Marshall Field

For more information on Marshall Field, visit Britannica.com.

The American merchant Marshall Field (1834-1906) established one of America's first innovative wholesale and retail dry-goods businesses.

The son of a farmer, Marshall Field was born near Conway, Mass., and attended local schools until he was 17. He clerked in a dry-goods store in Pittsfield, Mass. In 1856 he went to Chicago, where he worked for Cooley, Wadsworth and Company, a wholesale dry-goods firm, in 1861 becoming the general manager and a partner. In 1864 Levi Z. Leiter, a large-scale real estate operator, joined the company as a silent partner. When Potter Palmer, an entrepreneur and real estate developer, joined his dry-goods business with Field's and Leiter's, the company became Field, Palmer and Leiter. When Palmer retired in 1867 and Leiter in 1881, the organization became Marshall Field and Company, owned almost entirely by Field and run directly by him. Field was in fact the source and inspiration of the ideas that revolutionized retail selling everywhere.

The Field enterprise was highly diversified. It sold wholesale dry goods through a sales force reaching small stores all over the Midwest; manufactured dry goods in factories in the British Isles, France, and elsewhere; had its own buying offices all over the world; and operated its retail department store, Marshall Field and Company, in Chicago. When Field died on Jan. 16, 1906, the store covered some 36 acres over 11 Chicago blocks, the largest establishment of its kind.

As a merchant, Field was responsible for many innovations. He introduced the one-price system, bought and sold for cash, and permitted exchange of goods. The reliability of his store was well known. Various customer services were also initiated or early adopted by Field: restaurants, personal shoppers, home delivery, an interior decoration department, and a bargain basement. His sales grew from $12 million annually in 1868 to $25 million in 1881 and $68 million in 1906.

Meanwhile, Field pushed the development of downtown Chicago, so that when he died, half of his fortune, estimated to be between $100 million and $150 million, was in Chicago properties. He wished to make Chicago a great educational and cultural center and gave large sums to various institutions. He helped found the Art Institute, donated the land on which the first buildings of the University of Chicago were erected, and contributed $1 million for the museum at the World's Columbian Exposition. This museum became Field's chief interest; in addition to gifts during his lifetime his $8-million bequest built the Field (later Chicago) Museum of Natural History.

Further Reading

John Tebbel, The Marshall Fields: A Study in Wealth (1947), is a family biography. An early company history is S. H. Ditchett, Marshall Field and Company: The Life Story of a Great Concern (1922). A popularized history is Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan, Give the Lady What She Wants! … The Story of Marshall Field & Co. (1952).

(1834-1906), Chicago "Merchant Prince" and philanthropist. Field's life was a typical Horatio Alger story. Born on a farm in Conway, Massachusetts, Field enjoyed a meteoric career that paralleled the development of the West after the Civil War and the rise of urbanization. When he died of pneumonia in New York City, he was a multimillionaire. Although Deacon Davis, his first employer, said that the shy Marshall was not suitable for commerce, Field moved to Chicago in 1856 and entered the dry goods business. By 1882 he had bought out Leiter of Field, Palmer, and Leiter, changed the firm's name to Marshall Field and Company, weathered the panic of 1873 and the Great Chicago Fire, and cashed in on Chicago's rapid population growth as the railroad center of America.

As Field prospered, he began to manufacture his own merchandise in factories all over the world (Spain, Germany, Italy, Australia, and China). Field adopted a strict cash system, separated his wholesale from his retail business, and concentrated on "The Store--The Grand Emporium" in Chicago. He advertised heavily in newspapers and instituted a one-price policy, citywide deliveries, high-quality merchandise, and a liberal return policy. The store became a fashionable social center with modern dining rooms, a theater ticket office, a "give-the-lady-what-she-wants" policy, and artistic window displays.

Field's powers of concentration plus his eight "basic rules" (such as never borrow, never speculate, always pay cash) were the foundation stones of his success. Along with the Armours, Pullmans, and McCormicks, "Silent Marsh" provided the leadership that created a national market in the West for standardized goods.

Field paid his lower echelon of workers less than the going rate, but his remarkable ability to choose capable subordinates helped build his merchandising empire. Field, however, made his own decisions. Sadly, his family life did not match his business success. At twenty-nine he impetuously married Nannie Douglas Scott and had two children. It was not a happy marriage, and she died in France in 1896. His happiness was also marred by the death of his son in an accidental shooting. But he built a marble palace on Prairie Avenue, Chicago's "street of the stately few," and in 1904 married the beautiful Mrs. Arthur Delia Caton.

Field hated unions, and the National Guard was called "Marshall Field's boys" by Chicago's labor leaders after he supported the use of federal forces against Pullman railroad strikers in 1894. An odd mixture of Adam Smith's "laissez-faire man" and the Good Samaritan, Field subscribed heavily to the Chicago World's Fair (1893) and gave money to charities, the University of Chicago, and the Field Museum of Natural History.

Bibliography:

John Tebbel, The Marshall Fields: A Study in Wealth (1947); Robert W. Twyman, The History of Marshall Field & Company (1954).

Author:

Nicholas Christopher Polos

See also Libraries and Museums; Philanthropy; Pullman Strike.

Quotes:

"I have tried to make all my acts and commercial moves the result of definite consideration and sound judgment. There were never any great ventures or risks. I practiced honest, slow-growing business methods, and tried to back them with energy and good system."

"Right or wrong, the customer is always right."

"Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy."

For other uses, see Marshall Field (disambiguation).

Marshall Field
Born	August 18, 1834(1834-08-18) Conway, Massachusetts
Died	January 16, 1906 (aged 71) New York City
Occupation	Founder of Marshall Field and Company
Spouse(s)	Nannie Douglas Scott, Delia Spencer
Children	Marshall Field, Jr. and Ethel Field

Marshall Field (August 18, 1834 - January 16, 1906) was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.

Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References

Biography

Buckinghamshire, 2 November 1632) and wife Isabel Harding (d. Cholesbury, Co. Buckinghamshire, aft. 1633). His family was descended from Puritans who had come to America as early as 1650.

At the age of 17, he moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he first worked in a dry goods store.^[1] He left Massachusetts at the age of 18 for new opportunities in the rapidly expanding West. In 1856, at age 21, he went to live with his brother in Chicago, Illinois, and obtained employment at leading dry goods merchant Cooley, Wadsworth and Co., which was to become Cooley, Farwell & Co. in 1857. In 1862, Field purchased a partnership with the reorganized firm of Farwell, Field & Co.

In January 1865, Field and a partner, Levi Leiter, accepted an offer to become senior partners at the dry goods establishment of Potter Palmer. The new firm became known as "Field, Palmer, Leiter & Co." In 1867, after Field and Leiter could afford to buy him out, Palmer withdrew from the firm, and it was renamed "Field, Leiter & Company" Finally in 1881 Field bought out his remaining business partner and changed the store's name to "Marshall Field and Company".

Because of his innovations in customer service, the quotes "Give the lady what she wants" and "The customer is always right" are attributed to Field, though the latter may also be an invention of Harry Gordon Selfridge while employed by Field.^[2] He took an early 1800s consumer landscape that was centered around the principle of caveat emptor, or "buyer beware", and transformed it into a plush shopping experience fit for the gilded age. Unconditional refunds, consistent pricing and international imports are among the Field innovations that are hallmarks of even the most basic retail business today.

Field avoided political and social intrigue, instead focusing on his work and on supporting his family and his favorite philanthropies. He married Nannie Douglas Scott in 1863. Field raised two children with Scott, Marshall Field, Jr., and Ethel Field. After Scott died in 1896, Field married longtime friend Delia Spencer, widow Caton. His two grandsons, Henry Field and Marshall Field III were the beneficiaries of the majority of Field’s estate upon his death in 1906. Field was buried on January 19th. His son Marshall Jr. was married to Albertine Huck, parents of Gwendolyn Mary Field, married to Sir Archibald Charles Edmonstone, 6th Baronet. His daughter Ethel was married to David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty.

During the time of the Haymarket Riot, the wives of the defendants initiated an appeal, to which all of the local businessmen agreed except for Field. Journalist and reformer Henry Demarest Lloyd led a national campaign to grant clemency. Even bankers like Lyman J. Gage favored clemency, believing that moderation would lead to improved relations between capital and labor. Potter Palmer and Charles Hutchinson were inclined to agree, but Marshall Field was not. A number of other men confided to Gage that they were not willing to publicly disagree with Field, the wealthiest and most powerful businessman in Chicago.^[3]

The Field Museum of Natural History was named after him in 1894 after he gave it an endowment of one million dollars.^[4] Field was initially reluctant to do so, reportedly saying "I don't know anything about a museum and I don't care to know anything about a museum. I'm not going to give you a million dollars."^[5] However he later relented after railroad supplies magnate Edward E. Ayer, another early benefactor (and later first president) of the museum, convinced Field that his everlasting legacy would be achieved by financing the project.^[6]

The University of Chicago was founded by both Field and New York's John D. Rockefeller, to rival nearby Evanston's Northwestern University.

Field died in New York City in 1906 at age 71 from a case of pneumonia contracted while playing golf on New Year’s Day with his nephew, his secretary and Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son Robert Todd. The year after his death the Field Museum received a further $8,000,000 in accordance with his will.^[7] He was interred in the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. He was a very active member of The Commercial Club of Chicago. A bust of Marshall Field stands aside other early 20th century Chicago industry magnates on the north riverbank on the Chicago River facing the Merchandise Mart.

See also

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Field, Marshall.

• Marshall Field's, the eponymous department store he founded.
• Field Enterprises, holding company for newspapers and TV stations.
• Marshall Field III (1893-1956), publisher, founder of the Chicago Sun newspaper
• Marshall Field IV

Notes

1. ^ Ralph J. Christian (March, 1977), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Marshall Field & Company StorePDF (32 KB), National Park Service  and Accompanying six photos, exterior and interior, from 1960 and undatedPDF (32 KB) (A biography of Marshall Field is included)
2. ^ The customer is always right
3. ^ "People & Events: Marshall Field (1834-1906) and Midwestern Commerce". Chicago: City of the Century. PBS Online. 2003. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/peopleevents/p_field.html. Retrieved 2008-05-27. 
4. ^ Alexander (1996), p.55
5. ^ Quoted in Alexander (1996), p.55.
6. ^ See Alexander (1996), pp.55–56. Ayer reportedly convinced Field with the words, "You can sell dry goods until hell freezes over, but in 25 years, you will be absolutely forgotten." See Anderson (1921).
7. ^ Alexander (1996), p.56

References

• "People & Events: Marshall Field (1834-1906) and Midwestern Commerce". Chicago: City of the Century. PBS Online. 2003. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/peopleevents/p_field.html. Retrieved 2008-05-27. 
• John Howard Brown, ed (1900). "Field, Marshall". Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. Boston, MA: James H. Lamb. 
• Alexander, Edward P. (1996). Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums. Foreword by William T. Alderson. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History. ISBN 0-7619-9155-7. OCLC 33983419. 
• Anderson, Jon (1921-05-02). "The Field Museum". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-chicagodays-fieldmuseum-story,0,7118746.story. Retrieved 2008-05-27. 
• Green, James (2007). Death in the Haymarket. New York: Anchor Books. 
• Rhoads, Mark (2006-08-22). "Illinois Hall of Fame - Marshal Field". Illinois Review. http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2006/08/illinois_hall_o_15.html. Retrieved 2008-05-27. 
• Sullivan, Timothy E. (1999). "Marshall Field". in James Garraty (ed.). American National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

v • d • e History of Marshall Field's Former Parent Companies:  BATUS Inc. (1982-1990) | Target Corporation (1990-2004) | The May Department Stores Company (2004-2005) | Federated Department Stores, Inc. (2005-2006) Associated Stores:  Frederick & Nelson | The Crescent | Ivey's     Store Conversions:  Dayton's | Hudson's Related Topics:  Marshall Field | Marshall Field's Wholesale Store | Marshall Field and Company Building | Marshall Field and Company Store | Frango

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)