HENRY W. FIELDS

View Portrait of Henry W. Fields

Henry W. Fields, a retired farmer and merchant, whose success resulted from close application, perseverance and intelligently directed effort, is now numbered among the venerable and respected citizens of Tipton, having passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life’s journey. Mr. Fields is of foreign birth, the place of his nativity being Lincolnshire, England, and his natal day February 2, 1832. When but two years of age, in 1834, he was brought by his parents, John and Sarah (Foster) Fields, who were likewise natives of Lincolnshire, to the new world, their destination being Huron, Ohio, fourteen miles east of Sandusky, where they landed on the 4th of July of that year. The parents resided in Marion county, Ohio, throughout the remainder of their lives, the father passing away there in 1890, when he had reached the ripe old age of eighty-five years, while the mother died in 1892 when seventy-nine years of age. The father worked as a laborer and a farmer all his life and on the home place in Marion county reared his family, which numbered ten children. The record is as follows: Henry W., of this review; Mrs. Sarah Boyce Mitchell, who died in Linn county, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Parker Underwood, who died in Ohio; John, who passed away at the age of six years; Mathew, who died while serving his country in the Civil war as a member of the Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Pauline Harriff, who died in Ohio; George, a resident of Caledonia, Marion county; and Rosella, the wife of Andrew Hines, of Marion, county, that state.

Henry W. Fields spent his youthful days on the old home farm in Marion county and the district schools afforded him his educational privileges. Upon reaching mature years, in 1855, he made his way to Lee county, Iowa, but a year later removed to Waterloo, this state, and in the spring of the following year went to Linncounty, where he worked as a laborer for some time. He was employed on the construction of the Chicago, Iowa& Nebraska railroad in Linn county but after a few weeks went to Lisbon and worked on the division of thelinerunning from Mount Vernon to Rock Creek. For two years he acted as foreman of the grading and was with that company until the completion of the line to Cedar Rapids in 1859. Later he assisted in cutting and setting the telegraph poles along the line of that road, now the Northwestern Railroad, from Clarence to Cedar Rapids and also strung the wires on the poles. He was next employed on a construction train but in the fall of 1859 went to Arkansas on a prospecting trip. During the winter he cut wood in order to meet the expense of living and in the spring of 1860 returned to Iowa and was married in Cedar county.

Following this event Mr. Fields returned to Marion county, Ohio, where he had been reared and while residing there, enlisted as a substitute in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company D, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. During his nine months’ service he took part in no engagements, and on the expiration of that period he once more came to Cedar county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming until 1866, when he took up his abode in Tipton and has since been a resident of this city. During the intervening years his efforts were not entirely fruitless from a financial standpoint, for he managed to save a sum of money that enabled him at that time to purchase a stock of groceries and engage in business in Tipton. For twenty-eight years he was thus identified with the grocery trade of this city, being numbered among its pioneer merchants. In 1873 he erected a substantial building in which he placed his stock of goods and as the years passed he prospered, investing his money in two hundred and forty acres of land in Center township, about four miles southeast of the city. In 1894 he retired from business, the store now being owned by his son, W. R. Fields, who is an enterprising merchant. Mr. Fields still retains possession of his farm, which returns him a good annual income. He was one of the original stockholders and is yet a stockholder in the Cedar County State Bank, and his various financial interests bring him a good profit. In former years his was a useful, active and energetic career and the rest which he is now enjoying is well merited.

Mr. Fields has been married three times. His first marriage was in 1860 when Miss Rosetta Archer became his wife. She was born in Ohio and came to Cedar county in 1856, where her death occurred on the 11th of May, 1864. This union was blessed with two sons: John, who died when but three years of age; and W. R., who was born in Cedar county in 1863 and is now engaged in the grocery business in Tipton. Mr. Fields’ second wife was Mrs. Fannie Dicklot, who was born in Germany. There were no children by that union but by a former marriage Mrs. Fields had a daughter. She died in 1881, and Mr. Fields was married on the 3d of June, 1885, to Mrs. Sarah E. Kaiser. She was born in Tipton on the 2d of January, 1855, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Adams, her birth having occurred in a house which stood on the lot where Mr. Fields erected a fine modern home in 1904 and where he and his wife have since resided, although they spend the winter months in California.

Deeply interested in political affairs, Mr. Fields has always supported the men and measures of the democracy where national issues are involved but at local elections votes independently. For two years he served as a member of the city council, also acted as township trustee, and for three years was a member of the board of education. His fraternal relations connect him with Manitou Lodge, No. 8, I. O.O.F., of which he became a member in 1875. Like most men, he has had to overcome many obstacles in his path, for he started out in the humble capacity of a laborer, working at anything that would yield him an honest living. He had a firm purpose, however, and was bound to succeed. He seemed well fitted to conduct mercantile pursuits for from the time of his entrance in the business world in 1866 he gradually worked his way upward, advancing from year to year, until today, crowned with wealth and years, he receives the respect and veneration which should ever be accorded to one who has lived an honorable and upright life.