Field, David Dudley, Jr. (1805-1894), was a prominent lawyer and legal reformer. He wrote a code of legal procedure that the state of New York adopted in 1848. This code served as a model for legal reform in many other states in the United States.
Field was born on Feb. 13, 1805, in Haddam, Connecticut. He studied law in New York City and became successful there. In 1872, Field wrote an important code to reform international law. In addition, he founded an organization for legal reform now known as the International Law Association. Field also helped form the Republican Party. In 1860, he helped Abraham Lincoln win the Republican nomination for president of the United States. He died on April 13, 1894. Field’s brother Stephen Johnson Field became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Another brother, Cyrus West Field, promoted the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic.
