Field, Cyrus West definition of Field, Cyrus West in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Field, Cyrus West, 1819–92, American merchant, promoter of the first Atlantic cable, b. Stockbridge, Mass.; brother of David Dudley Field Field, David Dudley, 1805–94, American lawyer and law reformer, b. Haddam, Conn.; brother of Cyrus W. Field and Stephen J. Field . He was graduated from Williams (1825), studied law in Albany and New York City, was admitted to the bar in 1828, and soon had a
..... Click the link for more information. and Stephen J. Field Field, Stephen Johnson, 1816–99, American jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1863–97), b. Haddam, Conn. After practicing law for several years in New York City with his brother David Dudley Field , he went to California in 1849, settled
..... Click the link for more information. . As head of a paper business, he accumulated a modest fortune, and in 1853 he retired. In 1854 he conceived the idea of the cable. He secured a charter, organized the English and American companies, and obtained the British and American naval ships Agamemnon and Niagara to lay the cable. Five attempts were made in 1857–58 and the first message came over Aug. 16, 1858, but the cable ceased working three weeks later. It was necessary for Field to raise new funds and make new arrangements. The Great Eastern succeeded in laying a cable in 1866. Field was the object of much admiration and praise on both sides of the Atlantic for his persistence in accomplishing what many thought to be an absurd undertaking. He promoted other oceanic cables, notably that via Hawaii to Asia and Australia. In 1877 he resuscitated the New York City elevated system.

Bibliography

See biography by S. Carter (1968); J. S. Steele, A Thread across the Ocean (2002).