Daniel Fields1
b. 1822, d. after 1870
| Father | William Fields1 b. 1781, d. 21 Jan 1829 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Lynch1 b. abt 1795, d. 14 May 1851 |
The following narrative was written and shared by Patricia (Craig) Johnson who has extensively researched the Fields family (contact information at end of report):
Daniel L. Fields (1822 - aft 1870) Sarah Elizabeth Franklin (abt 1830 - aft 1870) Daniel L. Fields was born in 1822 in Abingdon, Washington County, VA. Surviving records of the eight children of William (1) Fields and Elizabeth (Lynch) Fields place Daniel as their sixth child. He was seven years old when his father died in 1829. Nothing is known about his early life except that, along with all his brothers, he learned the brick mason's trade. Daniel left Virginia to live in Tennessee before the 1850 census, the first all-name enumeration; therefore, he never appears by name in the Fields household. Only a fortuitous set of circumstances allowed him to be firmly established as a child of William (1) and Elizabeth (Lynch) Fields. Daniel's older brothers, William and Edward, jointly owned two lots in Abingdon. In 1843 they leased this half acre property, "with buildings, improvements and appurtanences", to their widowed mother, Elizabeth, for the remainder of her natural life. Elizabeth died in 1851. Sometime between 1851 and 1853, Edward died without a will and without "issue", leaving an un-divided one/seventh of his one/half of this property to each of his siblings. The family wished to sell the land, but it was not saleable because of the fragmented title. Jacob, a younger brother, succeeded in perfecting the title by acquiring all the pieces from his brothers, William, James, Daniel, David, sister, Sarah, and children of deceased sister, Elizabeth (Fields) Musser. Jacob found a buyer and completed the sale. The deeds generated in these transactions spelled out the relationship of the Fields children to each other and to their mother, Elizabeth Fields, already proven as the wife of William (1) Fields. Until the deed from Daniel to Jacob surfaced we were not aware that William (1) had a son, Daniel. Also shown on these documents were places of residence and names of spouses. Daniel L. Fields and wife, Eliza, were residents of Jefferson County TN in 1859 when they sold their part to Jacob. Washington County, in the southwestern tip of Virginia, shares its southern border Tennessee. Daniel's older brother, William, owned a brick making operation in Three Springs, a small community near Bristol, the city which straddles the TN/VA state line. The Fields family did building and brick work over a wide area. Much of their construction was in Bristol, so their ties to Tennessee were strong. Daniel was still in Hawkins County, working as a brick mason, with wife, Elizabeth, and their two year old daughter, Margaret. In his household were five young persons born in TN, enumerated with Fields as surname. Since these individuals are not found in Daniel's FIELDS family in Virginia, it is possible they were related to Daniel's wife, and their surname, FRANKLIN, was incorrectly entered as Fields. Their names were Esbridge, 24, a wagoner; Jane, 21; Augustus, 21(twin?); Albert, 18; and Charles, 14. Daniel's family continued to grow, with Mary Virginia, Edward Jackson, and Lawson David added by 1860. Daniel, still a brick mason, was now in Leadvale, Jefferson County TN, two counties southwest of Hawkins County. His household, in addition to his wife and children, included Absolum Franklin, age 34, and Thomas Franklin, age 28. These Franklins are no doubt kin to Daniel's wife, Eliza, but the relationship is not clear. The naming of a son Lawson David suggests that Eliza was somehow related to Major Lawson David Franklin, a wealthy planter of Jefferson County, who founded Leadvale in 1848. He is sometimes referred to as the "first millionaire of East Tennessee". The 1860 census shows one of his sons, Isaac W. R. Franklin, with wife, Dorcas, in the dwelling next to Daniel and Eliza Fields. Also near Daniel lived Gideon B. Rodgers, his wife, Eliza, and their eight children. This family has some, as yet, undefined connection with Major Franklin and would later become involved in the lives of Daniel's children. From 1861 to 1865, the "War between the States" intervened, changing forever the lives of everyone nationwide. It was an interesting task to document the different units of the Confederate Army in which the sons and grandsons of William (1) fought. How frustrating it was to find all but Daniel's records! His brother, James, was the Commissary for the 48th VA Volunteer Infantry. Younger brothers, Jacob and David, served in the 1st VA Cavalry. The sons of his oldest brother William, Charles, William Jr., and John Davidson (J. D.) left school and enlisted. Charles (19) joined Jacob and David in 1st VA Cavalry. William Jr. (17) was with James in the 48th VA Infantry. J. D. (16) rode with Capt. Tom Quirk's Scouts under Gen. John Hunt Morgan (Morgan's Raiders) in the 2nd KY Cavalry. Only one Daniel L. Fields appears in National Archives (NARA) Confederate records. This Daniel served in the 3rd Regiment - Confederate Engineers. Three cards for him remain in NARA holdings - a Company Muster Roll and two receipts for clothing. While the following information was gleaned from that sparse source, it in no way proved that this was Daniel L. Fields, son of William (1) Fields. Daniel L. Fields enlisted for the "period of the War" in Co. A - 3rd Regiment Engineer Troops - CSA on Aug 5, 1863 in Morristown TN with Capt. R. C. McCalla - Buckner's Division. He appears to have been made Corporal by Feb 1864. He was still with the same division Sep 4, 1864. Morristown, in 1863, was a small but busy railhead town in northeast Jefferson County TN. It served as a commercial hub for the many villages in that corner of the state. Confederate government recruiters set up headquarters there in the summer of 1863 to enlist area men for the Confederate Army Engineer Troops. Leadvale was about 10 miles from Morristown. In our effort to prove the Daniel Fields of Co A of the 3rd Regiment Engineers as son of William (1) Fields of Abingdon VA we searched for information on R. C. McCalla, the captain of Company A. The finding aids of the archives of Auburn University in Auburn AL showed a collection of 81 letters between Richard C. McCalla and his wife, Margaret, from August 12, 1863 to April 25, 1865. We obtained this collection, well aware that it might not provide anything of use to us. The first letter was from Margaret to Richard. The second, dated August 17, 1863, was from Richard. He was in Knoxville TN with the Engineer troops he had just recruited in Morristown. In this letter, he states, One of my men, Mr. Fields, was sent to the Hospital yesterday evening with a very sore throat. I learn he is better today. Mr. Fields lives near Isaac Franklin. It is known that Daniel Fields from Abingdon VA was living in Leadvale, Jefferson Co TN in 1860. The 1860 census schedule shows Daniel to be in the dwelling visited by the census enumerator just prior to his call at Isaac Franklin's home. We felt that this was sufficient to demonstrate that Daniel L. Fields, son of William (1) was the same Daniel L. Fields of Co A - 3rd Regiment Confederate Engineer Troops.* * (Note of interest: Isaac Franklin home near Daniel Fields residence - sale brochure photos) Barely six weeks after he enlisted on August 5, 1863, Daniel was at Chickamauga. This conflict on September 19 and 20, in the area where the state lines of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia meet, was second only to Gettysburg as the bloodiest battle of the war. Capt. McCalla wrote to his wife: It was a great battle and a great victory for us. I was all the time both Saturday and Sunday close to the scene of action. I was near Chickamauga River and we worked all Saturday night making forts and bridges and all day Sunday fortifying. The roar of cannon and musketry was incessant and terrible. I was over most of the field on Sunday. You have no just conception of the sight. The dead and wounded of both sides lay thick. The blue coats, however, I think lay much thicker than our own. We had a very hard march from Knoxville until we reached this place - marching and working most of the time regardless of night or day. Our hardest service too was generally at night and on Sabbath. Sometimes on very short rations. I have stood the campaign finely but a large percentage of my company are sick in hospital - disease- mostly diarrhea. Captain McCalla's 3rd Regiment - Confederate Engineer Battalion was headquartered in Wytheville VA. under Brig. General John E. Echols, commander of the Army of Western VA and Eastern TN. Since Abingdon is about 60 miles southwest of Wytheville, it is possible that Daniel was able to visit relatives there. After the war Daniel returned to Leadvale and resumed his brick mason's trade. Tragedy struck in 1868 when on the 9th of June, Mary Virginia, age 16 years and 4 months, succumbed to consumption (tuberculosis). She was probably buried in or near Leadvale, but no gravesite has been identified. In 1870 Daniel, continuing to work as a brick mason, remained in Leadvale with wife, Eliza. Margaret was no longer at home and we did not find her in any other census schedule. Edward and Lawson D. have been joined by a brother, Daniel A. - 10, and sister, Lou, -7. Also in the household was Sarah Ann Fields, Daniel's unmarried sister from Abingdon VA. This shows that Daniel was keeping in touch with his Virginia family. Next door to Daniel lived Albert Franklin, age 38. Albert, born in TN, was the same age in 1870 that the Albert in Daniel's 1850 household would have been in 1870, thus reinforcing the idea that the unknown persons enumerated as Fields in 1850 were Franklins. Daniel now lived just two houses away from the Rodgers family. Gideon was dead and his wife, Eliza, was the head of the household. Sons Isaac W., James M., and Joseph were farming the land. Rodgers is spelled Rogers in this enumeration. After the 1870 census, Daniel and Eliza (Franklin) Fields simply drop out of sight. So far they have not been located in the 1880 or 1900 census schedules. If they died in Jefferson Co TN, they may be buried near Leadvale with Mary Virginia, whose gravesite we did not find. We continued to search for the missing Margaret. A Jefferson Co TN marriage record, September 3, 1873, was located for a J. W. Rodgers and Maggie E. Fields. A close inspection of the original record showed that the name of the groom was I. W. Rodgers. This could be Isaac W. Rodgers, son of neighbor, Gideon Rodgers. The 1880 census, however, shows that Isack (sic) Rogers, wife, Cynthia, and 5 year old son, Gid, were living in Jefferson Co. This prompted another look at Jefferson County marriage records. On July 16, 1879, Isaac Rodgers had married Cynthia Swann. They lived next to Isaac's brothers and sister, James, Joseph, and Julia, who were farming. Their mother, Eliza Rodgers, widow of Gideon, was not with them and is presumed dead. Also in the household of brother James was "Lieu" Fields, a 16 year old girl enumerated as "one of the family". She could be Daniel's daughter, 7 year old Lou, of the 1870 census. Since Lieu Fields, (if this were our Lou) appeared to be the only member of Daniel's family in Jefferson Co in 1880, a wider search was done. *We found that by 1900, Lawson D. was in Oregon, Edward J. in Washington, and Daniel A. in Idaho. The 1900 census shows 55 year old Isaac Rodgers in Jefferson Co with wife Cynthia, 45, sons, Gideon, 25, and Scott, 16. Isaac's brother, Joseph, 42, lived with them. Isaac and Cynthia had been married 21 years. Cynthia reported that she had borne one child who was still living. This would be 16 year old Scott. Gideon was born in July 1874. A death record for Gideon Blackburn Rodgers: born 18 July 1874 in Jefferson Co TN, died in 1931. Parents were "G". W. Rodgers and Margaret Fields. A quick summary of the story of Margaret Fields Rodgers: Margaret lived with her family until 1860. She was not with them in 1870 and was not found in the census in another place. This was probably due to incorrect transcribing or indexing. In 1873 she married Isaac W. Rodgers and had Gideon in July 1874. Margaret must have died by about 1878, but no burial place was found. Her youngest sister, Lou (Lieu), appears to have been living with her uncles, James and Joseph and her aunt, Julia and next door to her uncle, Isaac, and her nephew, Gideon, in 1880 This suggests the following chain of events: Daniel and Eliza Fields died. Sons, Edward, Lawson, and Daniel started on their journey west. Margaret had married neighbor, Isaac Rodgers. Since we do not know when Daniel and Eliza left the scene, it is quite possible that Lou may have been living with Margaret and Isaac when Margaret died. Since she had no other Fields relatives in TN she remained part of the Rodgers family. We found no further information about Lou. * Recently much information has surfaced about Daniel's three sons who went West. We are in contact with descendants of Lawson David and Edward Jackson. Daniel A. married and had children but so far we have not located any living relatives. * * * * * For those interested in the wartime experiences of Daniel Fields in the 3rd Regiment - Confederate Engineers-Co A, the letters of Capt. R. C. McCalla provide an almost daily account of their locations and activities. Mapping the terrain of unfamiliar territory, designing and building battle field fortifications, constructing pontoon bridges, repairing damage done by the Federal forces to bridges, railroad trestles, and roads were just a part of the tasks of the engineers. Much of their work during battle was accomplished, by necessity, under the deadly fire of Union snipers. Tennessee had seceded from the Union on June 6, 1861. Why did Daniel not enlist until August of 1863? A little delving into the history of the Confederate Engineers produced some possible answers. Unlike the Federal forces, the Confederate Army in the beginning, did not have a separate Corps of Engineers. Two companies of "sappers, miners and pontoniers", referred to as Provisional Engineers, were approved by the Confederate Congress in 1861. Officers and troops continued to be added to this division of the army but it was not until May of 1863 that the Confederate Engineer Corps was created. It was to consist of four regiments, each with 10 companies of 100 men. For some reason the 3rd Regiment had only 8 companies. The Corps did not come under the jurisdiction of the army. Not organized by state, it reported only to the Secretary of War. At the start of the war, the Confederate Government had enacted a conscription law but never bothered to actively enforce it. As the war entered its third year, the superior resources of the industrialized northern states and their endless supply of recruits were taking their toll on the agricultural south. The Confederacy desperately needed more men. The beginning of active enforcement of the conscription law coincided with the major recruiting effort of the newly created Engineer Corps. Below is a quote from an Engineer Corp recruiter: The conscript law was just then being enforced and a class of men were brought in by it which, by selection among them, afforded the very best of material for filling a regiment such as ours... These men, mostly older, into their thirties, married, and good craftsmen, mechanics, and farmers had avoided service to this point but now found the perfect place to render their skills in the service of their new country. The regiment was filled out to nearly its full complement. * * * * * Fellow researcher and Fields 3rd cousin, Carol Mancuso of North Carolina, contributed many dates, records, and vital bits of information to this Daniel Fields narrative. |
| Patricia Craig Johnson 8600 Skyline Dr. Box 1132, Dallas TX 75243 (email link in endnotes) |
| Last Edited | 22 Mar 2013 |
Citations
- [S2439] Patricia Craig Johnson, "William Fields-Elizabeth Lynch" family group sheet, (e-mail address).