Jacob L. Fields1
b. 1824, d. 23 January 1863
| 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):
| Jacob L. Fields, born in 1824 in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia, was the seventh child of William (1) and Elizabeth (Lynch) Fields. Elizabeth was related in some, as yet undetermined, way to the prominent Lynch family of Washington Co, which included Jacob Lynch, Clerk of Court, and his brother, Daniel Lynch, one time Mayor of Abingdon. It is very likely that Jacob’s name was Jacob Lynch Fields. Jacob’s father, a brick mason, owned his own brick making establishment. It is not surprising that Jacob and his brothers learned the brick mason trade at an early age. Jacob’s siblings were William, Edward, Sarah Ann, Elizabeth, James, Daniel, and David. Jacob’s father died in 1829. Records are scarce before 1850. It appears that Jacob’s mother and older brothers kept the brick making business going. In 1850, the names of everyone in a household, rather than just the head, were recorded in the federal census. On 9 October 1850, living with Elizabeth, widow of William (1) were Jacob and his younger brother, David, his sister, Sarah Ann, Elizabeth’s unmarried sister, Jane Lynch, and five young brick masons. Both Jacob and David were brick masons. |
| No evidence indicates that Jacob ever married. He seems to have been cast in the role of family caretaker. His brother, Daniel, had invested with him in two lots in Abingdon in April 1847. Daniel went off to Tennessee and married Sarah Elizabeth (Eliza) Franklin in Hawkins County on December 29, 1847. Daniel was still in Hawkins Co when Jacob bought Daniel’s half interest in this land in January of 1850. Perhaps Daniel needed the money and Jacob obliged by taking the property off his hands. Since Daniel left Virginia before 1850, he was never recorded by name with the Fields family in Abingdon. In 1840, Jacob’s older brothers, William and Edward, had purchased two lots totaling one-half acre at the western edge of the town of Abingdon. In 1843 they leased this property to their mother, Elizabeth, for “one dollar” with all “buildings, improvements, and appurtenances” for the remainder of her natural life. She died in 1851. Edward died shortly after that without a will and “without issue”, leaving his half of these two lots in undivided one-sevenths to his brothers and sisters. The family wished to sell the property. If a buyer had been found, the title was so encumbered with undivided interests, it would have been impossible to sell it. Between 1853 and 1860, Jacob managed to contact all his remaining siblings or their heirs, acquire their interest, and complete the sale. Thanks to Jacob’s persistent pursuit of the necessary documents to perfect this title, we are left with a priceless legacy. Sworn testimony identifies Jacob, his five brothers and two sisters as children of Elizabeth Fields, already proven as wife of William (1) Fields. The children’s names, places of residence, spouses (or lack of), are all duly recorded. |
| In 1860 Jacob, no longer interested in brick laying, was employed as a clerk and was living in the home of Samuel Hurt. Samuel was a merchant married to Sarah Owen, the sister of Susan Owen, wife of James Fields, Jacob’s older brother. Jacob later became a partner with Samuel and his brother, Floyd B. Hurt in the mercantile firm of F. B. Hurt & Co. The clouds of war gathered quickly over the south after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860. When Virginians finally voted for secession on April 17, 1861, Jacob, along with some of his brothers and nephews were quick to join the army of the newly formed Confederate States of America. He enlisted in the 1st VA Cavalry - Co. L on May 14th 1861. This company was made up of the Washington Mounted Rifles, an already established local militia organization. Jacob promptly wrote his will on May 29th stating.......I am now in the service of my native state, not knowing that I may return........ He left one third of his estate to the three children of his second sister, Elizabeth Fields Musser, who had died in 1855; one third of his estate to sister, Sarah Ann, a spinster, and the remaining third to brothers, James and David, and to Jacob, “son of my brother, William”. He then named William as executor of his will. One has to wonder if he and Daniel had had some sort of falling out. The name of Co. L was later changed to Co. D (2). Jacob was appointed corporal in July. The 1st VA Cavalry, under the leadership Lt. Col. J.E.B Stuart, defended the Shenandoah Valley that summer and took part in the battle of 1st Manassas (Bull Run) on July 21st. Jacob was promoted to sergeant in January of 1862. Military records indicate that he was on sick leave in Abingdon from March of 1862 to the end of that year. His grave marker in Sinking Spring Cemetery shows his date of death as July 1863. We assumed his death was somehow war related. Closer inspection of his will, however, showed that it was filed for probate on January 29, 1863. We were at a loss as to how to resolve this conflicting data.. Then a curious thing happened. In September 2000 a box of old newspapers was discovered in the basement of the library of Emory and Henry College at Abingdon. They turned out to be the Abingdon Virginian published during the Civil War. The run was not complete but included most issues from early 1862 through July 1864. The box was rushed off to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where the entire collection was microfilmed and made available for inter-library loan. In June 2002 we were able to search the microfilm for mention of the FIELDS family. In the Friday, February 6, 1863 issue appeared the death notice of Jacob L. Fields, who died January 23rd. The February 20th paper carried the following obituary (presented here as printed): Died, Jan. 23rd, 1863, at the residence of the late Wm. Fields, in this county, his brother, Mr. JACOB FIELDS, in the 39th year of his age. He was among the younger members of a large family that were left all orphans, to struggle with the world without any other resource than their industry and frugality. Having acquired from his oldest brother a knowledge of his trade, his youth and manhood were chiefly employed in that occupation. He was, however, for some time a member of a mercantile firm in Abingdon. While thus engaged, he heard the call of South for her sons to rally for her defence. Accordingly he joined the Washington Mounted Rifles, and left with his Company for the seat of the war, sharing fully with his comrades in all the labor, exposure, and peril of their efficient and hazardous service. And this he did, until compelled by a severe and prostrated attack of the rheumatism, to ask for a furlough. Such indeed was the nature and severity of his disease, that he might have obtained a discharge, had he wished it, but he preferred remaining in connexion with the army, as he hoped soon to be able to return again to his post. Nor was this hope abandoned, until about a month before his death, when his disease began to prey upon his vital organs. Affectionate in disposition, unassuming in manners, faithful in friendship, conscientious in the discharge of duty, and of unquestioned integrity, he was accordingly respected and beloved. In his last illness, which he bore with remarkable patience, he professed to put his trust in the merits of the Saviour; and thus he lingered without a groan, until “the silver cord was loosed and the golden bowl broken”. The writer of the newspaper article confused the issue by stating that the children were left all orphans to struggle with the world - - - - -- when in reality they were a close-knit family with a very capable mother and were heirs to a thriving brick making and brick laying business. Note that Jacob died in the home of his brother, the “late William Fields”. William, named in Joseph’s will as executor, died November 22, 1862, so was not around to fulfill that duty. We concluded that the date on Jacob’s grave marker was an engraving error. Also puzzling to us was the diagnosis of Jacob’s fatal illness as “rheumatism”. The Fields family has a history of tuberculosis. This seems to better fit the description of his condition, but we can only report what we found. |
| 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).