Field, John, House
111 E. Fortune St., Columbia, KYThe John Field House, occupying a prominent location on the corner of East Fortune and Reed Streets in Columbia, is the finest remaining Federal house in the town. The residence also attains significance by having played an important role in the history of Columbia, and by having been built for one of the town's leading citizens.
John Field was born in Bedford County, Virginia, and was the stepson of John Hurt, a Revolutionary War veteran and an early pioneer of what is now Adair County. Field owned a general store on the corner of Jamestown Street and the Town Square, and owned half interest in a nail factory. These business interests were quite successful, and Field was reputed to have been among the wealthiest men in the area. In addition, he served as Adair County's first jailor.
In 1812, Field employed two local master craftsmen, James, and Benjamin McDowell, to construct a substantial residence on lot 76, one of the most desirable locations in Columbia due to its proximity to the Town Square. The product is a rather fine Federal house of brick laid in Flemish bond on the front and sides. The openings of the main facade are well proportioned, and the entrance is given a refined air with its attractive frontispiece.
John Marshall Clemens, the father of the famed writer Samuel Clemens, boarded with the Fields and practiced law in the second floor's hall. In 1836, he married Jane Lampton of Columbia, and this was their home for two years. Jane Clemens' biographer recorded that Jane thought the Field House to be the most handsome place in town. A biographer of Samuel Clemens reiterates this assertion by stating that this was undoubted "the most handsome of the dwellings in which they the Clemens lived, during a quarter century of steadily waning fortunes. "
After the Fields' deaths, the house became the residence of the Reverend David Page, a Presbyterian minister who came to Columbia to serve as President of the Columbia College (est. 1836). This institution was an outgrowth of the former Robertson Academy (est. 1812), the first school in Columbia. For several years, Reverend Page's wife, Hannah, taught the college's Girls Department in the large drawing room on the first floor. The school later moved to a more permanent location, and the Field House has since been used continuously as a private residence, Frame appendages have been added to the rear, but the front facade and the exterior side walls remain unaltered.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.