Walbridge Abner Field (April 26, 1833 – July 15, 1899) was an American lawyer, jurist and politician who served as a member of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, and as the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Biography
He was born in
North Springfield, Vermont
North Springfield is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the town of Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 573. It lies at an altitude of 495 feet ( ...
on April 26, 1833. He graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
in 1855, where he also served as a tutor. He studied law in
Boston, Massachusetts and at the
Harvard Law School. Field was admitted to the bar in 1860 and commenced practice in Boston. He served as a member of the City's school committee, and represented wards 5 and 8 on Boston's Common Council.
Field was appointed assistant
United States Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
in 1865, serving in this capacity until April 1869, when he was appointed Assistant
Attorney General of the United States, holding this office until August 1870, when he resigned and resumed his law practice.
In 1876, Walbridge ran for a seat in Congress against
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Benjamin Dean. Initially the count showed that Dean was ahead by 44 votes. Dean's margin shrank to seven votes after a recount. A committee reviewing the election results found that 25 votes were cast for Field in the
4th District
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
. The Board of Canvassers determined that those were votes that were intended to be made for Field and the
Boston Board of Aldermen voted to include those votes.
After the final count, Field was declared the winner by five votes.
Dean contested the election in the House of Representatives regarding the results of the election. Massachusetts Congressman
Benjamin Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is ...
, a Republican at the time, had a personal dislike of Field, according to news accounts of the time, and supported efforts to unseat Field in the House.
The Committee on Elections held hearings on the matter and voted 6-5 to unseat Field and seat Dean instead.
On March 27, 1878, the House voted 120-119 in favor of Dean with Republican Butler voting in the majority.
After initially supporting Field, Rep.
James T. Jones of Alabama flipped his vote to Dean, saying that even though the facts supported Field, "that he had no right to have opinions of his own, and had surrendered them to the dictates of his colleagues."
In the
1878 elections, Field faced off with Dean in a rematch. The election included allegations from Butler that Field held anti-Irish views as he had once advertised for a servant in which he specified that he sought a Protestant and 'no Irish need apply".
Field won the election by a larger majority; however, Dean again challenged the result charging irregularities with the count.
This time, Walbridge was seated and served out his term. He declined to run for another term of office in 1880.
Field was appointed by
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John Davis Long
John Davis Long (October 27, 1838 – August 28, 1915) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer from Massachusetts. He was the 32nd Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1880 to 1883. He later served as the Secretary of the Navy from 18 ...
to the bench of the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on February 21, 1881. He was promoted by
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John Quincy Adams Brackett
John Quincy Adams Brackett (June 8, 1842 – April 6, 1918) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican and temperance advocate, he served one term as the 36th Governor of Massachusetts, from 1890 to 1891. Born in ...
to the position of
Chief Justice on September 4, 1890 and served until his death in Boston on July 15, 1899. He was succeeded by
Oliver Wendell Holmes. His interment was in
Forest Hills Cemetery
Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a public ...
in
West Roxbury.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Walbridge A.
Massachusetts state court judges
Massachusetts lawyers
Burials in Massachusetts
Chief Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Harvard Law School alumni
Dartmouth College alumni
Boston School Committee members
1833 births
1899 deaths
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American judges
19th-century American lawyers