James Witten Fields1

b. 7 January 1848, d. 3 December 1873
FatherWilliam Fields1 b. 21 Apr 1811, d. 22 Nov 1862
MotherEleanor Matilda Davidson1 b. 26 Jan 1826, d. 2 Feb 1889
Birth7 Jan 1848 James Witten Fields was born on 7 Jan 1848 in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia.1 
Death3 Dec 1873 James died on 3 Dec 1873 at age 25.2 
The following narrative was written and shared by Patricia (Craig) Johnson who has extensively researched the Fields family (contact information at end of report) :
James Witten Fields (1848 - 1873)


In our first efforts to chronicle the William and Eleanor Davidson Fields family we were well supplied with documents, records, anecdotes, letters, and other material about all of the children except James. We were unbelievably fortunate to find Eleanor's bible in the home of her great-granddaughter, Virginia Kreger Witherspoon in Abingdon on our first trip in 1989. Eleanor had recorded the births of all the children, but only the deaths of two, Attwater in 1847 and James in 1873. There was no record of James's burial in any cemetery in Washington County.

So with almost no clues to follow, our search for James began. He was with the family in the 1850 and 1860 census schedules. James's father, William, died in 1862 and in 1863, J. L. Davis, a friend of the family, was appointed James's guardian. This was the last official reference to James that we found until the 1873 entry in the bible. Eleanor remarried in 1866 and moved to neighboring Tazewell County. James was not with her in Tazewell County in the 1870 census and did not appear in any other VA census schedule.

In the Fields family archives are two well worn photograph albums handed down from Dr. J. D. Fields, of Manor, Travis Co TX. He is the maternal great-grand-father of my husband, Alvis Johnson. J. D., James's brother, had come to Texas in 1866. The smaller of the albums held a variety of pictures of persons taken between 1868 and 1900. Some were family, some not. Among these was a faded likeness of a young man with a short trimmed beard. James W. Fields was penciled across the bottom. Since we were busy writing about those we knew, we simply ignored this photo and did not make the connection to the James Witten Fields of the 1873 death date in the Virginia bible. After neglecting it far too long we finally removed it from the sleeve in the album. On the back appeared: Anderson & Bennet - Photographic Artists - Texas. These two men, identified in a volume of early Texas photographers, were known to have been in Columbus, Colorado County TX from 1870 to 1874. This was mystifying since Colorado County, near Houston, had never surfaced in any of our Fields records. The 1870 census there showed a James W. Fields, 40 year old brick mason, born in Texas. While this did not match our 22 year old Virginian, we felt the brick mason entry deserved further scrutiny.

Tapping into the wonderful online resources of The Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus, we found a remarkably detailed history of Colorado County, The Ungilded Lily, by Bill Stein, a local historian. According to Bill Stein, a James W. Fields was the City Marshal of Columbus in 1872 and 1873. He died on December 1, 1873 in the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged Columbus that year. The date so closely matched the date in Eleanor's bible we were compelled to ferret out whatever evidence there might be that would link this James with the Fields family in Abingdon. A small notice in the Dec 2, 1873 Galveston Weekly stated only that a James W. Fields had died of yellow fever in Columbus on December 1.

In the literature of this well documented epidemic of 1873, there is a list of the persons who died and any information available for each one. James's listing included his probate file number in the Colorado County Clerk's office. We promptly requested this file. While there was no will, the other papers were exactly what we needed.

The petition for Letters of Administration stated James W. Fields died intestate leaving neither wife or children. The petitioner, Fred Barnard, a local lawyer and close friend of James explained that James was the owner of a considerable amount of property and owed some debts. Thus a necessity exists for an administration upon his estate to settle up his affairs. That the brother of the deceased, John D. Fields, lives in Travis County and has expressed a desire for petitioner to take charge of the estate of said James W. Fields and settle the same up.

John D. Fields, of course, is our own Dr. J. D. Fields of Manor, owner of the photograph album. Also among the probate documents was a note for the sum of $100 to David A. Fields dated 6th day of June 1870 signed by James W. Fields. Attached to it was the request from David A. Fields of Travis County, dated April 24, 1874, to the estate of James W. Fields for payment of this note. David A. Fields is James's uncle who had come to Texas from Abingdon before 1870 and died in 1885 of a heatstroke while laying brick during construction of the Driskill Hotel in Austin. His story can be found in another narrative of this series.

Before the probate papers surfaced we had been working another angle. In the photo album was a small tintype of a man with a full drooping mustache. He was labeled Ben Baker. We had no family connection - that we knew of - with that name. Bill Stein's history of Colorado County stated that a Ben Baker was the editor of the local paper The Colorado Citizen. We felt if we could identify the Ben Baker in our Travis County photo album as the Colorado County Ben Baker it would be one more link in connecting James with his brother J. D. in Travis Co. With the help of old Baker obituaries online, Texas birth and marriage records, plus Whitepages.com, we located Ben's great granddaughter, Elizabeth Leifeste, in Houston. Elizabeth has a number of photos of Ben. Excited to hear from us, she compared our picture with hers. She is convinced that our Ben is her great-grandfather. It was not a final proof, of course, but in the process we made a delightful new friend.

In the meantime, Paige Newman, the Assistant Archivist, (and our patient assistant) at The Historical Society of Virginia in Richmond, had located the following obituary in the archives of The Historical Society of Washington County, VA from the Abingdon Virginian -Dec 1873.

     
James W. Fields was born in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia, in 1848 and came to Texas in 1867. The dear friend whose death we mourn, and the many sterling traits of his kind, good, and noble character, shall ever be impressed on our memories; and though we cannot but deplore our loss, we feel assured that his spirit is happy in the realms of bliss. He was respected and loved by a large circle of acquaintances and friends. He was sober, industrious and energetic, generous, unselfish and noble-hearted.
     He was elected in the spring of 1873, by a very large majority, to the office of City Marshal of Columbus. He faithfully and satisfactorily discharged his duties until he fell a victim to the fatal epidemic. During the prevalence of the fearful scourge, he was ever willing and ready, by the bedside of the sick, the dying and the dead, to nurse, to comfort and to soothe; or to render the last offices which man can give to his fellowman. His warm and generous sympathies were ever active in ameliorating the sorrows and suffering of the bereaved and afflicted-ever thoughtful and considerate of the wants and feelings of others-noble and generous in his friendship-and unselfish and untiring in his duties as a practical Christian.
     He died at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Barnard, of yellow fever, on December 1st, 1873, after an illness of six days, borne with Christian patience and resignation.
     To his relatives, who are far distant, it will be a great comfort and satisfaction to know that he died a Christian; and that during his illness, he was waited on by kind ministering female friends, of whose presence he was conscious until his last moments of delirium.
     His relatives have the deep and heartfelt sympathy of his many friends.
                    
"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face."


Addendum:

As we were winding down our search for the pieces of the puzzle that would rescue James from obscurity, Nanci King, another stalwart helper, unearthed a Washington Co VA deed record.

DB 28/377 Dec. 1870 James W. Fields of Colorado County, TX, for consideration of $2,000 advanced to him by John D. Fields of Travis County, TX, conveys his interest in 106 acres, 5 miles west of Abingdon, on the VA & TN RR, known as the Fleenor tract - this being part of his inheritance from estate of his father, William Fields...

Had we known about this deed in the beginning we would have gone straight to Colorado County. In doing so, however, we might have missed some of the intriguing aspects of James's life that surfaced along our more circuitous way.

The obituary states that James came to Texas in 1867. This deed places him in Colorado County in December of 1870. The census of 1870 in Colorado County taken in July showed one brick mason named James W. Fields. We are convinced that this is our James and the entries, 40 years as his age and TX for his place of birth were enumerator error.

In the end it seems only reasonable to use this gift to add further dimension to the rather meager details already in our possession.
*************************


So, at last, we present you with James's story:

James Witten Fields was born January 7, 1848 in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia, to William and Eleanor Davidson Fields. He was the fifth child, fifth son of their eight children. The year before James arrived, his small brother, Attwater Rice, had joined the family in January, lived only one month and left them on Feb 8, 1847. James's siblings were Charles, William, Jr., John Davidson (J. D.), Alice, Jacob, and Thomas Edward Boyd (Teb). The Fields men were third generation brick masons.

James's father, William, a successful building contractor, owned his own brick making establishment. James's grandfather, whom we call William (1), came to Abingdon about 1809 and built up a small but thriving brick industry. When William (I) unexpectedly died in 1829, William, not quite 18, was the oldest of the eight children. He and his mother, Elizabeth, with his brothers and sisters held the company together and made it prosper.

William married 16 year old Eleanor Davidson from nearby Tazewell County in 1841. As he continued to expand the brick enterprises and moved into construction, he also started acquiring land. The boys in William's growing family all learned the brick mason's trade at an early age. In 1848, the year James was born, William was appointed by the County Commissioners to build a new Washington County Courthouse. Finished in 1849, it was burned during the Civil War in 1864 when Abingdon lay in the path of General George Stoneman's raid through Tennessee and Southwest VA to destroy railroads and Confederate resources.

James was about five years old when William moved them into their new home on farm land four miles west of Abingdon. Today this well preserved two story red brick dwelling still looks out over sparkling Spring Creek to the original brick springhouse. James was, we are sure, frequently sent there to fetch milk and cheese for his mother. The springhouse area with its plentiful water supply also served as the laundry site, not only for James's family, but for subsequent owners on into the 1950's.

In 1861 the Civil War irrevocably changed the lives of everyone nation wide. The secession of Virginia from the Union on April 17, 1861, immediately affected the Fields family. In April, Charles, 19, joined the 1st VA Cavalry along with his uncles David and Jacob; William, Jr. 17, went into the 48th VA Infantry with his uncle James; J. D., 16, enlisted in Abingdon but was supposedly discharged for being too young. He somehow ended up in the 2nd KY Confederate Cavalry under Gen. John Hunt Morgan, as one of Tom Quirk's Scouts.

Then on November 22, 1862 William, James's father, died at age 51. Eleanor was left with James - 14, Alice - 12, Jacob - 10, and Teb - 5. We do not know how she managed to take care of her family which also included ten slaves. William and his brother James had been partners in some of the brick business activities, but James was off fighting the war so his affairs were also suffering.

When the hostilities ended in 1865, the three Fields sons came home. Although each had fought in many battles and had been wounded in some, they all survived to live long productive lives. Charles farmed for about a year in Abingdon then joined his mother's sister, Elizabeth Jane (Davidson) Boyd, in Sutter Co California. William Jr. found interests in next door Russell County where he married and became a prosperous farmer. J. D. stayed around for a short time, then set out on horse back for Travis County, Texas, some 1100 miles away, where there were Fields relatives and comrades from the war.

Eleanor, in 1866, married her second cousin, widower Thomas W. Witten, of Tazewell County. Taking the younger children with her, she returned to Tazewell County, where many of her Davidson family still lived. It is unlikely that James went with his mother. His older brothers had attended Emory & Henry College, a short distance from Abingdon. This small but prestigious institution was closed during the war from 1861 to 1865 and its campus used for a Confederate hospital. With no school available, James had probably joined the work force early as a brick mason.

We know that James was in Texas in 1867. The deed of Dec 1870 states that J. D. had advanced him money prior to James's conveyance of his inherited land to J. D. This brings several thoughts to mind. James was 21 in January of 1869 but the estate of James's father, William, took years to be settled. The 1870 date of the deed might indicate the first time the land was his to sell. While we cannot know what transpired during James's stay in Texas, we offer here a plausible account of what might have taken place.

When Eleanor remarried in November 1866 and either moved immediately to Tazewell County or was organizing this life changing event, James thought it would be a good opportunity for him to widen his horizons. With money borrowed from J. D. he headed for Texas. No doubt he tarried for a while in Manor, Travis County, with newlyweds J. D. and Mary Frances. When he heard about the extensive new construction in Columbus, Colorado County, created by the arrival of the railroad, James knew his bricklaying skills would be in demand. After relocating to Columbus he soon involved himself in the affairs of the city. In July of 1870 we find him in the hotel of James B. Good, who was very active in city politics. This establishment, the home of James Good and his family, appears to have been more of a rooming house than a hotel. Among others living there were a physician, cattle broker, wheelwright, US Mail Agent, retail grocer, the sheriff, and a retail goods merchant. Since James was not just a laboring bricklayer, but son of a wealthy land owner, this was probably a comfortable mix.

Sometime after July of 1870, James bought two city lots, perhaps with the idea of building a home. He seems to have been well known and popular. When things got complicated in the election of the city marshal, the mayor wrote to Governor Edmund J. Davis asking him to appoint James W. Fields (who was not a candidate) to the position, citing the support of more than 100 citizens of Columbus. Governor Davis appointed James city marshal on November 1, 1872. He was re-elected to the office in the spring of 1873 at the regular election by "a very large majority".

Then in October of 1873, the first cases of yellow fever appeared in Columbus. The deadly mosquito borne malady swept through this town of three thousand, felling hundreds. The disease, characterized by fever, vomiting, extreme prostration, jaundice, and finally hemorrhaging, usually ran its course in about six days. Those afflicted either died a painful death or endured a long and debilitating recovery. Whole families were wiped out. No specific treatment existed. Only palliative measures such as keeping the fever down and giving fluids were useful.

The majority of terrified town folk simply left the area, reducing the population to roughly three hundred. The deaths of at least sixty persons were confirmed by attending physicians as being from yellow fever. Others probably succumbed without any medical attention. Since unusually heavy rains had left stagnant pools in the widespread low lying areas, the mosquitoes multiplied unchecked. James stayed on, carrying out his duties and doing what he could for those already stricken. He became ill on November 25 and died six days later on December 1, 1873. His unmarked grave, its location unknown, lies somewhere in the Columbus City Cemetery.

Once his death date was inscribed in his mother's bible and his estate settled, James slipped out of sight. Over time his existence faded from family memory. With his brothers and sister gone there was no one to even remember his short life here. Perhaps the last person to recall him at all was Mary Frances Raney Fields, wife of his brother, Dr. J. D. Mary Frances was 98 when she died in February of 1947. It is with great satisfaction that we offer this glimpse of his brief sojourn on earth. Welcome back, James.

Patricia Craig Johnson
8600 Skyline Dr. Box 1132, Dallas TX 75243
(email link in endnotes).

Related Links and Images:

James' childhood home on Providence Rd., built around 18533
Patricia discovered an interesting bit of history about the treatment of patients during the Columbus yellow fever epidemic
Last Edited22 Mar 2013

Citations

  1. [S2439] Patricia Craig Johnson, "William Fields-Eleanor Matilda Davidson" family group sheet, (e-mail address).
  2. [S2439] Patricia Craig Johnson, "William Fields-Eleanor Matilda Davidson" family group sheet, (e-mail address). Date from Fields Family Bible.
  3. [S1376] Photo courtesy of Carol Mancuso.