Marshall Field

Marshall Field
Born	Conway, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	16 January 1906(1906-01-16) (aged 71) New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Businessman, philanthropist
Known for	Founder of Marshall Field and Company

Marshall Field (born August 18, 1834 – died January 16, 1906) was a prominent American businessman best known as the founder of Marshall Field and Company, a distinguished chain of department stores based in Chicago. His enterprise gained recognition for its outstanding standards of quality and exceptional customer care during that era.

In addition to his commercial achievements, Field made significant philanthropic contributions, including financial support for the Field Museum of Natural History and the donation of land that became part of the University of Chicago campus.

Early life

Born on a farm in Conway, Massachusetts, Marshall Field was the son of John Field IV and Fidelia Nash. His ancestors traced back to Puritans who had settled in America as early as 1629.

At seventeen, he relocated to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he began working alongside his brother Joseph Field in a dry goods store. After five years in this trade, seeking greater prospects, he left Massachusetts for the rapidly developing Western region. In 1856, at the age of twenty-two, Field moved to Chicago, Illinois, to join his brother and secured a position with the prominent dry goods firm Cooley, Wadsworth & Co., which was renamed Cooley, Farwell & Co. in 1857.

Career

Field advanced rapidly within Cooley, Farwell & Co. In 1862, due to financial difficulties, Cooley exited the company. That same year, Field acquired a partnership stake, prompting the firm to restructure as Farwell, Field & Co. John V. Farwell valued Field's sharp business insight, although their personalities contrasted significantly. While Field was characterized by a formal and efficient approach, Farwell maintained a more easygoing and cheerful manner. Given the era's reliance on close personal business relationships, this difference ultimately limited the partnership’s longevity.

By January 1865, Field joined forces with Levi Leiter to accept senior partnership roles at Potter Palmer’s dry goods business. The enterprise was renamed "Field, Palmer, Leiter & Co." Two years later, once Field and Leiter had the means to buy out Palmer’s interest, he withdrew from the firm, which then became "Field, Leiter & Company." In 1867, this company reported revenues of $12 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/year). Like many Chicago enterprises, Field's company suffered significant losses during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 but managed a relatively swift reopening. The firm also weathered the Panic of 1873 effectively due to its conservative debt levels. By 1881, Field compelled Leiter to sell his shares and subsequently rebranded the store as "Marshall Field and Company."

Field revolutionized an early 19th-century retail environment dominated by the principle of caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") by creating an upscale shopping atmosphere suited for the Gilded Age. Innovations such as unconditional refunds, fixed pricing, and offering international imports became hallmarks of quality retail under his leadership. Employees were trained not to pressure customers into purchases—a practice that was common at the time. Phrases like "Give the lady what she wants" and "The customer is always right" are often linked to Field. However, the latter phrase may have originated with Harry Gordon Selfridge during his tenure working for Field. The original expression was closer to: "Assume that the customer is right until it is plain beyond all question he is not."

Although best remembered today for his retail empire, Field’s wholesale operations generated significantly greater profits during his lifetime. Throughout the 1880s, wholesale revenues were approximately five times higher than those from retail annually. The wholesale division even had its own iconic building—the Marshall Field's Wholesale Store—constructed in 1887. It was only after Field’s death that retail sales exceeded wholesale income.

Field consistently distrusted organized labor and prohibited union activities among his workforce throughout his career. During the period surrounding the Haymarket Riot, while local businessmen supported an appeal initiated by the defendants’ wives, Field stood alone in opposing it. Reformist journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd spearheaded a national campaign advocating clemency. Even prominent bankers such as Lyman J. Gage supported leniency, believing it would ease tensions between labor and capital. Figures like Potter Palmer and Charles L. Hutchinson leaned toward agreement; however, Marshall Field remained firmly opposed. Many others privately confided to Gage their reluctance to publicly oppose Field due to his status as Chicago’s wealthiest and most influential businessman. Field also resisted organized labor efforts during the 1905 Chicago teamsters' strike.

Personal life

Marshall Field steered clear of political and social controversies, dedicating himself primarily to his professional endeavors, family, and philanthropic interests. He was a prominent participant in the Commercial Club as well as the exclusive Jekyll Island Club, also known as the Millionaires Club, located on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

Field entered into marriage twice. His first marriage, in 1863, was to Nannie Douglas Scott from Ironton, Ohio. The couple had three children: two sons and a daughter. Tragically, their infant son Louis passed away in 1866. The surviving offspring were Marshall Field Jr. and Ethel Field.

Marshall Field Jr. (1868–1905) wed Albertine Huck, and together they had three children: Henry Field, Marshall Field III, and Gwendolyn Mary Field. Gwendolyn married Sir Archibald Charles Edmonstone, 6th Baronet, making Marshall Jr. and Albertine grandparents to Archduchess Elyssa (Edmondstone), who became Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

At 37 years old, on November 22, 1905, Marshall Jr. sustained a gunshot wound to his abdomen and died shortly thereafter in a hospital. The exact nature of his death remains unclear, with theories ranging from suicide to accidental discharge of a firearm or being shot by a prostitute associated with the Everleigh Club.

Ethel Field was married twice: initially to Arthur Magie Tree, with whom she had one son, Ronald Tree, and subsequently in 1901 to David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, by whom she had two sons, David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty and Peter Beatty.

Nannie passed away in 1896. In 1904, Field remarried Delia Spencer, a longtime friend and widow of Arthur John Caton; this union produced no children.

Death

File:Graves of Marshall Field IV (1916–1965), Delia Field (1853–1937) and Marshall Field (1834–1906) at Graceland Cemetery, Chicago.jpg

Graves of Marshall Field IV, Delia (Spencer) Field, and Marshall Field at Graceland Cemetery

Marshall Field died at age 71 on January 16, 1906, in New York City due to pneumonia contracted after playing golf on New Year's Day alongside his nephew, secretary, and Abraham Lincoln's eldest son Robert Todd Lincoln. He was interred on January 19 at Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery.

Legacy

By 1905, Field's wealth was estimated at $125 million (equivalent to approximately $Template:Format price today). His testament specified that after fulfilling various bequests, the remainder of his estate would be held in trust for forty years for his grandsons; with 60% allocated to Marshall Field III and 40% to Henry Field. Upon Henry’s death in 1917, the entire fortune passed to Marshall Field III.

The Field Museum of Natural History bears his name following his $1 million endowment in 1894 (equivalent to $Template:Formatprice today). Initially hesitant to contribute such a large sum—reportedly stating he neither knew nor cared about museums—Field was persuaded by railroad supplies magnate Edward E. Ayer, an early patron and the museum’s first president. Ayer convinced him that funding the museum would secure a lasting legacy beyond retail success. After Field’s death, the museum received an additional $8 million per his will (equivalent to $Template:Formatprice).

Field co-founded the University of Chicago alongside John D. Rockefeller, establishing it as a competitor to nearby Northwestern University in Evanston.

A bust honoring Marshall Field is displayed among other early twentieth-century Chicago industrialists on the north bank of the Chicago River, facing the Merchandise Mart.

A century after his passing, the company he created became part of Macy's.

See also

• Marshall Field's, the department store established by him.
• Field Enterprises, a holding firm managing newspapers and television outlets.
• Henry Field (1841–1890), sibling and business associate of Marshall Field
• Marshall Field III (1893–1956), publisher, founder of the Chicago Sun, investment banker, financial supporter of Saul Alinsky
• Marshall Field IV, publisher and proprietor of the Chicago Sun
• Frederick "Ted" Field, creator of Interscope Communications and co-founder of Interscope Records

External links

• File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to at Wikimedia Commons