cutter removed his residence
I'l Lexington. Massachusetts, and devoted
himself ffir ten years to various pursuits.
While at Lexington he |)repared and j)ublished
a "History of tlie Town of .Arlington, Mass-
achusetts," which was issued from the press
in 1880. This work contained a very full
genealogy of the early inhabitants, and cojiics
are now .scarce. .At Lexington also he edited,
with notes, his article for the ".Xew b'ngland
312
MASSACHUSETTS.
Historical and Genealogical Register," entitled
a "Journal of a Forton Prisoner, England,
1777-1779." whose length caused its publication
to extend through the numbers of that period-
ical from April, 1 87(1, to January, 1879. While
at Lexington also he prei)ared a sketch of
Arlington, which was printed under his name
in Drake's "Historv of j\[iddlesex County"
(1880).
During his residence in Lexington he held
the office by successive elections of clerk of the
Hancock Congregational Church, and for
seven years from 1875 that of member and
clerk of the town school committee, and in
connection with the last named office that of
trustee of the Cary Free Public Library, being
for a greater jiart of that time clerk and treas-
urer of that board. In 1882 he was elected
librarian of the W'oburn Public Library in his
native city, and assuming his duties on March
I. of that, year, removed at once to Woburn.
He holds this office at the present time. He
liriS served on the nominating committee of
the Massachusetts Library Club, of which he
was one of the original members, and has been
one of its vice-presidents. In Woburn he has
held the office of secretary of the trustees of
Warren Acat.-:iny since 1885, and that of trus-
tee, clerk and treasurer of the Burbeen Free
l.ectire Fund since 1892. He is also one of
the vice-presidents of the Rum ford Historical
Association of W'oburn, and is a member of
the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars.
He has been a vice-president of the Boston
Alumni .Xssociation of Norwich L'niversity,
and for more than a generation, or since 1870,
a resident member of the New England His-
toric (ienealogical .Society. He has written
considerable fnr the publications of the Gene-
alogical Society, and has held a position on its
governing council, and in 1906 was elected its
historian. He has edited for the Massachu-
setts Historical Society a section of Hon. Mel-
len Chamberlain's "History of Chelsea," mak-
ing a greater ])art of the second volume of that
monumental work. He has prejjared for pub-
lication and now nearly finished, three volumes
of the Towue Memorial I'iographies, published
by the New England Historic (jenealogical
Society. In 1906 Mr. Cutter was selected by
the Lewis Historical Publishing Company as
editor of various of their publications, among
them the jirescnt work.
Since 1882. in his leisure from the urgent
work of his lilirary position, Mr. Cutter has
w'ritten much for the newsiia]icr and periodi-
cal press, and has WTittcn or edited a number
of works of greater or less extent, .\mong
them sketches of the city of W'oburn, and of
the towns of Burlington and W'inchester, for
Hurd's "History of Middlesex County," 1890:
"Contributions to a Bibliography of the Local
History of W'oburn," 1892, with additional
material. 1893; "Diary of Lieut. Samuel
Thompson of W'oburn, while in service in the
]->ench Wars, 1758" (with copious notes)
1896; "Life and Humble Confession of Rich-
ard.son. the Informer" (fifty copies printed)
1894: "A Model Village Library" (an article
descriptive of the Woburn Public Library)
in "New England Magazine," February, 1890;
"W'oburn Historic Sites and Old Houses,"
1892: etc.
He received the degree of .\. M. from Nor-
wich University in 1893.
All who bear the name of Field,
FI ELD both in England and .America, are.
according to Burke's "Landed
Gentry," descended from the Counts de la
Field, who were prominently identified with
the history of Alsace-Lorraine jirior to the
Norman conc|uest. Hubertus de la Feld, who
was probably the founder of the family in
England, crossed the channel with the Norman
duke in lofifi, and three years later received
from the Conqueror a large landed estate in
Lancaster as a icward for his military services.
During the succeeding four hundred years
there were various changes in the orthography
of the name. The present surname. Field,
simplified by the omission of the French pre-
fix de la. was adojited about the middle of the
fifteenth century. Many of this name were
noted for their intellectua] attainments, and
other superior ciualifications prior to the coloni-
zation of New iMigland, and the Fields of
America have every reason to be proud of
their English ancestors. .\ pedigree at hand
of Zachariah Field, the immigrant, contains
his line of descent through ten generations,
beginning with Roger Del Field, born at Sow-
eri)v about the vear 1240. and continuing
through Thomas' Del Feld, John Del Feld,
Thonias Del l'>ld, Thomas Del Felde, William
I'Vld, William Feld, Richard Felde, John Field
and the latter's son John. The elder John
Field was one of the early English astronomers,
and a noted writer upon that subject. By a
patent dated Sciitembcr 14. 1538. the heralds
formally recognized his right to the family
arms : .Sable, a chevron between three garbs
argent, and at the same time tliey granted to
him the following crest: A dexter arm issu-
MASSACHUSETTS.
313
ing out of cloiuls fesseways proper, habited
gules, holding in hand, also proper, a si)herc
or. This appropriate crest may be considered
a recognition of his services in the cause of
astronom}'. The family about to be mentioned
is descended from Zachariah, the immigrant,
who was a son of John and a grandson of the
astronomer.
(T) Zachariah Field was born at I'^ast .\rds-
!ey. Vorkshire. in 1596. and arrived at Boston
from P.ristol in 1629, first locating in Dorches-
ter, Massachusetts. In 1636 he accompanied
a large part}' of English immigrants to the
Connecticut valley, settling at Hartford, and
being in the vigor of manhood was enrolled in
a company furnished by that town to partici-
pate in the I'equot war. Tn 1659 he estab-
lished himself in mercantile business at North-
ampton. Massachusetts, engaging quite exten-
sively in trade with the Indians, and in 1663
removed to Hatfield, where he died June 30,
i656. The Christian name of his wife, whom
he married about 1641, was Mary, and her
death occurred about 1670. Their children
were: i. Mary, born about I^H.'^: married
Joshua Carter. Jr.. of Xorthampton. 2. Zach-
ariah, born 1645: married Sarah W'els. 3.
John, mentioned below. 4. Samuel, born 165 1 ;
married Sarah Gilbert. 5. Joseph, born about
1658 : married ( first ) Joanna Wvatt : (second )
Mary Belding.
(II) John, son of Zachariah and Mary
Field, was born in Hartford about 164S. lie
resided in Hatfield, and served luider Captain
Turner in the memorable engagement with the
Indians at Turner's Falls, in 1676. His death
occurred in Hatfield, June 26, 1717. He mar-
ried. December 17. 1670, Mary Edwards, born
January 20. 1650. daughter of .Mexander and
Sarah (Searli Edwards, of Xorthami)ton.
Children: i. John, see next paragraph. 2.
Mary, born i'i74. died young. 3. Zachariah,
born 1676: married .Sarah Clark. 4. Benja-
min, born February 14, 1679; participated in
the "Meadows Fight" in 1704. 5. Mary. 6.
Bethiah. 7. Sarah. 8. .\bilene. died young.
9. Ebenezer. 10. Abilene.
(Ill ) John (2), son of John (i) Field, was
born in Xorthampton. May 11, 1672. He
resided in Hatfield, and was one of the two
constables appointed by the governor and
council in 1708. He also served as a soldier
in the Indian wars. He died in Hatfield. May
28. 1747. In 1698 he married Sarah Coleman,
born February 15. 1673, daughter f)f John
and Hannah (Porter) Coleman. In Ash-
pelon's raid, which occured in September,
1677. Mrs. Hannah Coleman was killed, and
Mrs. Sarah I'ield was carried to Canada as
a captive. She was redeemed in the following
year, and one of the slices worn by her on the
homeward march through the wilderness to
Hatfield is now one of the cherishetl relics to
be seen in the Deerfield Memorial Hall. Mrs.
Field survived her husband, and her death
occurred January 8, IJS'>- •*^'"-" ^^'^s the mother
of six children: John. Sarah. Hannah. .\mos,
Eliakim. Mary.
(I\') Eliakim, son of John (2) and Sarah
(Coleman) Field, was born in Hatfield, No-
vember 27. 171 1. He resided in his native
towji. anil died there February 8, 1786. In
1752 he married Esther Graves, of Whately,
Massachusetts, bom November 29, 1732,
daughter of David and .Abigail (Bardwell)
Graves. David (4) (iraves was a descendant
of Thomas D., the immigrant, through John
(2) and Samuel (3). .Abigail P>ardvve!l was
a daughter of Robert and Mary (Gull) Bard-
well. the former of whom served in King
Phili|:)'s war and took part in the ''Falls Fight"
under Captain Turner. Children of Eliakim
and Esther (_(iraves) Field: i. Zenas. born
.Vugust 10. 1753: married (first) Sarah Bur-
roughs: (second) Eydia Cathcart. 2. Sarah,
born Aijril 23. 1755: married David Scott, of
Whately. 3. Zilpah, born November 13, 1756;
married .Aliner Loomis, of Colchester, Con-
necticut : resided in Whately. Massachusetts;
died March 22, 1847. 4- Khoda, born ( )c1o1ht
26. 1758: married Elisha Waite, of Ilallield;
died January [9. 1819. 5. John, .see next para-
gra])h. 6. .\bigail. born July 21. 1762; married
Roger Dickinson, of Whately : died February
0. 1809. 7. David, born .April 11. 1764; mar-
ried Tabitha Clark. 8. Esther, born April 4.
1767: died unmarried. <). Hannah, born June
21. 17(19: married (first) .'-^anniel (irimes;
(second) Oliver Cooley : died May 14. 1843.
(\') John (3), son of Eliakim Field, was
born in Hatfield, .August 25. ijCx). In early
manhood he settlerl in Conway, Massachusetts,
where he engaged in farming, and resided there
the remainder of his life. In 17S9 he married
Lucy Look, of Conway, born at ICdgartown,
Massachusetts, I7''>3. and died in Conway, July
29. 1854. The children of this union were:
r. I'olly, born -April 27, 1790; died October 25,
1816. 2. Xancy, born October 30, 1791 ; mar-
ried Elijah Page; died December 2, 1856. 3.
William, born December 8, 1793. 4. John,
who will be again referred to. 5. Lucinda.
born June 8, 1798; married Franklin Childs,
of Conway. (>. Prudence, born October 20,
314
MASSACHUSETTS.
1800; died November 30, 1829. 7. Editha,
born May 6. 1803: died August i. 1804.
(\'I) jolin (4). son of John (3) and Lucy
(Look) "l''ield. was born in Conway, June 28,
1796. He was a lifelong resident of Conway,
and an unusually prosperous farmer, acquir-
ing possession of the homestead farm and de-
voting his active years to its cultivation. He
was noted for his upright character and
superior judgment in business affairs, which,
together with his able administration of vari-
ous imijortant public offices, gained for him
the esteem and confidence of his fellow-towns-
men. 1 lis personal ajjpearance was particularly
attractive, and in his latter years he was an
excellent representative of a New England
country gentleman of the old school. In poli-
tics he was originally a Whig and later a Re-
publican. He attended the Congregational
church. Mr. Field died June 13, 1876. He
married, September 25, 1828, Fidelia Nash,
burn in Conway, February 6, 1806, died Sep-
tember 22, 1865. daughter of Elijah and
Pamelia ( Warner ) Nash. Pamelia Warner
was a daughter of Jonathan Warner. John
and Fidelia (Nash) P""ield were the parents of
nine children: I. Chandler .\ugustus, born
September k;, 1829: married Helen Wells. 2.
Josejjh Nash, born September 20, 1831 ; mar-
ried (first) Jane Hayes; (second) Catherine
Blackwell : resided in Manchester, England.
3. Marshall, who is mentioned at greater
length in the .succeeding paragraph. 4. Helen
Eliza, born February 3, 1837: married Hon.
Lyman D. James (see sketch). 3. Henry,
born May 25, 1841 ; married Florence Lathrop.
6. b'-lizabeth Page, born September 25, 1843;
died December 27. 1854. 7. William E., born
February 17, 1845; died ^Iay 22 same year.
8. Laura Nash, born October 30, 1848; mar-
ried, November 26, 1873, Henry Dibblce, for-
merly of New York City, and now a prominent
real estate dealer in Chicago. Mr. and Mrs.
Dibblee have two children : P>ertha, born
March 20, 1875. and Frances F., born .August
26. 1877. 9. Elizabeth, born .\pril 10, 1853;
died .\])ril 6, 1854.
(X'H) Marshall Field, son of John and
Fidelia (Nash) Field, was born in Conway,
August 18, 1835. He attended the public
schools and academy of his native town, and
these advantages, enhanced by a through train-
ing in habits of industry received at home,
proved an excellent e(|uipme!U for a business
Ijfe. .Mthough of a contemplative nature he
disliked study, was not desirous of entering
any of tiie learned professions, and possessed
but one ambition, that of becoming a merchant.
From the very first he was wholly subservient
to this idea and he believed himself destined
to attain its realization. .A.s clerk of a country
.store in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he
remained four years, he accjuired the necessary
elementary training, and ui)on reaching his
majority he determined to take advantage of
his freedom by seeking business advancement
in the W'est, which was then being largely
populated by sturdy, energetic New Eng-
ianders. In 1856 he became salesman in the
wholesale dry goods house of Cooley. Wads-
worth & Company, Chicago, and continued as
such with the succeeding firm of Cooley, Far-
well & Company, greatly adding to his business
experience and developing such marked ability
as to secure a junior partnership in that con-
cern in i860. This house, which was one of
the largest mercantile establisliments in Chi-
cago to successfully weather the financial panic
of 1857, was also able to greatly expand its
volume of trade during the civil war period,
but in 1865 a complete reorganization was
deemed absolutely necessary, and Mr. Field
became senior partner in the succeeding firm
of Field, Palmer & Leiter. From this time
forward his business career was practically a
succession of brilliant mercantile achievements.
He had mastered the science of credit as
applied to the changing conditions to which
the growing west was constantly subjected,
and this knowledge was always in evidence.
Having adopted a cash system, which however,
was conducted according to the most liberal
interpretation of the term, he was inflexible in
demanding punctual payments. He also pur-
chased u])on a strictly cash basis, never deviat-
ing from that rule, and this system proved
one of the chief elements of his success, for
it was truthfully said that a concern without
debts was always solvent. By the subsequent
withdrawal of Potter Palmer the firm became
known as Field, Leiter & Company, and this
concern, guided by the energetic hand of its
senior partner, successfully survived the heavy
losses caused by the disastrous conflagration
of 187 1. It also survive<l the financial panic
of 1873, and in 1881 Mr. Field became its sole
proprietor. .\ few years later it was deemed
advisable to separate the retail and wholesale
dejiartments, and the latter was con.sequently
removed to a spacious and handsome building
fronting on .\dams street, and constructed of
rough hewn granite and brownstone. from
plans drawn by the famous .American archi-
tect, H. H. Richardson. This building con-
w
^^â– ^
MASSACHUSETTS.
315
tains thirty anil one-half acres of floor space,
and its thirty-four (lei)artments necessitate the
employment of three thousand people. The
retail branch, which is the largest as well as the
best equipped of its kind in the world, necessi-
tates a still larger force of employees, and it
was estimated some time since that the l""ield
payrolls contained the names of over twelve
thousand peoiile. Some years ago the firm
engaged extensively in manufacturing and
established plants in .\nierica. Europe and the
Orient. In 1891 the firm was transacting a
business aggregating thirty-five million dollars