EUGENE FIELD. 
 (Taken in 1895.) 
 
EUGENE FIELD 
 
 IN HIS HOME 
 
 IDA COMSTOCK BELOW 
 
 : 
 
 NEW YORK 
 E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY 
 
 31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 
 1898 
 
COPYRIGHT 
 E. P. BUTTON & CO. 
 
 Ube Rnicfcerbocfeer Ipres0, "fflew HJorfc 
 
AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO THE 
 DEAR CHILDREN 
 
 OF 
 BUENA PARK 
 
 962563 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN drawing aside the curtain to 
 allow the world to see the 
 private life of Eugene Field, I 
 have endeavored to give a pen 
 picture of that gifted writer just 
 as he lived and worked among 
 those nearest and dearest ; to 
 show something of the beauty of 
 his great talents, his happy, mirth 
 ful nature, his childlike simplicity, 
 as blended into the life of an ear 
 nest, ardent student and author. 
 
 Love was the bread he " cast 
 upon the waters," and love has 
 returned to him a thousand-fold. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF EUGENE FIELD Frontispiece 
 
 BIRTHPLACE OF EUGENE FIELD . i 
 
 COAT-OF-ARMS . . . . 3 
 
 MARTIN FIELD . . . . , 4 
 
 EUGENE FIELD S GRANDMOTHER . 6 
 
 ROSWELL MARTIN FIELD . . . 12 
 
 EUGENE FIELD AND HIS MOTHER . 16 
 
 LIBRARY IN EUGENE FIELD S HOME . 62 
 MRS. FIELD . . . . .64 
 
 EUGENE FIELD, JR. (" PINNY ") . 67 
 
 MARY FRENCH FIELD (" TROTTY ") 69 
 
 FREDERICK FIELD (" DAISY ") . . 70 
 
 "SISSY KNOTT " . . V - 77 
 THE BOYS OF " THE BALLAD OF 
 
 THE WALLER LOT " . . -77 
 
 THE HOME OF EUGENE FIELD . 86 
 
 ROOM WHERE EUGENE FIELD WROTE. 93 
 
 ROSWELL FRANCIS FIELD (" POSY ") . 94 
 
 " POSY " AS BUFFALO BILL . . 98 
 
 RUTH GRAY FIELD (" SISTER GIRL ") 102 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THERE was a man who was 
 lately alive, and who is now 
 dead, and whom I knew almost as 
 well as one man may come to know 
 another. From the time of our 
 entrance into the work of helping 
 to make newspapers and of writing 
 generally, we were, in one sense, 
 together up to the time of his death. 
 Somewhat the elder of the two, I 
 was at first a censor and later an 
 admirer. We worked long together 
 in one city, then separated, then 
 came together again, though con 
 nected with different journals, and, 
 after the lapse of years, more or 
 
X INTRODUCTION 
 
 less eager in differing fields of work. 
 But the closeness and the compan 
 ionship and mutual suggestion and 
 assistance never ceased until, one 
 morning, there swiftly permeated 
 Chicago the hurting message that 
 Eugene Field was dead. 
 
 There is no question in my mind 
 now that in the literary world the 
 greatly deserving living are unfor 
 tunate, in that, while the heart beats 
 and the chest heaves, what has been 
 earned is denied to them in its ful 
 ness. Eugene Field living, while 
 loved because those who read what 
 he had written could not help that, 
 received but a part of the recogni 
 tion and the ease in life which were 
 overdue to him. Eugene Field, 
 
INTRODUCTION XI 
 
 dead, attained, at once, something 
 like his just rank among human be 
 ings. A great church was thronged 
 when the preacher said words above 
 the body in the casket. There was a 
 sudden pressing together of rich 
 men, neglectful before, who had 
 known the poet slightly, and who 
 now, with the keen instinct for a 
 type, recognizing his promotion 
 before the world, were eager to be 
 known as his friends. There was 
 a funeral procession which was a 
 pageant. A little of all this in life 
 would have been of great comfort 
 to the man who has gone where 
 dollars and cents are not in circula 
 tion. Such thoughts as these the 
 heaped-up funeral flowers often 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION 
 
 suggest. This is a world some 
 what grim in its shadows. 
 
 From good, clean, notable blood 
 on both ancestral sides, came this 
 great writer of the Mississippi Val 
 ley. Reserved in some ways, yet 
 reckless, with the buoyancy of tem 
 perament which comes from a keen 
 sense of humor, he was, at the 
 same time, a man of judgment 
 and keen perception, though not 
 among the pence-getters. I pre 
 sume Tom Hood was somewhat 
 like him. He was watchful, though, 
 in the midst of his buoyancy, and 
 shrewd and careful and energetic 
 in working for his friends or for 
 what he considered right. There 
 were tossing whitecaps on the river 
 
INTRODUCTION Xlll 
 
 and ten thousand laughing ripples, 
 but, underneath, the current was 
 strong and swift and its course was 
 well defined. One of the greatest 
 among American writers was Eu 
 gene Field, but he was not greater 
 in what he wrote than he was in 
 his own personality something 
 exquisite and noble. 
 
 Eugene Field was earnest in his 
 literary work. He always had some 
 poem or sketch to talk over with 
 his near friends, and was ever seek 
 ing fuller and finer expression. Self- 
 satisfaction and complacency were 
 unknown to him. Always he was 
 striving to do good work, and he 
 was full of plans for the future. He 
 was generous of himself and stinted 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION 
 
 in no way his offerings to the world. 
 
 Time must winnow the written 
 laurels that this author flung around 
 him. Two things remain, his shin 
 ing passages of humor, kindly as 
 the sun, and his songs and poems 
 of children. It is a peculiar and 
 sacred tribute to him that he is en 
 shrined in the heart of childhood. 
 
 With all his tenderness, Eugene 
 Field was of a stalwart, manly na 
 ture. Other men, his friends, could 
 trust him in emergency. With the 
 beloved of children died one, the 
 honored and regarded of strong 
 men. 
 
 STANLEY WATERLOO. 
 
BIRTHPLACE OF 
 

 BIRTHPLACE OF EUGENE FIELD. 
 Pagei. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " If, instead of a gem, or even a flower, we would 
 cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a 
 friend, that would be giving as the angels give." 
 
 MACDONALD. 
 
 IN St. Louis, Missouri, Septem 
 ber 3, 1850, a son was born to 
 Roswell Martin and Frances (Reed) 
 Field. Only a baby ! with wonder 
 ful blue eyes, but with a soul laden 
 with the gift of poetry destined to 
 give to the world those beautiful 
 gems of thought, that have solaced 
 the weary, and gladdened the hearts 
 of all childhood. 
 
 He was particularly blessed in 
 
. : ; 2 , EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 his parentage and in his ancestors, 
 since for several generations the 
 Fields had been prominent as men 
 and women of fine mental gifts. 
 
 The genealogy of the family is 
 traced back as far as the fifteenth 
 century. Formerly the name was 
 spelled "de la Feld," meaning 
 lands where trees had been felled, 
 in contradistinction to wood or for 
 est land. During the fourteenth 
 century, the prefix " de la" was 
 dropped in consequence of the wars 
 with France having made it un 
 popular, and the name Field gener 
 ally substituted. 
 
 John Field, the astronomer, the 
 most illustrious known ancestor of 
 the family, was born in London in 
 
of Sohn Afield, the 
 
 Page 3. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 3 
 
 1520, and was a contemporary of 
 Copernicus ; the latter died in 1 543, 
 and his great work on the Revolu 
 tions of the Celestial Orbs was pub 
 lished the same year. In 1556, John 
 Field published the first astronomi 
 cal tables, calculated on the basis of 
 the Copernican discoveries, that 
 ever appeared in England. He re 
 ceived a patent for this service, and 
 Philip and Mary authorized him 
 " to bear as a crest over his family 
 arms " what in the language of her 
 aldry is described as "a dexter 
 arm, habited gules, issuing from 
 clouds fessewise proper, holding an 
 armillary sphere or. The golden 
 sphere indicates the splendor of the 
 Copernican discovery." The origi- 
 
4 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 nal family arms were " sable, a 
 chevron between three wheat 
 sheaves argent." Eugene Field 
 used only the original coat-of-arms 
 as his book-plate. 
 
 Zachariah Field, grandson of the 
 astronomer, the first of the family 
 to emigrate to America, arrived 
 here about 1630. He settled in 
 Dorchester, and was largely en 
 gaged in trade with the Indians, his 
 children and grandchildren being 
 identified with the early history of 
 New England. 
 
 Gen. Martin Field, grandfather 
 of Eugene, was born in Leverett, 
 Mass., February 12, 1773; he was 
 a graduate of Williams College, 
 and afterward received the honor- 
 
MARTIN FIELD. 
 Page 4. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 5 
 
 ary degree of A.M. from Dart 
 mouth College. He was gifted in 
 speech, with a very gracious man 
 ner ; and that, accompanied by 
 flashes of wit and stirring ridicule, 
 gave him peculiar power, and ren 
 dered him both popular and dis 
 tinguished as a jury advocate. He 
 was a skilful musician ; and upon 
 relinquishing his practice of the 
 law, gave time and study to the 
 collecting of minerals, and by his 
 great perseverance and industry 
 gathered together what was at that 
 time regarded as one of the rarest 
 and most extensive cabinets of 
 minerals in the State. It was 
 afterward given by his widow to 
 Middlebury College. He was a 
 
6 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 great lover of Nature, and found 
 the solace of his declining years in 
 studying her wondrous plans. 
 
 His wife, Esther Smith Kellogg, 
 the grandmother of whom Eugene 
 wrote in The Ladies Home Jour 
 nal, was a lineal descendant of that 
 grim old Puritan, Lieut. Samuel 
 Smith, who came from Ipswich, 
 England, to Boston in 1634. He 
 occupied important positions both 
 in Church and State, and was pos 
 sessed of great energy and an in 
 domitable will ; and it is said of 
 him, that " he impressed upon his 
 descendants, for generations, his 
 peculiar marked characteristics." 
 
 His daughter inherited much of 
 that vigor and strength which 
 
EUGENE FIELD S GRANDMOTHER. 
 Page 6. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 7 
 
 made her untiring in all her labors 
 and faithful in the discharge of 
 every duty. Her excellent judg 
 ment gave her prominence in the 
 Church, and her fine self-control 
 and commanding presence, accom 
 panied by an accurate estimate of 
 human nature, made her a most 
 estimable wife and mother. It 
 was to her home in Newfane, Ver 
 mont, that Eugene was wont to go 
 to spend his vacations and gather 
 strength and vigor, perhaps as 
 much from her care as from the 
 fine country air. 
 
 The following sermon, written 
 by Eugene when only nine years 
 old, is undoubtedly the outcome 
 of her teachings, and is certainly a 
 
8 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 very remarkable production for a 
 child of nine years to achieve. We 
 give it without corrections or altera 
 tions : 
 
 " Notes of Sermon by E. (P.) 
 Field. [Eugene at one time tried 
 to add P. to his name.] 
 
 " Text in Pro v. Chap. 13. Verse 
 
 15- 
 
 " The life of a Christian is often 
 
 compared to a race that is hard & 
 to a battle in which a man must 
 fight hard to win, these compari 
 sons have prevented many from 
 becoming christians. 
 
 " But the bible does not compare 
 the christians path as one of hard 
 labor. But Solomon says Wisdoms 
 ways are ways of pleasantness and 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 9 
 
 all her paths are peace. Under 
 the word transgressor are included 
 all those that disobey their maker 
 or in shorter words the ungodly. 
 Every person looking around him 
 will see many who are transgressors 
 and whose lot is very hard. 
 
 " I remark secondly that con 
 science makes the way of trans 
 gressors hard ; for every act of 
 pleasure every act of Guilt his con 
 science smites him. The last of 
 his stay on earth will appear horrible 
 to the beholder. Sometimes how 
 ever he will be stayed in his guilt. 
 A death in a family of some favor 
 ite object or be attacked by some 
 disease himself is brought to the 
 portals of the grave Then for a lit- 
 
10 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 tie time perhaps, he is stayed in his 
 wickedness but before long he re 
 turns to his worldly lust. Oh it is 
 indeed hard for sinners to go down 
 into perdition over all the obstacles 
 which God has placed in his path. 
 But many I am afraid do go down 
 into perdition for wide is the gate 
 and broad is the way that leadeth 
 to destruction and many there be 
 that go in thereat. 
 
 " Suppose now there was a fear 
 ful precipice and to allure you there 
 your enemies should scatter flowers 
 on its dreadful edge. Would you 
 if you knew that while you were 
 strolling about on that awful rock 
 that night would settle down on 
 you and that you would fall from 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME II 
 
 that giddy height would you I 
 say go near that dreadful rock ? 
 Just so with the transgressor he 
 falls from that height just because 
 he wishes to appear good in the 
 sight of the world But what will 
 a man gain if he gain the whole 
 world and lose his own Soul." 
 
 Roswell Martin Field (son of 
 Gen. Martin Field) Eugene s 
 father was born in Newfane, Ver 
 mont, February 22, 1807. He was 
 a very remarkable man ; entering 
 Middlebury College at eleven years 
 of age, in the autumn of 1818, and 
 graduating in 1822. He was ad 
 mitted to the Bar in September, 
 1825, at the age of eighteen. His 
 elder brother was also a lawyer, 
 
12 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 and very amusing stories are told 
 of the two brothers taking opposite 
 sides to their father, and thus wor 
 rying and teasing him. In a letter 
 from Gen. Martin Field to his 
 daughter, he complains of the levity 
 of his two sons, Charles K. and 
 Roswell Martin, then at college, 
 and expresses " great fear that their 
 pranks and capers will entirely de 
 stroy the peace of the family " ; and 
 discourses at length upon "the 
 ingratitude of children." In view 
 of the prominent positions occupied 
 later by both sons, it is shown that 
 his fears were but over-anxiety. 
 
 Roswell Martin Field repre 
 sented the town of Newfane in the 
 General Assembly of the State 
 
ROSWELL MARTIN FIELD. 
 Page 12. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 13 
 
 during the years 1835 and 1836. 
 He was elected State s Attorney 
 for several years, and while a mem 
 ber of the Legislature he wrote a 
 very able report in favor of abro 
 gating the rule of the common law 
 excluding atheists from giving tes 
 timony in courts of justice, which 
 failed of adoption then, but was 
 afterward taken up by the Hon. 
 Loyal C. Kellogg and became a 
 law. 
 
 In 1839, ne removed to St. 
 Louis, Missouri. He was a fin 
 ished scholar, and read Greek, 
 Latin, French, German, and Span 
 ish, besides having an extensive 
 knowledge of English literature 
 and science. On account of his 
 
14 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 knowledge of foreign languages, 
 he was often employed for the pur 
 pose of correcting errors of inter 
 preters in their translations of the 
 testimony of foreigners who could 
 not speak English. 
 
 It was as a lawyer that he won 
 his greatest distinction, when he 
 contended with such men as Geyer, 
 Gamble, and Bates. His first dis 
 tinction at the Bar was in cases 
 involving the intricate old Spanish 
 claims, and he gained a national 
 reputation in the famous Dred 
 Scott case. 
 
 He was among the calm, loyal, 
 patriotic men who influenced public 
 action in the dark days of the Re 
 bellion, and saved both city and 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 15 
 
 State. In social life he was genial 
 and witty, and refined in manner 
 and deportment. He was gener 
 ous to a fault, sincere and frank ; 
 but utterly devoid of ambition for 
 power or place, always modest in 
 all he did, never caring to excite 
 envy. His colleagues said of him : 
 " Had he been more active and 
 ambitious, he might have had a 
 national reputation." 
 
 He married Frances Reed, of St. 
 Louis, Missouri, formerly of Wind- 
 ham County, Vermont. The facts 
 concerning the genealogy of the 
 Field family are taken from A 
 Genealogical History of Gen. Mar 
 tin Field and his English and 
 American Ancestors, by Chas. 
 
l6 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 Kellogg Field, brother of Eugene s 
 father. 
 
 Eugene inherited his love of 
 children from his father, who was 
 wont to gather all the children of 
 the neighborhood about him while 
 he played for them upon his violin. 
 
 His mother (Frances Reed) 
 was a very handsome woman, pos 
 sessed of great strength of charac 
 ter, which was accompanied by 
 rare sweetness and gentleness. 
 Although only a boy of six when 
 he lost his mother, he said : " I 
 have carried the remembrance of 
 her gentle voice and soothing 
 touch all through my life." I am 
 sure that sainted memory was ever 
 an inspiration to him. 
 

 EUGENE FIELD AND HIS MOTHER (FRANCES REED FIELD). 
 Page 16. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 17 
 
 One can easily imagine the sor 
 row of such a child for the loss of 
 such a mother. It was only in 
 later years, however, that he gave 
 expression to his heart-longing for 
 her, in the beautiful lines : 
 
 TO MY MOTHER. 
 
 How fair you are, my mother ! 
 
 Ah, though t is many a year 
 
 Since you were here, 
 Still do I see your beauteous face, 
 
 And with the glow 
 Of your dark eyes cometh a grace 
 
 Of long ago. 
 
 So gentle, too, my mother ! 
 
 Just as of old, upon my brow, 
 
 Like benedictions now, 
 Falleth your hand s touch ; 
 
1 8 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 And still, as then, 
 A voice that glads me overmuch 
 
 Cometh again, 
 My fair and gentle mother ! 
 
 How you have loved me, mother, 
 
 I have not power to tell, 
 
 Knowing full well 
 That even in the rest above 
 
 It is your will 
 
 To watch and guard me with your 
 love, 
 
 Loving me still. 
 
 And as of old, my mother, 
 
 I am content to be a child, 
 
 By mother s love beguiled 
 From all these other charms ; 
 
 So to the last 
 Within thy dear protecting arms 
 
 Hold thou me fast, 
 My guardian angel, mother. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 1 9 
 
 As Eugene developed from the 
 sweet baby to the child, he was 
 very precocious and learned rapidly, 
 but his progress was checked some 
 what by ill health. 
 
 Upon the death of his mother 
 in 1856, he and his younger 
 brother, Roswell Martin Field, 
 were given to the care of a cousin, 
 Miss Mary Field French, of Am- 
 herst, Massachusetts, who dis 
 charged her duty toward them 
 most faithfully and lovingly, and 
 did much to brighten the lives of 
 these motherless little boys. 
 
 The dedication in A Little Book 
 of Western Verse is a fitting tribute 
 of love to one who filled so well the 
 mother s place. 
 
2O EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 WESTERN VERSE. 
 
 A dying mother gave to you 
 
 Her child a-many years ago ; 
 How in your gracious love he grew, 
 
 You know, dear, patient heart, you know. 
 
 The mother s child you fostered then 
 Salutes you now, and bids you take 
 
 These little children of his pen 
 
 And love them for the author s sake. 
 
 To you I dedicate this book, 
 And, as you read it line by line, 
 
 Upon its faults as kindly look 
 
 As you have always looked on mine. 
 
 Tardy the offering is and weak ; 
 
 Yet were I happy if I knew 
 These children had the power to speak 
 
 My love and gratitude to you. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 21 
 
 Miss French procured the best 
 instructors to be found in New 
 England, and always saw that the 
 little proteges knew their lessons 
 well. 
 
 Through the kindness of Mr. 
 Tufts, we are able to get a glimpse 
 of Eugene s boyhood. 
 
 Among his playfellows, he was a 
 natural leader and prime favorite ; 
 continually devising new sports, 
 and by his wit and geniality giving 
 zest to the old plays. 
 
 In his early boyhood, he was 
 original and full of resource in his 
 fun and jests ; which were given and 
 received good-naturedly, though 
 ofttimes rather severe. Occasion 
 ally, however, his playmates showed 
 
22 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 some resentment at his persistent 
 drollery at their expense. 
 
 With great industry and pains 
 taking, he prepared a paper for 
 publication ; then, being made to 
 understand that many of the arti 
 cles were too personal, and might 
 wound the feelings of the parties 
 referred to, he cheerfully destroyed 
 the labor of weeks. 
 
 He excelled in conversational 
 power, indulging in sharp witticisms 
 that were always amusing, but 
 manifested no special taste either 
 for reading or writing poetry. If, 
 as Wordsworth says, " the child 
 is father to the man," the qualities 
 which afterward made him so dis 
 tinguished were not discernible at 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 23 
 
 that time ; yet one might discover 
 some traces of Eugene Field 
 the man in Eugene the boy. 
 Fun-loving, frank, and cordial in 
 manner, enjoying to the utmost 
 simple pleasures and pastimes, with 
 a thorough dislike of pretence and 
 affectation, he always held the high 
 est respect and appreciation for that 
 which was elevating and ennobling. 
 
 In most eminent men, their work 
 seems the legitimate outcome of 
 their early life, but Eugene s excel 
 lence was not only greater than 
 could be anticipated, as the work 
 of a genius usually is, but also dif 
 ferent from the indications of his 
 youth. 
 
 Any intelligent person acquaint- 
 
24 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 ed with the boy would see great 
 possibilities in his future, and ex 
 pect distinction, under favorable 
 circumstances, from so much life, 
 originality, and versatility. 
 
 From what is generally known 
 of him as a boy, he is deserving 
 of great credit for his self-control 
 and his persistent effort in correct 
 ing his youthful faults and per 
 fecting his work. H e seems to have 
 formed his literary tastes gradually 
 as his mind and character devel 
 oped, the fire of genius, smould 
 ering so long, at last burst forth in 
 his matchless verse. 
 
 Eugene s first leave-taking of his 
 gentle foster-mother, Miss French, 
 at the age of fifteen, was to attend 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 25 
 
 the private school of the Rev. 
 James Tufts of Monson, Massa 
 chusetts, where he was fitted for 
 Williams College, which institution 
 he entered as a Freshman in 1868. 
 
 In 1869, on account of the death 
 of his father, he left Williams Col 
 lege. 
 
 When one contemplates the love 
 of Eugene s father for all children, 
 it seems pathetic in the extreme that 
 circumstances should compel him 
 to be separated from his two sons 
 during the greater part of their 
 childhood, and that, just as their 
 lives were rounding into a promis 
 ing manhood, death should destroy 
 the long -cherished hope of an 
 earthly family reunion. 
 
26 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 The same year, Eugene entered 
 the Sophomore class of Knox Col 
 lege, Galesburg, Illinois, where his 
 guardian, John W. Burgess (now 
 of Columbia College, New York), 
 was one of the corps of professors. 
 Judge M. L. Gray, of St. Louis, 
 Missouri, was made executor of 
 the estate. He had been a close 
 friend of the elder Mr. Field, and, 
 himself having no children, these 
 two bright boys, left orphans so 
 young in life, took a great hold 
 upon his heart. His home was 
 ever open to them, and they came 
 to look upon him as a second 
 father. 
 
 Mrs. Gray, with her keen insight 
 and fine intellectual qualities, was 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 27 
 
 ever a wise counsellor and faithful 
 friend, and I am sure that Eugene 
 always felt her gentle influence as 
 one of the inspirations of his life. 
 
 Judge Gray s memory is stored 
 with anecdotes of the pranks Eu 
 gene played. At one time he came 
 to him for money ; Judge Gray 
 tried to remonstrate with him, say 
 ing that he was spending more 
 than his income would warrant, 
 whereupon Eugene replied that he 
 must have money, and if it could 
 not be raised upon his property, he 
 would go upon the stage and take 
 for his nom de plume " M. L. Gray." 
 Of course the money was forth 
 coming. 
 
 Both Judge and Mrs. Gray 
 
28 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 watched with great pleasure the 
 rapid development of Eugene s 
 mind ; and when the star of his 
 genius began to rise before the 
 admiring gaze of men, it was de 
 lightful to see with what pride and 
 pleasure these guardians of his 
 youth welcomed its light. 
 
 Their love and friendship, con 
 tinuing through so many years, 
 were more highly prized by Eugene 
 than almost anything I can mention, 
 and he has given expression to this 
 feeling in the dedication in verse 
 to Mr. Gray, in Echoes from the 
 Sabine Farm. 
 
 When Mrs. Gray was called 
 from her usefulness in this world 
 to her life above, he wrote a most 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 29 
 
 beautiful tribute to her memory, 
 which was privately printed in 
 book form and given by Judge 
 Gray to their many friends. Death 
 is robbed of its terror by such 
 lines : " They saw upon her glori 
 fied face no shadow of the Valley, 
 but the shining light of the Eter 
 nal City, and through the window 
 streamed the summer sunshine ; 
 and it was morning ! " 
 
 The story has been widely cir 
 culated that Eugene s father left 
 him a large fortune. This is not 
 true : the estate was mostly in 
 realty, and, although it made a 
 large showing, realized a compara 
 tively small sum for each of the 
 sons. 
 
3O EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 Much also has been said of his 
 extravagance, but this, too, has 
 been greatly exaggerated. Per 
 haps this exaggeration came from 
 the fact that his manner of spend 
 ing money was different from that 
 of most people. He had rather 
 simple tastes (except in books), 
 and was most abstemious in his 
 daily habits. Yet he would give 
 his last penny and hours of labor 
 to carry out some eccentric scheme 
 to entertain and amuse his friends ; 
 or to buy some toy to gladden the 
 heart of a child. 
 
 It had been a theory of their 
 cousin, Miss French, who cared for 
 them after their mother s death, 
 that it was better to keep the boys 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 31 
 
 in separate schools. There was 
 always, however, a love between 
 them that was ideal, and after they 
 grew to an age when they could 
 choose for themselves, Eugene left 
 Galesburg and went to Columbia, 
 Missouri, to attend the State Uni 
 versity, in order to be with his 
 brother. 
 
 At this time he was splendidly 
 equipped in Latin, as well as in all 
 the ordinary English branches, and 
 had reached an age when he felt 
 himself quite his own master. 
 Studies difficult to others were 
 mere play to him, and, as a conse 
 quence, much of his time was spent 
 in fun and frolic. His vivacity, his 
 sparkling wit, his keen sense of 
 
32 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 humor, and his wonderful ability to 
 attract people to himself, made him 
 the life of every social gathering. 
 
 My first meeting with Eugene 
 Field was when on a visit to my 
 brother, who was also attending the 
 University. And what pranks he 
 played ! Hiding the book I chanced 
 to be reading, composing ballads 
 about the young gentlemen who 
 called, and when they appeared, 
 seating himself at the piano and 
 playing over the airs, while I was 
 in terror lest he should sing the 
 words he had made very personal. 
 
 Often in the afternoon, when he 
 was supposed to be studying, his 
 room would be filled with young 
 ladies, a dear old lady boarding in 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 33 
 
 the house acting as chaperone. H e 
 always kept a supply of good things 
 on hand, and these little gatherings 
 being very unique, invitations to 
 them were eagerly sought. 
 
 At that time he did not call his 
 writings poetry, but he always con 
 trived to have, for the amusement of 
 his guests, some humorous rhyme 
 or funny anecdote that kept his 
 friends in a roar of laughter. He 
 also did some bright work on the 
 bogus programs, which were ex 
 ceedingly funny. He was in great 
 demand for private entertainments 
 and amateur theatricals, often writ 
 ing parodies and comic songs for 
 the occasion. One of his favorite 
 songs was : " The Old Man," 
 
34 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 The first verse is as follows : 
 
 " When I was young and in my prime, 
 I was kissing the girls the most of my 
 
 time, 
 And if any girl here thinks she can fool 
 
 me, 
 She 11 find me as young as I used to be." 
 
 His personation of a jolly old man 
 enhanced its value an hundred-fold, 
 and showed to perfection his talents 
 as a comedian. 
 
 During this visit, he revised and 
 sang " Comin thro the Rye," per 
 sonating a young lady. For this 
 occasion, I drove five miles with 
 him, to get an old-fashioned hoop- 
 skirt ; and imagine my consterna 
 tion, when, entering the principal 
 street of the little town, he donned 
 that obsolete adjunct of feminine 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 35 
 
 attire. The more I begged him to 
 take it off, the faster he drove. 
 
 Ah ! but there was a deeper, 
 steadier current under the ripples 
 of fun. 
 
 At the Commencement exer 
 cises he delivered an oration. How 
 well I remember his pale face and 
 deep voice, and the loud applause 
 he elicited ! 
 
 Later, when we all had bidden 
 good-bye to dear old Columbia, he 
 visited my brother at our home in 
 St. Joseph, Missouri. 
 
 There he met for the first time 
 my sister, Julia Sutherland Corn- 
 stock, who was destined to be the 
 chief inspiration of his life, then 
 only a girl in short dresses. 
 
36 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 I had my own sweetheart, so 
 Eugene was often left with this lit 
 tle brown-eyed Julia, and we all re 
 marked, " How well they get on 
 together ! " He often took her out 
 for afternoon drives, and we 
 thought how gallant he was to 
 give so much pleasure to so young 
 a girl when there were so many 
 young ladies in the neighborhood. 
 
 What was our surprise when we 
 found they had been " making hay 
 in the sunshine," and he had told her 
 the old, old story, and awakened 
 in her innocent young heart a love 
 that was to remain his very own 
 until death did them part. 
 
 My father remonstrated, saying, 
 " She is only a child " ; whereupon 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 37 
 
 Eugene promised to go away to 
 Europe for a year, then establish 
 himself in business, and wait until 
 Julia was eighteen. To this ar 
 rangement my father gave consent. 
 
 In the fall, he and my brother 
 started for Europe, I accompany 
 ing them as far as New York, to 
 visit relatives. After a short time 
 my brother and I went to Amherst, 
 Massachusetts, with Eugene, to 
 visit his aunt and his cousin, Mary 
 Field French. 
 
 Everyone welcomed him with 
 delight back to the scenes of his 
 boyhood ; and each evening, during 
 our visit of a week, he was the 
 centre of attraction at some social 
 gathering. 
 
38 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 We then returned to my rela 
 tives in New York, and the next 
 day after our arrival Eugene was 
 missing. A note soon came by 
 mail, saying : " Important busi 
 ness has called me back to St. Jo 
 seph, Missouri ; I hope you will 
 pardon my sudden leave-taking." 
 Then we knew he had gone back 
 on a journey of some fifteen hun 
 dred miles to spend a few more 
 days with the little sweetheart he 
 was leaving behind. 
 
 It has been stated that he spent 
 a fortune upon the European trip 
 that he took at this time, and also 
 that he collected a large library 
 while abroad. These statements 
 are neither of them true, although 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 39 
 
 he jocosely states in his auto-anal 
 ysis : " I visited Europe, spending 
 six months and my patrimony in 
 France, Italy, Ireland, and Eng 
 land." I do not think he brought 
 home a dozen books, but he did 
 bring a little Italian poodle, to 
 which he was devoted and which 
 he absurdly named " Sweeny." 
 He taught the poodle to play hide- 
 and-seek, and to lie down beside 
 him while he sang the following 
 nonsensical lines : 
 " Kiss daddy good-bye and shut little eye, 
 
 Good little boys go to sleep, 
 Oui ! Oui ! 
 
 Else a big bugaboo will come and catch 
 you, 
 
 And then poor daddy will weep, 
 Oui ! Oui ! " 
 
4O EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 whereupon " Sweeny " went to 
 sleep. 
 
 His love for animals was always 
 a striking characteristic of his na 
 ture. When at school at Colum 
 bia, Missouri, a little black-and-tan 
 dog called " Penny " was his al 
 most constant companion. 
 
 While in Italy he came near be 
 ing arrested for interfering with 
 some Italians who were abusing a 
 dog. An American lady driving 
 along and seeing him and his com 
 panion, apparently Americans, in 
 trouble, opened her carriage door 
 and bade them enter quickly, when 
 she drove rapidly away. 
 
 From Rome he wrote the follow 
 ing letter : 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 41 
 " ROME, ITALY, February the 22nd, 1873. 
 
 " EDGAR VANDERBURGH, Esqr. 
 
 " My dear sir, 
 
 " I believe I promised to write 
 you once a week, when I left 
 Lithgow, but if I have failed to do 
 so, it has been not from any for- 
 getfulness of you and yours, but 
 from an overwhelming amount of 
 care and duty. No, Lithgow is 
 dear to me as ever ! Her post- 
 office and other public buildings 
 (Episcopal church and Restaurant) 
 are still fresh in my memory. And 
 I recollect with a sigh the many 
 pleasant walks (between the Post 
 office and your residence) I 
 enjoyed while in Lithgow last 
 summer. Ah, those happy days 
 
42 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 will never come again (a0 tear) and 
 you and I have had our last politi 
 cal discussion. For, since the col 
 lapse of the Greeley & Brown 
 movement I have given over all 
 hope of ever rescuing my torn and 
 bleeding country from Grant and 
 his minions, and have resolved to 
 have nothing more to do with poli 
 tics. Methinks, my country will 
 groan to hear this declaration ! 
 
 Your promising nephew and 
 namesake, in imitation of the illus 
 trious Caesar, lies sick in Rome of a 
 fever. H e took to his bed day before 
 yesterday and has complained of 
 much pain and suffering. Last night 
 he had a raging fever, which has 
 been succeeded to-day by a raging 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 43 
 
 appetite, and inasmuch as he pro 
 poses to attend a masquerade ball 
 this evening I do not consider his 
 condition critical. Miss Amelia has 
 probably kept you informed of our 
 whereabouts. We have been two 
 months in Nice, and a month or so 
 travelling in Italy. Two weeks we 
 passed in Naples, and a most de 
 lightful place we found it. Its nat 
 ural situation is simply charming, 
 though the climate is said to be 
 very unhealthy. I climbed Vesu 
 vius and peered cautiously into the 
 Crater. It was a glorious sight 
 Nothing else like it in the world ! 
 Such a glorious smell of Brimstone ! 
 Such enlivening whiffs of hot steam 
 and sulphuric fumes ! Then too, 
 
44 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 the grand veil of impenetrable white 
 smoke that hung over the yawning 
 abyss ! No wonder people rave 
 about this Crater and no wonder 
 poor old Pliny lost his life in 
 coming too near the fascinating 
 monster. The ascent of Vesuvius 
 is no mean undertaking and I ad 
 vise all American parents to train 
 their children especially for it, by 
 drilling them daily upon their back 
 yard ash-heaps. I was an hour 
 climbing up the cone, which can be 
 not more than fifteen hundred feet 
 high. When I reached the happy 
 top, I felt as I think Alexander 
 must have felt when he had con 
 quered the world, though I will 
 add, I sighed for no more such 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 45 
 
 conquests. Coming down the 
 mountain is rare fun. The sand 
 and ashes are so deep that the de 
 scent may be made upon a dead 
 run. Clad in old garments and 
 with my pedal extremities encased 
 in my monitor gaiters/ I aston 
 ished the natives by my celerity 
 and recklessness. 
 
 " I was much disappointed with 
 Pompeii. It presents the appear 
 ance of an old-fashioned closely- 
 built city, which has been burned 
 down. But I must confess it is in 
 deed wonderful when one contem 
 plates the nicety and care with 
 which the excavations have been 
 made and the remarkable state of 
 preservation in which the city has 
 
46 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 been found. I could hardly realize, 
 while walking through her silent 
 streets, that, once the centre of so 
 much wealth and prosperity, she 
 had lain under the ashes and lava 
 for eighteen centuries, unmissed 
 and forgotten. But if I was disap 
 pointed with Pompeii, I was not so 
 with Herculaneum, another buried 
 city, of more wealth than Pompeii 
 and with a larger population I be 
 lieve. Pompeii, you remember, was 
 overwhelmed with ashes, but Her 
 culaneum was buried in a red-hot 
 river of lava which poured from Ve 
 suvius and swept down relentlessly 
 upon the city, blotting it out from 
 the history of the world for nineteen 
 hundred years. This lava is now 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 47 
 
 one solid rock and upon it is built 
 a new city, called Resina. The 
 Italian government, however, have 
 caused extensive excavations to be 
 made, and out of the solid rock has 
 been resurrected a part of the ill- 
 fated city. We have been in Rome 
 only a short while, but a sufficient 
 time to have visited the principal 
 places of interest. We have had 
 pleasant weather until to-day, and 
 this has been a wild day. The 
 Carnival is in full blast and I have 
 become thoroughly disgusted with 
 this never-ending display of domi- 
 nos, peasant girls, Kings, priests, 
 &c. &c. The city is very full at pres 
 ent. This is the fashionable season 
 and visitors from all nations flock 
 
48 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 hither at this time. We expect to 
 go to Paris shortly, and where, from 
 that city, I dinna care to tell. 
 
 " I was much shocked to hear of 
 poor Mr. Wheaton s death. I 
 knew him only slightly, but even 
 that short acquaintance won for 
 him my respect and esteem. His 
 untimely death must have been a 
 sad affliction to you all. 
 
 " Please give my kind regards 
 to Mrs. Vanderburgh, the young 
 ladies, and grandma. And don t by 
 any means forget to remember me 
 tenderly yet respectfully to Bridget. 
 Edgar joins in affectionate regards. 
 Believe me, dear sir, with renewed 
 assurances of esteem, &c. &c. 
 Yours very truly, EUGENE FIELD." 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 49 
 
 Upon his return from Europe, at 
 the age of twenty-two, he associated 
 himself with the St. Louis Evening 
 Journal; it was there that his origi 
 nality began to show itself in the 
 unique ways he adopted to gain 
 information and interview people. 
 
 The fact of his being at work in 
 St. Louis, with his fiance e away in 
 St. Joseph, did not particularly as 
 sist in the success of his new enter 
 prise. His visits to the latter city 
 were long and frequent ; and at 
 length, after much solicitation, my 
 father consented to an early mar 
 riage. This occurred October 16, 
 1873, a short time before my sister 
 was seventeen years old. 
 
 They settled in St. Louis, and 
 
5O EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 afterward the Journal sent Eu 
 gene to Jefferson City, the State 
 capital, where he made many 
 friends. His newspaper work was 
 very congenial to him, and his ad 
 vance was continuous. A fine offer 
 from the St. Joseph Gazette brought 
 him to that city in 1875 ; two cn ^" 
 dren were born to him there, Ros- 
 well Martin (named for Eugene s 
 father and brother), who died at 
 the age of two months, and Mary 
 French, better known as " Trotty." 
 
 The death of his baby boy was 
 the first great sorrow of his married 
 life. 
 
 From St. Joseph he returned 
 to St. Louis, in 1876, to accept a 
 position as editorial writer on the 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 5! 
 
 St. Louis Journal and St. Louis 
 Times. Here his two sons, Melvin 
 Gray (named for his lifelong friend 
 and counsellor), and Eugene, Jr., 
 nicknamed " Pinny," were born. 
 
 In 1880, he again bettered his 
 condition by going to Kansas City 
 as managing editor of the Kansas 
 City Times, where he did some very 
 bright newspaper work. 
 
 While in Kansas City he made a 
 great social hit as Madam Jarleyof 
 wax-figure fame, in a private enter 
 tainment. 
 
 Here another son came to glad 
 den his home. For several months 
 he was a very delicate child. I n the 
 pale little face were set a pair of 
 beautiful blue eyes which his father 
 
52 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 said "always remind me of dai 
 sies peeping up from the grass " ; 
 hence came the name that has al 
 ways clung to him, " Daisy." 
 
 From Kansas City the Fields re 
 moved to Denver in 1881, where 
 Eugene became managing editor of 
 the Denver Tribune. The life in 
 the Western metropolis suited him 
 admirably; and the different phases 
 of human nature found in the Far 
 West proved a field of study for 
 his observant mind. Several of his 
 best poems and character sketches 
 illustrate this life. 
 
 While in Denver he wrote an 
 article about the Governor of the 
 State that was considered too per 
 sonal and damaging, whereupon 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 53 
 
 Eugene was sued for libel. For 
 days after, clever little squibs in 
 Eugene s most satirical vein ap 
 peared in the Tribune, placing the 
 Governor before the public in the 
 most ridiculous light imaginable. 
 
 Shortly after this occurred I was 
 visiting in Denver, and with a friend 
 attended a basket lunch, where a 
 basket filled with delicacies for two 
 people, with a lady s card inside, 
 was sold to the highest bidder. 
 Thereupon the gentleman who 
 bought it escorted the lady whose 
 name appeared upon the card to a 
 little tfae-k-t&te table provided with 
 hot coffee, where they lunched to 
 gether. You may guess my con 
 fusion when Governor was 
 
54 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 presented to me ! It is needless to 
 say our conversation did not in 
 clude the promising Eugene as one 
 of its subjects. 
 
 During this visit a lady related 
 to me a conversation she overheard 
 while sewing near an open window, 
 which illustrates the Field charac 
 teristics. 
 
 Her children were playing on 
 the lawn with several companions, 
 among them a little girl from Rich 
 mond, Missouri. They all began 
 relating wonderful tales, and this 
 little girl said : " You ought to 
 live in Richmond ! A circus came 
 there this summer, and the ani 
 mals all got out and are running 
 around Richmond to this day." 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 55 
 
 "Trotty" Field, then six years old, 
 opened her big blue eyes, and as 
 suming a very wise air, said : 
 " Oh ! that s nothing ; my grand 
 mother was eaten up by a lion." 
 
 Oscar Wilde was making quite 
 a stir in this country at that time. 
 He was to lecture in Denver, and 
 the Tribune had written him up 
 favorably for several days, and was 
 to give him a banquet. When the 
 time came for his arrival he did 
 not put in an appearance ; and in 
 order that they might not get the 
 laugh on the newspaper, Eugene 
 bought a wig with long flowing 
 locks, and otherwise adorned him 
 self to represent the hero of sun 
 flower fame. He then procured 
 
56 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 an open carriage, and drove up 
 and down the streets of the city. 
 The papers gave long accounts of 
 Wilde s arrival, with extensive re 
 marks upon his aesthetic appear 
 ance, when in truth he did not 
 arrive in Denver until some time 
 afterward. 
 
 Flattering inducements being of 
 fered farther east, Eugene sent 
 his family to St. Louis, to stay 
 with my mother until he could 
 form definite plans for the future. 
 
 While there a little girl was born 
 to them, the first child of theirs 
 having the dark eyes and hair of 
 the mother. She was named for 
 her, and the delight of the family 
 was as great as if she had been 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 57 
 
 the first baby. But in a few short 
 weeks the angel of death folded 
 this darling of the household in his 
 arms, and the father, to whom this 
 tiny copy of the mother would 
 have been inexpressibly sweet and 
 dear, could, alas ! but know her as 
 a tender, beautiful, white-winged 
 thought. 
 
 It was in 1883 that he accepted 
 a position as paragrapher for the 
 Chicago Daily News, later changed 
 to the Chicago Record. Up to 
 this time, although quite widely 
 known, he had not done much 
 work of real literary value. He 
 seemed to need all the varied ex 
 periences that had been his to fit 
 
58 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 him for the work that now opened 
 up before him. His originality 
 of thought and expression soon 
 brought him into great popular 
 ity, and it was not long before he 
 had gained quite a reputation as a 
 humorist. 
 
 Short stories began to appear in 
 his column of " Sharps and Flats " ; 
 and he read extensively all the old 
 legends and fairy stories to fire his 
 imagination. About 1886 he wrote 
 stories of greater length, weaving 
 in little poems on quaint subjects. 
 
 His first published poem, in 
 1879, entitled " Christmas Treas 
 ures," in A Little Book of Western 
 Verse, seems like the outpouring 
 of a mother s heart. The senti- 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 59 
 
 ment that clung to those faded 
 treasures is tenderness itself. It 
 was doubtless called forth by the 
 memory of his own dear first-born, 
 although written several years af 
 ter that child s death. 
 
 The Tribune Primer, published 
 in Denver in 1882, was his first 
 publication in book form. It was 
 composed of short lessons like the 
 following : 
 
 U THE PEACH. 
 
 " The Peach is hard and Green. 
 He is Waiting for a child to come 
 along and Eat him. When he gets 
 into the child s little Stomach he 
 will make things Hot for that 
 Child. The Child Who eats the 
 
60 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 Peach will Be an Angel before he 
 Gets a Chance to Eat another. 
 If there were no green Peaches 
 there would not be so many Chil 
 dren-Sizes of Gold Harps in 
 Heaven." 
 
 " MENTAL ARITHMETIC. 
 
 " How many Birds are there in 
 Seven soft-boiled Eggs ? 
 
 " If you have Five Cucumbers 
 and eat Three, what will you have 
 left ? Two. No ; you are wrong. 
 You will have More than that. 
 You will have Colic enough to 
 double you up in a Bow Knot for 
 Six Hours. You may go to the 
 foot of the Class. 
 
 " A man had six Sons and Four 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 6 1 
 
 Daughters. If he had Six Daugh 
 ters and Four Sons, how many 
 more Sons than Daughters would 
 He have had ? 
 
 "If a Horse weighing 1600 
 pounds can Haul four tons of Pig 
 Iron, how many seasons will a 
 Front Gate painted Blue carry a 
 young Woman on One Side and 
 a young Man on the Other ? " 
 
 The Primer has been long out 
 of print, and few copies are to be 
 found. Probably not more than 
 seven or eight are in existence. 
 
 For many years he collected all 
 the different books of fairy stories 
 and folk-lore of the different coun 
 tries ; they were all placed in one 
 
62 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 bookcase in his library, so that it 
 is known as the " Fairy Corner." 
 
 His stories and poems were col 
 lected and published in 1896, un 
 der the titles of A Little Book of 
 Western Verse and A Little Book 
 of Profitable Tales. 
 
 It has been said of him that he 
 turned out more first-class news 
 paper work than any other man in 
 this country. Delicate health com 
 pelled him to go abroad in 1889 f r 
 rest and change. Being unwilling 
 to be separated from his family, 
 they accompanied him. The chil 
 dren were placed in a private school 
 in Germany, while his wife re 
 mained with him in London. Her 
 gentleness and indulgent care 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 63 
 
 seemed just what he needed to 
 make him forget himself. Alone, 
 in dim old London they lived over 
 again the days of their youth, and 
 once more were driving through 
 the shady lanes around St. Joseph, 
 Missouri, the place of their early 
 courtship ; Eugene tells you the 
 story in " Lovers Lane, St. Joe." 
 
 That she was the great inspira 
 tion of his life appears in the many 
 poems written about her. " The 
 Tea Gown" and " A Little Bit of a 
 Woman " refer directly to her, as 
 does also " Lizzie " and some of his 
 stories. 
 
 The following poem, written in 
 his exquisite, delicate handwriting, 
 illuminated with varied colors, does 
 
64 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 not appear in any of his books ; it 
 speaks for itself : 
 
 A VALENTINE TO MY WIFE. 
 
 Accept, dear girl, this little token, 
 And, if between the lines you seek, 
 
 You 11 find the love I Ve often spoken 
 The love my dying lips shall speak. 
 
 Our little ones are making merry 
 
 er am rous ditties rhymed in jest, 
 But in these words (though awkward 
 
 very) 
 The genuine article s expressed. 
 
 You are as fair and sweet and tender, 
 Dear brown-eyed little sweetheart 
 
 mine, 
 As when, a callow youth and slender, 
 
 1 asked to be your Valentine. 
 
MRS. EUGENE FIELD. 
 Page 64. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 65 
 
 What though these years of ours be fleet 
 ing ? 
 What though the years of youth be 
 
 flown ? 
 
 I 11 mock old Tempus with repeating, 
 " I love my love and her alone ! " 
 
 And when I fall before his reaping, 
 And when my stuttering speech is 
 dumb, 
 
 Think not my love is dead or sleeping, 
 But that it waits for you to come. 
 
 So take, dear love, this little token, 
 And if there speaks in any line 
 
 The sentiment I d fain have spoken, 
 Say, will you kiss your Valentine ? 
 
 The beautiful work which he 
 did in London while in such deli 
 cate health is truly wonderful. 
 Nearly all of the Second Book of 
 Verse was written there ; it em- 
 
66 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 braces a broader range of subjects 
 than any of his books. 
 
 While abroad, they lost their eld 
 est son, Melvin Gray, in his thir 
 teenth year. He was a splendid, 
 manly boy, and this sorrow so 
 weighed upon them that they re 
 turned home much sooner than 
 they had expected. " Little Boy 
 Blue" is generally supposed to 
 have been suggested by the death 
 of this son. 
 
 The " Little Boy Blues " all over 
 the world had so touched the sym 
 pathetic chords of his poetical na 
 ture that his thought of them 
 might properly be said to have 
 crystallized into his most widely 
 known poem. 
 
EUGENE FIELD, JR. (" PINNY"). 
 Page 67. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 67 
 
 The dedication in With Trum 
 pet and Drum refers to this son 
 so delicately that to me it is among 
 his sweetest thoughts. 
 
 In " Buttercup, Poppy, Forget- 
 me-not," he twines a wreath about 
 the life and the " falling asleep " of 
 this child, so delicate and poetical, 
 that grim death is entirely lost in 
 its beauty. 
 
 " The Peace of Christmas Time " 
 also refers to this sorrow. 
 
 His marked devotion to his son 
 " Pinny " was very noticeable ; 
 many attributed this to his like 
 ness to his mother ; but this par 
 tiality never showed itself after the 
 death of his eldest son, which 
 seemed to show that each child, 
 
68 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 no matter what its characteristic 
 might be, was equally dear to him. 
 Melvin was quiet, practical, and 
 rather inclined to be serious, while 
 " Pinny " was the very personifica 
 tion of fun and mischief, and pos 
 sessed of a most daring spirit, 
 accompanied by a very winsome 
 personality, all of which appealed 
 to his father s fun-loving nature. 
 His children afforded him great 
 pleasure, although he often made 
 them targets for his great propen 
 sity for teasing. 
 
 " Trotty " was of a rather serious 
 turn of mind, and was often called 
 " the child-mother," on account of 
 her care and solicitude for the 
 younger children. Some one asked 
 
MARY FRENCH FIELD ("jROTTY"). 
 Reciting u LITTLE BOY BLUE." 
 
 Now, don t you go till I come," he said. 
 " And don t you make any noise ! " 
 
 Page 69. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 69 
 
 her father, when she was quite 
 young, how old she was. He re 
 plied, " A thousand years her next 
 birthday." 
 
 He always considered her an 
 unusual child, and often said, "It 
 only needs opportunity to bring 
 out latent talent " ; which she has 
 shown to be true in the work she 
 has taken up since his death. 
 
 At the age of twelve she wrote 
 a very original story ; to please 
 her, her father took her ideas and, 
 enlarging upon them, sold the 
 story for $25, dividing the money 
 with her. 
 
 "Pinny" often shared his father s 
 room, and this little face pillowed 
 beside him suggested the beautiful 
 
70 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 poem so widely quoted, " Some 
 time." 
 
 The mother s devotion to Daisy, 
 her baby for so many years, called 
 forth the verses " To a Usurper." 
 Many of the poems in With 
 Trumpet and Drum were inspired 
 by the older children they were 
 the " Pitty Pats " and " Tippy 
 Toes " while those in Love Songs 
 of Childhood owe their charm to the 
 two dear babies that came to 
 gladden the last years of his life. 
 
 Their father was very original in 
 his play with them. When Daisy 
 was about four years old, he used 
 to call himself a big blue bear, and 
 Daisy a little rabbit, and they would 
 take all sorts of imaginary trips 
 
FREDERICK FIELD ("DAISY"). 
 Page 70. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 71 
 
 together. Upon one of these pre 
 tended journeys, they chanced to 
 take a jelly cake made by one of 
 their aunties, and falling in with 
 an old witch, to propitiate her, 
 gave her the cake, which caused 
 her death, and broke the spell that 
 had been cast upon them, and re 
 leased them from the lower exist 
 ence they had been forced to live. 
 The following is a letter written to 
 Daisy when absent from home on 
 a visit : 
 
 " DEAR DADY : 
 
 " I met the old blue bear on 
 the street yesterday. * Hullo, said 
 he, * where is the little rabbit ? 
 The little rabbit has gone to St. 
 
72 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 Louis, said I. * I don t believe 
 it, said the old blue bear. Then 
 the old blue bear went to tell the 
 lion. Last night after I had gone 
 to bed, the old blue bear, and the 
 lion, and the elephant, and the 
 flim flam, and the catamaran came 
 and rang the door bell. I got up 
 and let them in. * What do you 
 want ? I asked. * We want to see 
 whether the little rabbit has gone 
 away, said the old blue bear. 
 Then they looked under the tables 
 and in the bed and behind the doors 
 and in every room but they could 
 not find the little rabbit. Pretty 
 soon they saw the stick horse. 
 * Where has the little rabbit gone ? 
 asked the lion. He has gone to 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 73 
 
 St. Louis/ said the stick horse. 
 Then we will go to St. Louis, 
 too, said the old blue bear. So 
 they all started for St. Louis the 
 lion, the elephant, the flim flam, 
 the catamaran and the old blue 
 bear, and they took a big basketful 
 of jelly cake to the little rabbit. 
 You must tell me all about it when 
 you come home. Goodbye. 
 
 " PAPA." 
 
 " April I4th, 1885." 
 
 Whether it comes from the pecul 
 iarly strong impressions made by 
 constant familiar association with 
 their father, or from their wonderful 
 memory, it is surprising how well 
 the two babies remember the little 
 
74 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 ways he had of amusing them. 
 Posy will take you by the hand and 
 tell you how " Papa Gene" used to 
 help him shoot a toy cat off the foot 
 of the bed with his little gun, his 
 papa having tied a silk thread to 
 the cat so it might fall at the proper 
 time. When Ruth was but a mere 
 baby, she would tell you, " Papa 
 say, Lamby go ma-a ! " imitating 
 almost exactly his tone of voice. 
 From the expression of their faces 
 you can see they understand and 
 remember far more of their father 
 than they know how to tell. 
 
 Because of his playful, happy na 
 ture, and the close sympathy in 
 which he lived with his children, he 
 was enabled to portray the joys and 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 75 
 
 sorrows of all childhood as no other 
 writer has been able to do. 
 
 The children who pleased him 
 most were the quaint, old-fashioned 
 ones, or the happy-go-lucky kind. 
 It needed only the healthful, natu 
 ral play of a child to call up the 
 slumbering fancies of his brain. 
 
 One day he chanced to call upon 
 a sweet little girl, entirely unspoiled 
 by the luxuriousness of her sur 
 roundings, and found her dressing 
 her pug-dog in baby clothes. The 
 naturalness and artlessness of her 
 play so pleased him that he sat 
 down and wrote " The Sugar-Plum 
 Tree," and dedicated it to her. 
 
 A bright, vivacious little friend 
 complained of the moaning of the 
 
76 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 wind, that frightened her so she 
 could not sleep. He said, " Never 
 mind, Annie, I will write about that 
 old wind." You all know his 
 " Night Wind." 
 
 His study, where he daily wrote 
 his column of " Sharps and Flats," 
 looked out upon the famous " Wal 
 ler Lot." Glancing up from his 
 work one day, he beheld its green 
 surface spotted o er with white 
 tents, while Indians in war-paint 
 and feathers stalked to and fro. 
 
 This was too much. What was 
 " Sharps and Flats " to this mimic 
 warfare ? Away he sped. Who, 
 pray, were the heroes of this fray ? 
 With glass in hand he spied them 
 out, then watched the advance and 
 
LUCY ALEXANDER KNOTT (" SISSY KNOTT ). 
 Heroine of " THE BALLAD OF THE WALLER LOT. * 
 
 * Oh ! never fiercer battle raged 
 
 Upon the Waller lot, 
 And never blood more freely flowed 
 Than flowed for Sissy Knott." 
 
 Page 77. 
 
THE BOYS OF "THE BALLAD OF THE WALLER LOT. 
 Page 77. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 77 
 
 the retreat, until the whole strata 
 gem loomed up before him. But 
 where was the heroine ? When, 
 lo, there came tripping along a 
 charming little girl, all unconscious 
 of the rhyme that was forming in 
 his brain. 
 
 Next morning, instead of politics 
 and the usual satires on the events 
 of the day, appeared " The Delect 
 able Ballad of the Waller Lot." 
 
 While his love and thoughtful- 
 ness for children was one of his 
 greatest charms, both in his life and 
 writings, he did more to elevate 
 motherhood than any other writer 
 of the present day. 
 
 The women he admired most 
 were not the devotees of fashion, 
 
78 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 nor even those of the higher lite 
 rary attainments, unless they also 
 best loved their own firesides and 
 to rock the cradle. The mother- 
 love is nowhere more beautifully 
 portrayed than in the story of " Fe 
 lice and Petit Poulain," where an 
 old family horse is seized by the 
 German soldiers while marching 
 upon France, and driven many 
 miles away ; after a fierce battle, 
 riderless and blood-stained, she 
 gallops over the country back to 
 the little colt she left behind, only 
 to find him dead amid the ruins of 
 the farmyard. I quote from that 
 story this little tribute to our ani 
 mal friends : 
 
 " There are those who say that 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 79 
 
 none but human-kind is immortal 
 that none but man has a soul. 
 I do not make or believe that 
 claim. There is that within me 
 which tells me that nothing in this 
 world and life of ours which has 
 felt the grace of maternity shall 
 utterly perish, and this I say in 
 all reverence, and with the hope that 
 I offend neither God nor man." 
 
 Another link in the golden chain 
 that has bound him to us so 
 strongly, is the fact that he loved 
 the world just as it was, finding in 
 every person and in every thing 
 something beautiful, and by some 
 subtle power making one under 
 stand that he recognized the good 
 and overlooked the evil. 
 
80 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 In an interview which occurred 
 in New York City several years 
 ago, he was questioned as to his 
 theories in regard to literature. 
 
 " I have no theory," he replied 
 tersely. " I believe in letting every 
 man do just what he wants to do. 
 As for myself, I suppose I am a 
 romanticist by nature. I love 
 fancy, and my natural bent forces 
 me to write my fanciful little 
 stories and poems. I would n t, 
 for instance, think of undertaking 
 to write a novel, for I do not be 
 lieve I m built for a novelist, but 
 in spite of my love for romance, I 
 have no objection to realists, or to 
 those writers who believe that they 
 have been sent into the world to 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 8 1 
 
 reform it. Reform away, I say ; 
 but as for myself, the world is good 
 enough for me as it is. You see 
 I am a thorough optimist. In 
 temperament, I m a little like old 
 Horace, I want to get all of the 
 happiness out of the world that s 
 possible." 
 
 In speaking of his manner of 
 writing, he said : " I can do my 
 writing in the midst of the com 
 mercialism of Chicago as well as 
 anywhere else ; that is, if I am in 
 the mood for it. I can write prose 
 at any time ; that consists merely 
 in sitting down at a desk and grind 
 ing. But in order to write poetry, 
 I have to be in the mood. Some 
 times I am out of the mood for 
 
82 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 weeks ; then when it comes back 
 to me I write poem after poem, 
 often with great rapidity and with 
 out a word of correction, occasion 
 ally several poems a day." 
 
 To illustrate this : when Posy was 
 only a few months old, one of my 
 sisters and myself paid a morning 
 call at the house, and finding Posy 
 restless, my sister asked to be al 
 lowed to take him from his cradle, 
 and while hushing him in her arms 
 with a soothing lullaby, Eugene 
 came into the room. After a few 
 pleasantries he left, returning in a 
 very short time with the poem : 
 
 " The Rock-abye-Lady from Hushaby 
 
 Street 
 Comes stealing, comes creeping," etc. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 83 
 
 To tease my sister he dedicated it 
 to a friend. 
 
 Had he only had the needed 
 leisure, he would have left behind 
 him more writings of a high literary 
 value. While his newspaper work 
 made him widely known, it kept 
 him from giving full play to the 
 delicate, fanciful, and poetical part 
 of his nature. Every phase of 
 life interested him ; and that in 
 terest made him a favorite every 
 where. 
 
 The brightness and spontaneity 
 of his wit made it irresistible. It 
 was never forced, but flashed out 
 upon occasions as brightly, as sud 
 denly, and usually as harmlessly, 
 as flashes the distant lightning 
 
84 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 against a summer evening s sky. 
 It was of a quality exceedingly 
 difficult to describe, but the fol 
 lowing, written in a " Birthday 
 Book," will serve, in a measure, 
 to illustrate : 
 
 " Ladies, on the following pages, 
 Write your names, but not your ages ; 
 Only when she s passed to heaven 
 Should a woman s age be given." 
 
 Upon his return from Europe in 
 the winter of 1890, while still in 
 poor health, and before he had 
 resumed his newspaper work, a 
 gentleman accosted him upon the 
 street, saying : " When are we to 
 have some more * Sharps and 
 Flats ? " Quick as thought came 
 the reply, " The first of April." 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 85 
 
 His versatility was wonderful. 
 He could go from the sad to the 
 gay, from the sublime to the ridic 
 ulous, from the story of a rollick 
 ing boy to the sorrowing tale of 
 lonely age, and often he would 
 bring the smile to the lips while the 
 tear still glistened in the eye. 
 
 In the Echoes from the Sabine 
 Farm, his translations from Hor 
 ace are quaint and humorous, 
 whereas this poet is generally 
 treated in a purely classic style by 
 translators. It was love for his 
 writings that caused him to name 
 his home in North Chicago " The 
 Sabine Farm," the home of his 
 best-loved poet being in the Sabine 
 country north of Rome. 
 
86 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 While getting settled in their 
 new house, the activity and bustle 
 seemed to inspire new thoughts, 
 and The House" was written 
 amid the sound of hammer and 
 saw ; but unfortunately the annoy 
 ances that come to all who build 
 for themselves so perplexed him 
 that he lost interest in the writing, 
 and laid it aside without completing 
 it. 
 
 Much was crowded into the last 
 few months of his life. " The 
 Bibliomaniac" seemed to spring 
 from piles of books heaped in 
 every corner, and he divided his 
 time between writing and arrang 
 ing his large library of nearly four 
 thousand volumes. Amid all this 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 87 
 
 work he received his many 
 friends with smiles and jests, paid 
 happy little visits to his neighbors, 
 worked upon his lawn, and found 
 time to tease and amuse his babies. 
 His home was very dear to him, 
 and its resemblance to the old 
 New England places which he so 
 loved in childhood, together with 
 the pale green of the willows, and 
 the twitter of the birds that seemed 
 to know his voice, made for him 
 an ideal spot in which to rest and 
 dream. 
 
 It had been a long-cherished 
 wish of his to write a Mother 
 Goose founded upon Indian folk 
 lore ; and he intended going to 
 
88 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 Washington for the purpose of 
 studying the books upon that sub 
 ject kept in the Smithsonian 
 Institution. What a unique work 
 it would have been ! 
 
 With his wonderful brain and all 
 his charm of manner, it was, after 
 all, his great-heartedness that won 
 for him the love of the world. 
 
 He loved humanity and drank in 
 the sunshine and beauties of nature 
 until there blossomed therefrom 
 the beautiful flower of his verse, 
 and his scarcely less poetic prose. 
 The parent stalk is dead, but the 
 scattered leaves forever shall shed 
 abroad their sweet perfume ; and 
 the children for all time to come 
 will bless the sweet spirit that gave 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 89 
 
 them so much joy. Of the many 
 beautiful tributes paid him, none is 
 perhaps more tenderly beautiful 
 than the following : 
 
 " The memory of Eugene Field 
 will be green when the pyramids 
 have crumbled beneath the touch 
 of time, and empires are forgotten. 
 Hearts of untold millions have been 
 filled and thrilled till they grew 
 better and better in the sight of 
 God and man by the tender charm 
 of his happy thought. As human 
 ity moves up, not down, the ages, 
 the way grows brighter and brighter 
 with dawning tints of the perfect 
 day. From the dews of the night 
 gleam the jewelled splendors of the 
 morn. Flowers we saw not stand 
 
QO EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 revealed in their fragrance and 
 beauty. Birds that were silent 
 wake the glad world with their ju 
 bilee. Many are the joyous sur 
 prises that were curtained so near 
 us in the gloom of darkness. Many 
 are the glad revelations for us under 
 the growing and glowing lights of 
 love. Is it the breeze that rustles 
 the tasselling corn, or the sweet 
 flutter of angels wings we hear ? 
 For surely, angels there are, strong 
 souls, of pure and noble thought, 
 inspired of God to lead us to higher, 
 brighter, better levels God-blessed 
 spirits ! And among them is Eu 
 gene Field. In spite of death s 
 edict, he still lives, and always will 
 live, in the hearts of men, casting 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 9! 
 
 out the devils of darkness and open 
 ing to the angels of love the shut 
 ters of the soul." 
 
 Why should we be compelled to 
 yield up the spirits that make earth 
 brightest? Mayhap because they 
 need and deserve the rest. 
 
 It has been said we can hear the 
 bells of heaven ringing their morn 
 ing matins, if we keep our hearts 
 pure and our thoughts lifted above 
 the things of earth. 
 
 Perchance this dreamer this 
 weaver of verse when tired out 
 with the care and busy round of 
 life, laid him down to rest, with a 
 heart bursting with songs yet un 
 sung ; and in the hush of the early 
 morning, the sensitive soul caught 
 
Q2 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 up the heavenly strain, and thus 
 was borne beyond the bounds of 
 earth into the region of eternal 
 song ; and " out yonder in God s 
 Acre " where the sunlight steals 
 through rustling leaves to shower 
 its kisses upon a bed of myrtle and 
 daisies flower-laden breezes whis 
 per low this sweet refrain, " Sleep ! 
 O sleep ! " 
 
 The children far and wide mourn 
 for the dear one who sang them 
 their sweetest lullabies ; mother 
 hood grieves for her most ardent 
 champion ; and these loyal lovers 
 are searching far and wide for the 
 ideals which inspired his sweet 
 songs and for the real children 
 who played with him at " Booh ! " 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 93 
 
 We had best hunt for them in 
 the large room where all the funny 
 bottles are, the old tall clock, the 
 half-worn baby shoes, and the door 
 harp with its musical tinkling ; and 
 there we may find little Roswell 
 Francis, more familiarly known as 
 Posy, with eyes fairly dancing and 
 lovely mouth fluted into smiles. 
 You may stop and wonder whether 
 or no you have suddenly come 
 upon some little gnome from fairy 
 land. 
 
 And when you meet Ruth Gray, 
 or little " Sister-Girl," you will 
 surely think you have found an elf 
 strayed from elfland. 
 
 From the golden brown of his 
 eyes, the sunshine of his hair, his 
 
94 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 mother called little Roswell Francis 
 her " Golden Son," and his father 
 has perpetuated that name in his 
 little story of " Sweet-One-Darling 
 and the Moon Garden," the little 
 sister being " Sweet-One-Darling." 
 
 They celebrated their third and 
 fourth birthdays on the 24th of 
 March, 1897. This joint birthday 
 is ever a happy occasion for the 
 two little ones. Both children are 
 full of mischief and fun, and keep 
 things pretty lively in the Field 
 home. 
 
 It hardly seems just to attempt 
 to cast the horoscope of these dear 
 babies ; and yet there is in each of 
 them a personality so striking and 
 in keeping with the typical poet s 
 
ROSWELL FRANCIS FIELD ( POSY "). 
 Page 94. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 95 
 
 child, that almost unconsciously we 
 find ourselves talking of their future 
 achievements. 
 
 A celebrated palmist read the 
 little hands and said : " They both 
 inherit talents out of the usual 
 line," and that little " Sister-Girl " 
 would have to write to give vent 
 to her wonderful imagination. 
 Surely she is her father s ideal 
 " Little Mistress Sans Merci." 
 
 Posy, when not actively engaged 
 in playing, usually carries a book, 
 or an armful of books, hunting for 
 someone to read to him. If he 
 fails to find anyone, he will seat 
 himself and repeat nearly all of the 
 "Mother Goose Rhymes," and 
 "The Night before Christmas." 
 
96 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 When scarcely three and a half 
 years old, he recited several of his 
 father s poems so intelligently and 
 with so much feeling that it brought 
 tears to the eyes of all who heard 
 him. 
 
 He has a marked love for ani 
 mals, and already has quite a col 
 lection of animal books. When 
 only fifteen months old, he knew 
 the road that led to the animals 
 cages in Lincoln Park. A dear 
 friend used to drive around on 
 pleasant afternoons, and together 
 we would beg the pleasure of tak 
 ing this prince of babies down to 
 the Park, and woe to us if we at 
 tempted to pass the road leading 
 to the animals ! 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 97 
 
 The colored coachman, Ben, so 
 often carried the little fellow in his 
 arms from the bears den to all the 
 various cages, that Ben became the 
 hero of all his baby fancies ; when 
 ever he saw him he would cry to 
 go with him. 
 
 After his first visit to the animals, 
 Posy was asked how the leopard 
 went ? He immediately slipped 
 from my lap and, crouching upon 
 the floor, imitated the gnawing of 
 a bone so vividly, it was pathetic 
 in one so young. Upon being 
 asked how the camel went, quick 
 as thought he turned up his baby 
 lip and made the peculiar motion 
 of a camel chewing. In the same 
 way he caught the names and most 
 
98 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 striking characteristics of all the 
 other animals. 
 
 About a year ago we took Posy 
 to see the Buffalo Bill show, and 
 since that time he has been playing 
 Indian, and imitating the principal 
 features of that interesting per 
 formance. Mounted on a large 
 brown rocking-horse, dressed in 
 leather leggings and short jacket, a 
 real Mexican sombrero on his head, 
 with eyes aflame with excitement 
 and sunny curls flying, one might 
 easily imagine him a miniature 
 Buffalo Bill. 
 
 To give life to the scene, he tries 
 to teach his baby sister to imper 
 sonate Annie Oakley and throw her 
 rubber ball into the air, while he 
 
POSY" AS BUFFALO BILL. 
 Page g8. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 99 
 
 fires at it shot after shot, in rapid 
 succession, with his toy gun. 
 
 Not long ago he brought in a 
 large weed that looked like a small 
 tree, and said to his mamma, "It 
 had a weasel on it when I cut it 
 down," whereupon she remon 
 strated, telling him of the rapid 
 movements of that little animal, 
 saying, " Posy, I guess you did 
 not do that." He insisted for the 
 time, but later went to her and 
 said, " It was not a weasel, Mam 
 ma, only a martin." 
 
 He has hosts of admirers, but is 
 slow to make friends, and spends 
 his happiest moments near his 
 mother. The lines written by his 
 father some years ago 
 
100 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 " Sometime there ben a lyttel boy 
 That wold not renne and play, 
 And, helpless like, that little tyke 
 
 Ben allwais in the way. 
 Goe, make you merrie with the rest/ 
 
 His weary moder cried ; 
 Bit with a frown he cotched her gown 
 And hong untill her side " 
 
 might truthfully have been written 
 of him. 
 
 In writing of these little ones, I 
 cannot forbear repeating a conver 
 sation already published, which 
 shows how the children still asso 
 ciate themselves with their father. 
 I was reading aloud one of the 
 many beautiful tributes written 
 about him since his death, where 
 it referred to him as the Chil- 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN JJJS lIGM ; IOI 
 
 dren s Laureate and the Poet of 
 Childhood. Little Posy stood by 
 with an intense look of interest 
 upon his face, so I turned and asked 
 "Who was the Children s Poet, 
 dearie ?" He looked up with such 
 a satisfied expression, and replied, 
 "Us"! 
 
 Ruth, or little " Sister-Girl," is 
 unlike her brother, both in looks 
 and temperament. She inherits 
 the beautiful dark-blue eyes of her 
 father, and the small, dainty fea 
 tures of her mother. She is tall for 
 her age, and has a shapely head, 
 crowned with golden hair. While 
 a baby, her coloring was as delicate 
 as a tea-rose, but summer suns 
 have brought a deeper tinge to her 
 
103 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 cheeks, and she is now quite the 
 picture of health. 
 
 She fairly scintillates with life 
 and animation, and her perceptions 
 are like flashes of lightning ; in a 
 word, she is by nature an impres 
 sionist, she never condescends to 
 give you more than a hint of any 
 thing. Her voice is as sweet as a 
 bird s, but she will only give you a 
 snatch of the song. Her imagina 
 tion is exceedingly vivid I am 
 afraid, far beyond the bounds of 
 truth. She said to me not long 
 ago, " Me deamed me had a nice 
 bone and put it on the mantel, and 
 my tandy mouse ate it all up." 
 
 Motherhood has always been her 
 highest ideal ; she has to be " lit- 
 
RUTH GRAY FIELD (" SISTER GIRL"). 
 Page 102. 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 103 
 
 tie mudder " to everything and 
 everybody she plays with. When 
 riding on the cars, if a baby is 
 brought in, she immediately slips 
 from her seat and goes to the baby 
 and insists upon holding it, often 
 when the child is nearly as large 
 as herself ; and she talks baby talk, 
 entirely unconscious of the many 
 eyes that are upon her. 
 
 These dear little ones write let 
 ters, and prattle and talk of their 
 father as if he were momentarily 
 expected; and it cannot be said 
 the spirit and life went from home 
 when he was called away. These 
 speak from every room, from every 
 book-shelf, from the quaint curios 
 he gathered, and the simple com- 
 
104 EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 
 
 fort of all the surroundings ; and 
 the dear place is lightened and 
 brightened by his own heart s 
 treasures. 
 
 " He was the world s, no clime can claim 
 
 him ; 
 The tongues of all the Nations name 
 
 him ; 
 
 He was the world s and God s. Behold, 
 Where passed his presence clouds were 
 
 rifted, 
 
 The lilies to the light were lifted, 
 And glittered all the dust with gold. 
 
 " He was a child, and, in his singing, 
 The bells of childhood still were ring 
 ing ; 
 
 And childhood s roses bloom along 
 The pleasant paths that smiled before 
 him, 
 
EUGENE FIELD IN HIS HOME 105 
 
 And the deep wings of love were o er 
 
 him, 
 The love that sanctifies his song. 
 
 " And when the last sleep s mystery 
 
 bound him, 
 The arms of deathless love were round 
 
 him, 
 
 And so love laid him down to rest. 
 In life t was his to know love s beauty, 
 To tread with love the path of duty, 
 In death to lie upon love s breast." 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 [W. O. COMSTOCK.] 
 
 [Born September 3, 
 1850. Died November 4, 1895.] 
 
 1. THE DENVER TRIBUNE PRIMER. 
 241110. Denver, 1882. 
 
 A MODEL PRIMER. Illustrated. i6mo. 
 "A pirate edition." Brooklyn, 1882. 
 
 2. CULTURE S GARLAND. The Gradual 
 Rise of Literature, etc., in Chicago ; with 
 introduction by Julian Hawthorne. i2mo. 
 Boston, Ticknor, 1887. 
 
 A LITTLE BOOK OF WESTERN VERSE. 
 Large paper. Limited edition, 250 copies, 
 privately printed. Chicago, 1889. 
 
 A LITTLE BOOK OF PROFITABLE TALES. 
 Large paper. Limited edition, 250 copies, 
 privately printed. Chicago, 1889. 
 
 3. A LITTLE BOOK OF WESTERN VERSE. 
 2mo. New York, Scribner, 1890. 
 
 4. A LITTLE BOOK OF PROFITABLE 
 TALES. i2mo. New York, Scribner, 1890. 
 
 107 
 
108 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 ECHOES FROM THE SABINE FARM. 
 Being certain Horatian Lyrics now for the 
 first time discreetly and delectably done 
 into English Verse by Eugene and Ros- 
 well M. Field, with sundry little picturings 
 by Edmund H. Garrett. Limited edition, 
 30 copies on large Japan paper, and 70 
 copies on handmade paper, privately 
 printed. New Rochelle, 1891. 
 
 5. WITH TRUMPET AND DRUM. Large 
 paper. Limited edition, 250 copies. New 
 York, Scribner, 1892. 
 
 WITH TRUMPET AND DRUM. Illus 
 trated. i2mo. New York, Scribner, 1892. 
 
 SECOND BOOK OF VERSE. Large paper. 
 Limited edition, 300 copies, privately 
 printed. Chicago, Stone, 1892. 
 
 6. SECOND BOOK OF VERSE. i2mo. 
 New York, Scribner, 1893. 
 
 7. ECHOES FROM THE SABINE FARM 
 [with introduction]. By Eugene and Ros- 
 well Martin Field. Illustrated. Imperial 
 8vo. Limited edition, 500 copies. Chi 
 cago, McClurg, 1893. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 09 
 
 8. AD LECTOREM. An introduction 
 (v-xxiv) to H. S. Stone s First Editions 
 of American Authors. Cambridge, Stone 
 & Kimball, 1893. 
 
 9. THE HOLY-CROSS, AND OTHER TALES. 
 i6mo. Of the edition, 20 copies on Japan 
 vellum and no copies on large paper. 
 Cambridge, Stone & Kimball, 1893. 
 
 10. LOVE SONGS OF CHILDHOOD. i6mo. 
 Of the edition, 106 copies on Van Gelder 
 paper, printed on one side only. New 
 York, Scribner, 1894. 
 
 ECHOES FROM THE SABINE FARM [with 
 out the introduction]. By Eugene and 
 Roswell Martin Field. Illustrated. 4to. 
 New York, Scribner, 1895. 
 
 11. THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF A BIBLIO 
 MANIAC. i2mo. Of the edition, 150 
 copies on Van Gelder paper. New York, 
 Scribner, 1896. 
 
 12. THE HOUSE. i2mo. Of the edi 
 tion, 150 copies on Van Gelder paper. 
 New York, Scribner, 1896, 
 
IIO BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 13. THE HOLY -CROSS, AND OTHER 
 TALES. New edition with five additional 
 Tales. i2mo. New York, Scribner, 1896. 
 
 14. SONGS AND OTHER VERSE. i2mo. 
 Of the edition, 150 copies on Van Gelder 
 paper. New York, Scribner, 1896. 
 
 15. SECOND BOOK OF TALES. i2mo. 
 Of the edition, 150 copies on Van Gelder 
 paper. New York, Scribner, 1896. 
 
 16. AN AUTO-ANALYSIS. i6mo. Lim 
 ited edition, 350 numbered copies. Chi 
 cago, 1896. 
 
 COLLECTED WORKS. 10 vols. i2mo. 
 Of the edition, 100 copies on Japan vellum. 
 New York, Scribner, 1896. 
 
 SOME ATTENTIONS. Eugene Field to 
 Francis Wilson. i2mo. Limited edition, 
 100 copies, privately printed. New Ro- 
 chelle, 1896. 
 
 FIELD FLOWERS. Eugene Field Monu 
 ment Souvenir. Illustrated. Imperial 
 8vo. Chicago, Swift, [1896]. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 1 1 
 
 LULLABY LAND. Songs of Childhood. 
 Selected by Kenneth Graham and illus 
 trated by Charles Robinson. i2mo. 
 New York, Scribner, and London, Lane, 
 1897. 
 
 Several short pieces by Mr. Field were 
 published soon after his death in : 
 
 EUGENE FIELD MEMORIAL. Illustrated. 
 Folio, pp. 16. Milwaukee, Yenowine, 1895. 
 
 The following appeared illustrated in 
 The Ladies Home Journal : 
 
 THE SINGING IN GOD S ACRE. April, 
 1892. 
 
 MY GRANDMOTHER : The Woman who 
 most Influenced me. January, 1895. 
 
 THE DREAM-SHIP. October, 1895. 
 THE WEREWOLF. March, 1896. 
 
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