Marshall Field

Marshall Field
Occupation	Founder of Marshall Field and Company
Spouse(s)	Nannie Scott, Delia Spencer
Children	Marshall II and Ethel

Marshall Field (August 18, 1834 - January 16, 1906) was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. He was born on a farm in Conway, Massachusetts. At the age of 17, he moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he first worked in a dry goods store. In 1856, at age 21, he went to Chicago, Illinois and obtained employment at leading dry goods merchant Cooley, Wadsworth and Co., which was to become Cooley, Farwell & Co. in 1857. In 1862, Field purchased a partnership with the reorganized firm of Farwell, Field & Co.

In January 1865 Field and a partner, Levi Leiter, accepted an offer to become senior partners at the dry goods establishment of Potter Palmer. The new firm became known as "Field, Palmer, Leiter & Co." In 1867, after Field and Leiter could afford to buy him out, Palmer withdrew from the firm, and it was renamed "Field, Leiter & Company" Finally in 1881 Field bought out his remaining business partner and changed the store's name to "Marshall Field and Company".

Because of his innovations in customer service, the quotes "Give the lady what she wants" and "The customer is always right" are attributed to Field. He took an ealry 1800s consumer landscape that was centered around the principle of caveat emptor, or buyer beware, and transformed it into a plush shopping experience fit for the guilded age. Unconditional refunds, consistent pricing and international imports are among the Field innovations that are hallmarks of even the most basic retail business today.

Field avoided political and social intrigue, instead focusing on his work and on supporting his family and his favorite philanthropies. He married Nannie Scott in 1863. Field raised two children with Scott, Marshall II and Ethel. After Scott died in 1896 Field married longtime friend Delia Spencer Caton. His two grandsons, Henry and Marshall III were the beneficiaries of the majority of Field’s estate upon his death in 1906. His daughter Ethel was married to David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty.

During the time of the Haymarket Riot. The wives of the defendants initiated an appeal, to which all of the local businessmen agreed with except for Field. Journalist and reformer Henry Demarest Lloyd led a national campaign to grant clemency. Even bankers like Lyman J. Gage favored clemency, believing that moderation would lead to improved relations between capital and labor. Potter Palmer and Charles Hutchinson were inclined to agree, but Marshall Field was not. A number of other men confided to Gage that they were not willing to publicly disagree with Field, the wealthiest and most powerful businessman in Chicago. [[1]]

The Field Museum of Natural History was named after him in 1905 after he gave it a $1,000,000 endowment. Field died in New York City in 1906 at age 71 from a case of pneumonia contracted while playing golf on New Year’s Day with his nephew, his secretary and Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son Robert Todd. The year after his death the Field Museum received a further $8,000,000 in accordance with his will. He was interred in the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. He was a very active member of The Commercial Club of Chicago. A bust of Marshall Field stands aside other early 20th century industry magnates on the north riverbank on the Chicago River facing the Merchandise Mart.

See also

• Marshall Field family
• Marshall Field's, the eponymously named department store that he founded.
• Field Enterprises, holding company for newspapers and TV stations.

References

• Illinois Review 2006 article "Illinois Hall of Fame - Marshal Field"

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