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Born in Haddam, Connecticut, he was the sixth of the nine children of David Dudley Field, a Congregationalist minister, and his wife Submit Dickinson. He grew up in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and went to Turkey at thirteen with his sister and her missionary husband. He graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1837Events January 10 DePauw University founded in Greencastle, Indiana January 26 Michigan is admitted as the 26th U. State February 8 Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate February 11 Americ. After studying law in New York City with his brother David Dudley Field , they practiced law together until 18481848 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). Events Sri Lanka The Revolution of 1848 (qv. a series of widespread but failed struggles for more liberal governments, from Brazil to Hungary. January 24 California gold rush: Jame when he went west to CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located in the western United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean. The most populous and third largest state in the U. California is both physically and demographically diverse. The state's official nickname is "The Golden State", wh in the Gold Rush. There his legal practice boomed and he was the mayor of MarysvilleMarysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 12,268. Geography Marysville is located at 39°8'58" North, 121°35'8" West (39. 149343, -121. According to the United States Census Bur. The voters sent him to the California Assembly in 1850Events January 4 The first American ice-skating club is formed ( Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). January 29 Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress February 28 University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah March 7 United, but lost a race the next year for the California Senate. His successful legal practice led to his election to the California Supreme Court in 1857, serving six years.
Abraham Lincoln appointed him to the newly created tenth Supreme Court seat to achieve both regional balance (he was a Westerner) and political balance (he was a Democrat, but a Unionist one). It would also give the Court someone familiar with real estate and mining issues.He was a vocal proponent of the substantive due process theory that protected property rights from regulation under the Fourteenth Amendment--as illustrated in his dissents to the Slaughterhouse Cases and Munn v. Illinois. Field's views, which were not so much grounded in the Constitution's text as his views of natural law, were eventually adopted by the court's majority, but only after his death. However, he helped end the income tax ( Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Company ), limit anti-trust law ( United States v. E.C. Knight ), and the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Field's concern for individual rights extended to minorities, writing opinions against California's laws discriminating against the Chinese immigrants to that state.
Field insisted on breaking John Marshall's record of thirty-three years on the court, even though he was not able to handle the workload. His colleagues asked him to resign, but he refused, staying on until 1897. He lived only two years more, dying in Washington, D.C., and buried there in the Rock Creek Cemetery .
| Preceded by: None (Newly created seat) | Associate Justice | Succeeded by: Joseph McKenna |