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[Illustration: Portrait signed of Cyrus W. Field.]




                             CYRUS W. FIELD

                           HIS LIFE AND WORK

                              [1819-1892]

                               EDITED BY

                         ISABELLA FIELD JUDSON

                              ILLUSTRATED

                        [Illustration: colophon]

                                NEW YORK

                      HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

                                  1896

               Copyright, 1896, by ISABELLA FIELD JUDSON.

                         _All rights reserved._

                             [Illustration]


                                   TO

                     MY FATHER'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS

                              THESE PAGES

                             Are Dedicated




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                            PAGE

   I. PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME LIFE (1819-1835)       1

  II. EARLY LIFE IN NEW YORK (1835-1840)             14

 III. MARRIAGE AND BUSINESS LIFE (1840-1853)         27

  IV. OUT OF DEBT--A VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA
          (1853)                                     42

   V. THE FIRST CABLE (1853-1857)                    59

  VI. THE FIRST CABLE (CONTINUED) (1857)             74

 VII. A FLEETING TRIUMPH (1858)                      86

VIII. FAILURE ON ALL SIDES (1858-1861)              122

  IX. THE CIVIL WAR (1861-1862)                     131

   X. CAPITAL RAISED FOR THE MAKING OF A NEW
          CABLE--STEAMSHIP "GREAT EASTERN"
          SECURED (1863-1864)                       154

  XI. THE FAILURE OF 1865                           182

 XII. THE CABLE LAID--CABLE OF 1865 GRAPPLED
          FOR AND RECOVERED--PAYMENT OF DEBTS
          (1866)                                    199

XIII. THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD (1867-1870)         232

 XIV. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS--RAPID TRANSIT
          (1870-1880)                               267

  XV. THE PACIFIC CABLE--THE GOLDEN WEDDING
          (1880-1891)                               303

 XVI. LAST DAYS AND DEATH--IN MEMORIAM (1891-1892)  321




ILLUSTRATIONS


CYRUS W. FIELD                     _Frontispiece_

SUBMIT DICKINSON FIELD         _Facing page_   2

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD                     "       6

THE PARSONAGE, STOCKBRIDGE, MASS.      "      10

VALENTIA: LANDING THE SHORE-END OF
  THE CABLE, 1857                      "      94

CYRUS W. FIELD, 1860                   "     124

LAST TWO PAGES OF LETTER FROM MR.
  GLADSTONE, DATED NOVEMBER 17, 1862   "     148

ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE CHART, 1865   "     188

THE NIGHT-WATCH                        "     194

ARDSLEY, IRVINGTON-ON-HUDSON           "     264

CERTIFICATE OF DISCHARGE FROM THE MERCANTILE
  MARINE SERVICE                       "     296

THE ANDRE MONUMENT, TAPPAN, NEW YORK   "     302




CYRUS W. FIELD

HIS LIFE AND WORK




CHAPTER I

PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME LIFE

(1819-1835)


CYRUS WEST FIELD, the eighth child and seventh son of David Dudley
Field, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., November 30, 1819. He took his
double name from Cyrus Williams, President of the Housatonic Bank (in
Stockbridge), and from Dr. West, for sixty years his father's
predecessor in the pastorate of the old Church of Stockbridge. He was
the sixth in descent from Zachariah Field, the founder of the family in
this country, who was the grandson of John Field the astronomer.
Zachariah was born in the old home in Ardsley, Yorkshire, England. He
came over in 1630 or 1632, seemingly from Hadley, Suffolk, and settled
first in Dorchester, Mass., afterwards making his way through the
wilderness to Hartford, Conn. Then followed in the direct line his
oldest son Zachariah Junior, Ebenezer, David, and Captain Timothy, who
was born in the north part of Madison, Conn., in 1744. He served in the
Continental Army under Washington, and was in the battle of White
Plains.

David Dudley Field, Captain Timothy's youngest son, was born May 20,
1781. In 1802 he graduated from Yale, the next year was ordained a
minister of the Congregational Church, and a month later, October 31,
1803, was married to Submit Dickinson, daughter of Captain Noah
Dickinson, of Somers, Conn., who first served under Putnam in the French
War and afterwards in the War of the Revolution. Submit Dickinson was
called "The Somers Beauty."

[Illustration: SUBMIT DICKINSON FIELD

Born October 1, 1782

(From a Crayon by Lawrence)]

David Dudley Field was first settled in Haddam, Conn., and remained as
pastor of the Congregational Church for fourteen years. Seven of his
children were born while he lived there: David Dudley was the eldest;
then followed Emilia Ann, Timothy Beals, Matthew Dickinson, Jonathan
Edwards, Stephen Johnson 1st (who died when he was six months old), and
Stephen Johnson 2d. Cyrus West, Henry Martyn, and Mary Elizabeth were
the three children born in Stockbridge, Mass. Among the reminiscences of
his sojourn in Haddam is that it fell to him to preach the execution
sermon of Peter Long. The grim Puritanical custom still survived