author
Stephen J. (Stephen Johnson) Field
1816–1899
A major figure in 19th-century American law, this longtime Supreme Court justice served for more than three decades and helped shape legal debates in the years after the Civil War. His career stretched from the California Gold Rush era to the high court in Washington, making his life a window into a fast-changing United States.
1 Audiobook
Personal reminiscences of early days in California, with other sketches : to which is added the story of his attempted assassination by a former associate on the supreme bench of the state
by Stephen J. (Stephen Johnson) Field, George C. (George Congdon) Gorham
About the author
Born in Connecticut on November 4, 1816, Stephen Johnson Field studied at Williams College, read law, and eventually headed west during the California Gold Rush. In California he built a prominent legal and political career, serving in the state legislature and then on the California Supreme Court, where he became chief justice.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Field remained on the Court until 1897, giving him one of the longest tenures of any justice of his time. During those years, he became known for strong views on property rights, economic liberty, and the limits of government regulation, especially in cases tied to the rapidly changing economy of the late 1800s.
His judicial record was influential and sometimes controversial. Historians often connect his opinions to the broader struggles of Reconstruction and the rise of big business in America. He died on April 9, 1899, leaving behind a career that still attracts attention from readers interested in the Supreme Court, constitutional history, and the legal world of the nineteenth century.