CORRESPONDENCE, 1837-1841, 1843, 1847, 1851-1856

Summary: Letters written to or by Isaac Field concerning his business, borough, and personal affairs. The business letters pertain to a variety of commercial and monetary interests of which Isaac Field engaged, including a) Market conditions and transaction specifics of the merchant trade business in eastern Asia, b) Transaction specifics of the subject's domestic dry goods business, real estate concerns and other ventures, and c) Discussions regarding various legal disputes. The borough letters pertain to events occurring in Fieldsborough while Isaac Field was active in its government. The personal letters provide insight into the relationships Isaac Field had with certain members of his immediate family, including his sons, Malcolm and Isaac, as well as his sister, Abigail Warner.

Among the business correspondence are two letters which relay accounts of events related to the Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842 ("the Opium War"). The first letter, dated June 22, 1839, paraphrases an order by the Chinese government to regulate the behavior of all foreign merchants conducting business in Canton. A provision of this order was a penalty of death for anyone caught importing opium. The second letter, dated June 5, 1841, outlines the military and diplomatic successes of the British government during that year.

Also of interest among the business correspondence are a series of letters from merchants based out of Batavia and Singapore which provide spot commodity prices for their markets. For instance, a price list from Forestier & Company of Batavia in 1838 exhibited the value of items such as ship parts, metals, food stuffs, alcoholic beverages, clothing articles, hardware items, spices, and opium in terms of Dutch Guilders. There were also exchange rates for major European currencies. The presence of a series of these lists throughout the late 1830s and early 1840s should provide one with a sense of price movements during this period.

Dominant among the borough correspondence are a series of letters between Isaac Field, as Chief Burger of Fieldsborough, and Isaac Dripps. [Isaac Dripps is noted in New Jersey history for designing and assembling an early locomotive for Col. John Stevens in 1831.] The letters document a spirited dispute between the two parties over whether the borough had the right to compel Mr. Dripps to open an alley that was bordering on his property. To apparently resolve this dispute, an act of the New Jersey Legislature was required (Act# 147, March 10, 1853).