Marshall Field

Marshall Field (1834-1906), American business leader, born near Conway, Massachusetts, and educated in the public school and academy nearby. In 1856 Field moved to Chicago, where he became a clerk in a dry goods firm. He was advanced to the position of junior partner four years later and to that of senior partner in 1865. In 1881 Field bought out the remaining partner's interest and organized the new firm of Marshall Field and Company. In the next 25 years, he expanded his business to such an extent that it became the largest wholesale and retail dry goods enterprise in the world, with annual sales of more than $60 million and branches in New York City, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Japan. As his fortune grew, Field became a noted philanthropist. His gifts included a donation of $1 million in 1893 for the founding of the Columbian Museum of Chicago (now the Field Museum) and a subsequent bequest of $8 million for the maintenance of the museum.