Elisha Chapman Field, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Elisha Chapman Field
Judge Elisha Chapman Field, vice president and general solicitor of the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad Company, has been a substantial adornment of both the bench and corporation bar for many years. He is a native of Porter county, Indiana, born April 9, 1842, being a son of Thomas J. and Louise (Chapman) Field, natives of New York who migrated to Indiana in 1836 and spent the remainder of their days in the Hoosier state. Elisha C. Field was graduated from what is now known as the Northern Indiana Normal School in 1862, but preferring the law to pedagogy soon afterward entered the law department of the University of Michigan, by which he was honored with his professional degree at the completion of his course in 1865.
Judge Field entered practice at Crown Point, Indiana, in the year mentioned above, and in 1868 was elected prosecuting attorney of what was then the ninth district of the state. Upon the expiration of his term in that office he was elected to a seat in the Indiana legislature. His career as a legislator brought him into general notice, and his subsequent practice at the bar added to his reputation as an able debater, a versatile and substantial lawyer, and a genial, earnest and sterling citizen. All of these qualities gave him the ideal judicial stamp, which was formally placed upon him by popular vote in 1879, when he was elected to the bench of the thirty-first circuit of Indiana. The record of his first term was signally endorsed by his re-election without opposition in 1884, and his continuation upon the circuit bench until 1889. In that year he resigned to accept the general solicitorship of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad, retaining the office under the administration of its successor, the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Company. In 1907 he was chosen to the vice presidency of the latter company, which, in connection with the general solicitorship, he still holds with characteristic zeal, faithfulness and professional ability. He is also vice president of the Indiana Stone Company and a director of the Consolidated Stone Company.
On September 1, 1864, Judge Field was united in marriage with Miss Mary Jackman, of Sycamore, Illinois, and their four children are as follows: Charles E., general claim agent of the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway Company; Cora Belle, now Mrs. G. V. Crosby, of Chicago; Robert L., a graduate of the Bethel Military School, of Virginia, and commissioned captain by the governor of the state; and Bernice Ray Field. The Judge has always been an earnest Republican and while a resident of Indiana attained to a position of national influence, serving in 1888 as a delegate from the tenth congressional district to the national convention held in Chicago. Since coming to this city his broad and pressing railway duties have barred him from continuous participation in politics, although in 1904 he served as a presidential elector from Illinois. In view of his family genealogy, he enjoys membership in the Illinois Society of the Sons of New York, and upon the organization of the Indiana Society of Chicago was elected its first vice president, in which office he is still prominent in its affairs. As he resides at No. 542 West Sixty-first street he is also identified with the Englewood Men's Club.
Source: Waterman, Abra Nelson. 1908. Historical Review of Chicago and Cook County and Selected Biography. Volume III. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 1324 p.
Page(s) in Source: 1009-1010
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook