Isaac Field Papers

Isaac Field

Isaac Field was born in New Jersey in either 1789 or 1790. The records of this collection suggest he descended from a Quaker family that settled Burlington County, New Jersey in colonial times. In many of the letters between Isaac Field and his family members, Quaker mannerisms are apparent, including the use of the addresses, "thou" and "thee" . This Quaker affiliation is further supported by the organization's own records, which appear to have documented the membership standings and marriages of likely brothers, sisters, and parents. The best example of this documentation was an 1808 entry that recorded the marriage of Mr. Field' s sister, Abigail, to Abraham Warner at the Springfield Meeting (1). Despite his siblings' adherence to the Quaker faith, Isaac did not follow this faith in his later life, as he was paying monthly pew rent at Christ Episcopal Church in Bordentown.

Regardless of religious affiliation, the majority of Isaac Field' s life was dominated by the commercial concerns of a dry goods merchant. Around 1809, he was a partner with his brother in the partnership, Thomas S. Field & Isaac Field. From the records of this collection, it is apparent that in 1818 the partnership was under significant financial stress, which required Isaac to work off its obligations at sea as "supercargo" from 1818 to 1839. Upon emerging from financial difficulties, the partnership continued until Thomas' death sometime before the 1851. From this point, Isaac Field conducted business with various partners, many of them other family members. For the years 1835 through 1856, the papers indicate that his primary partnerships included Field & Taylor and Field & Johnson, which operated out of Philadelphia (on Front Street between Market and Arch Streets) and New York (on Beaver Street), respectively. These firms were primarily engaged in the East Indian and Chinese trade, dealing in items, such as raw silks and shawls, from the po1ts of Batavia, Java (now known as Jakarta, Indonesia) and Canton, China.

Beyond the merchant trade, Isaac Field was actively involved in many other business and real estate concerns. Of these, the most notable documented in the papers was the Mansfield Wharf Company. Established as a corporation around 1851, this company owned and operated a wharf on the Fieldsborough waterfront alongside the tracks of the Camden & Amboy Railroad. During the early to middle 1850s, the prosperity of this company required a large portion of Mr. Field's time and attention, and its success seemed very much intertwined with his actions concerning the establishment and governing of Fieldsborough.

In addition to purely commercial concerns, it is evident that Isaac Field became a full-fledged resident of Fieldsborough by the 1850s. The 1850 Census shows Isaac Field living in the area with his wife, Melinda, and five other family members. Furthermore, the Bordentown Register reported in Melinda's obituary that "she, with her husband, Capitan Isaac Field, Sen., occupied the 'old Field mansion'"(2), which has been located in the borough since the early 1700s. It was during this time that Isaac Field participated in establishing Fieldsborough as a borough in 1850 and acting as its Chief Burger in the early 1850s.

After interest waned in local affairs, Isaac Field shifted his attentions to the mercantile business in New York City. He died in New York sometime between August and December of 1856.

(1) Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. 2 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1991), 996. (2) The Bordentown Register, November 18, 1904.

Located in northeastern Burlington county on the Delaware River, Fieldsborough is the county's smallest municipality in both area (three-tenths of a square mile) and population (570 in 1997). In 1850, Fieldsborough was incorporated as a borough within Mansfield Township. Two years later, it became a part of Bordentown Township, and did not become fully independent until around 1894. Throughout this time period and earlier, the town was a commercial center for transportation and manufacturing. Best known commercial ventures in the borough at the time were the Camden & Amboy Railroad and the A. & L. P. Thompson Brick Foundry.

Before its incorporation, Fieldsborough was primarily known as White Hill as far back as at least 1685. The name is said to have come from the color of the soil on the bluff of which the town stands, while others have said it relates to white flowers that grew on the bluff. It is not apparent when the area was first referred to as Fieldsborough, but records show that the Field family had lived there as early as 1694.