Eugene Field, 1895
Eugene Field House

Portrait Description
Seated in a high-back armchair, leaning slightly to his right, Eugene Field rests his head on his hand. With his other hand he is holding a book—a finger appears to mark his place and a green ring is on his third finger. It is almost as if he stopped momentarily to contemplate something he has just read. The green ring, which he loved and wore so often, was something his wife, Julia, hated. After Eugene died, she had a simple wedding band painted over it.  The green ring was hidden until the painting was cleaned and restored by conservators in the twentieth century. It has been displayed in its original version ever since.

Finding Joy and Humor
Born in 1850, Eugene Field was the oldest surviving son of Roswell Martin Field and Frances Reed Field. He lived with his parents in their home on Walsh’s Row until his mother’s death in 1856. A year later, Roswell sent Eugene and his younger brother Roswell Jr. to Massachusetts to be educated. In 1871, Eugene fell in love with Julia Sutherland Comstock. Two years later they married—he was twenty-three and she was sixteen. Eugene worked as a journalist in many different cities before finally settling in Chicago to write for the Chicago Daily News. 

Stories abound about how Eugene always tried to find joy in life. He once wrote an article for a local grocer who pestered him for free advertising; the article offered free melons to the community, something of a surprise for the importunate grocer, who resolved to pay for advertising in the future. A more personal example of Field’s humor relates to the nicknames he gave his children – four boys and two girls. Mary French Field, the eldest, became “Trotty” and son Frederick was “Daisy.” Eugene Field was not a straight-laced, Victorian gentleman—he found ways to make others laugh.

The Children’s Poet, Famous Journalist, and Commentator
Eugene Field is best known for his poetry. He first became known in 1879 when his poem “Christmas Treasures” was published. Over a dozen volumes of poetry would follow. Most of his work was light-hearted, funny, and geared for children, earning him the nickname of “Children’s Poet.” His work includes well known poems such as “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” and “The Duel,” also known as “The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.” 

In journalism, Eugene Field was an innovator. He is known as the father of the personal column. With his “Sharps and Flats,” Field said that the Chicago Daily News allowed him to write “exactly what I please on any subject I please.”  Field was one of the first journalists to use satire in his written political commentary, separating him from other political satirists who primarily used cartoons. Field’s commentary was not always welcome; his editors attempted to cap his freedom. Field responded with his poem “The Ahkoond of Swat,” referencing the fluff he was forced to write.

Eugene Field left a lasting impression on both poets and journalists, not to mention all those that knew him. He died in his sleep on November 4, 1895, at the age of forty-five.

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The Eugene field museum
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The Eugene Field Museum
634 S. Broadway,
St. Louis, MO 63102
314.421.4689