Field, Howard A.
Media
Part of Field, Howard A.
- Title
- Field, Howard A.
- extracted text
-
HO W ARD
F I E L D
A
-o-
Howard A. Field was born in Rollin, Le nawee
county, Michigan, son of Mary Ann Nash Field and
Henry V. Field.
His great-grandfathers on both
sides of his family fought in the Revolution.
He
attended the rural school and was gradu ated from
the Adrian high school in 1892 •.
He then taught a
ten grade school in Geneva, Michigan, in 1893 entered Albion Colle ge for t wo years when he was
t aken ill and later again tau ght school.
Be ginning in 1895, Mr. Field served as a supply
pastor at Weston, Michi gan, for two and one -ha lf
years and in the f a ll of 1895 wa s received into the
Detroit Annual Confer enc e of the Methodist
Episcop~l
Church.
September 1, 1897, Mr. Field was married to
Marga ret M. Vai l, da u ghter of Ella Bi nns Vail and
J ames B. Vail, of Weston .
She was educat ed in the
We s ton school and spent three years in Adri an
Colle ge.
They are the parents of:
Twin boys who died in t heir first year ;
Miriam, who was drowned at the age of t welve;
2
Harold V., an attorney in Detroit.
Reverend Howa rd A. Field was appointed as
follows: Dixboro, 1897; Mil an , 1900; Burns Avenue,
Detroit, 1903; Ca ro, 1907; Simpson-Wesley, Detroit,
1911; Court Street, Flint, 1915; Wesley, Detroit,
1921; Superintendent Detroit Dis t rict, 1925; Westl awn, Detroit, 1931; Port Huron, First Church, 1936.
He was ordained Deacon and admitted to full membership in the Detroit Annual Conference in the old
Wesley Church, Detroit, in 1897, ordained Elder in
1899 and wa s given the de gr ee of Doctor of Divinity
by Albion Colle ge in 1919.
When Mr. Field was appointed to Burns Ave nue
he found a new building with a debt of $25,000,
which was reduced under his leadershi p to
~; 13, 000
and the membershi p of 180 was about doubled.
At
Caro he h ad four de li ghtful years and remodelled
the parsonage.
The old Tabernacle Church of Detroit wa s united
in February, 191 5, with Simpson Church to become the
Wes ley Church and Mr. Field was the first pastor of
the new church.
The forme r members had moved away
from the ne i ghborhood an d cheap rooming houses had
succeeded them.
,_
-.-
It was under t hese conditions that
·- - ---- - --- ---··. . . ,_...,______
3
the dormitory project was conceived and later
constructed with a capacity for 110 young men.
During his second pastorate at Wesley a four story
structure was built in front of the church for
stores and offices.
At Court Street, Flint, he
found a membership of 1100 and a t t h e close of his
pastorate there, 1650 were on the roll.
When Dr. Field was ap pointed superintendent of
the Detroit District t h e popul ation of the city was
growing r ap idly a nd taxed the leadership of the
church to keep pace with the growth.
Durin g his
adminis t r ation , the follo wing new churches were
built and dedic&ted on the Detroit District,
Dearb orn, First; Dearborn, Mt. Olivet; Lincoln Par k ,
Firs t; Lincoln Park, Dix Avenue; Metropolitan,
Bouleva rd Temp le, Inkste r, Elmoor, Campbell Me mori a l,
~c. Cabe,
Ford Memorial, Hazel Park, Mt. Hope, St.
Pauls, Hi ghland Pa rk; Westlawn, Trinity, Rosevi lle;
Na rdin Park,, Tho burn, Christ,
Cl a ir Shores .
w.
Detroit, and St.
New churches we re or ganized at
Berkeley, Mt. Hope, Henderson Memori a l, Mercier and
Embury.
He promoted the movement t o raise $750,000
to relieve t he indebtedness on churc he s and promot e
missions among the f orei gn pe op le.
l
l_ $:~5,00~-~-as
A total of
f ~-~~-~ly r:~~-~ed ._ a nd did mu::_~~ sav~-
4
Detroit Methodism during the depression, which
followed the cr ash in 1929.
l'Vhen Dr. Field bec ame pastor at Westlawn he
found a new p l ant wit h a debt of
~ 103,300
section of the city of Detroit.
By re-financins
this debt was reduced to
~ 85,000,
in a new
which is being
well c a red for at the time of this writing , 19 39.
Vfuen he became pa s tor at Port Huron, First Church,
there was an inde btedness of $82,000 and t he building and prop erty was about to be lost by the foreclosure of t he mort ga ge.
The p roperty was s aved and
the debt reduced to $32,500.
During the World War Dr. Field served two
months as camp pastor at Camp Gordon.
He is a
th i rty-second de gr ee Ma son and a former director in
the Ki wani s Club.
I n politics he is a Republican.
He is a trustee of Albi on Colle ge and a lso of the
Michi gan Christi an
Home at Chelsea .
~dvoc ate
and the Old Peoples'
He a lso serv ed as a trustee of
t he Endowment Fund Commission for the sup port of
conference claimants.
His annual conference se-
lected him as a d e lega te to t h e general conference
in 1920, 1924 , 1928 and 1932.
Elected by the Gen-
era l Confere nce, he serv ed a s a member of the
l
L_______
-~-- -
- - - - ----- - -- -
When filled in please r eturn to J. A. Ha~_;:..hutt=:r :• 13100 wood·1m·:~, Hi g:1J and Park ,
Ml ::: il)g&n . ·
N~<neinfull: ~~
Birth:
/h-e-, /,_ I i'V
Date
Personal Apj>earance
Height -o/1---Weight
Place
~~
Lf.C :;~r ~:~- a!4~
Family Background :
1. Father's Nane in
Date of Bi rt h
2. Mother's Maiden Name
Date of Birth:
3 . Marr iage of
P~rents:
Date
4. Places of r esidencfi
5•
•
6. Note distinguished
ser v i ~ea
fer which any brothers or siste r s are known:
------·- ·---·--------------------------7. All available
2.
3. Marriage:
-
~~~~~~~~~~vvJ?lac e ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
By Whom·~~~~~~=.~~~~~~--~
18. Biographical comments 1 experiences , episodes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19. Can you give on a sepa rate paper one or two or three dr amat ic i ncidents
occurring duri ng your ministry whi ch might be published in e book und er such
a title as "Highlight s of Methodist Minis ters"?
20. If the subject of t h i s sketch is deceased,
pleas~
give
Date of death
Names of Officie:ting Ministers:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___,_ _ _ _ __
.
. .... .. ... .
;
..
. ....
"
.
.
..
. BREAKS THROUGH - '
~-- --'.' ICE A..~D DROWN
for , !Ira ,ur=ta. F ield. Take _· ·
Pla.ce at Adrian.
:
· .1
1
Funeral service~ !or ~Iaui· eta. E'lelU(· J'~·
dn.u~h~er o! R.,,.. Howard 1' Fidd. were ~~ ,.d tod av In AtlJ:ian; ..
lil c h.. the chlld:;ood home o~- -/{e":·; :~~
and :\.lr~. F ie ld .
'· <"" · .· : ·:.:,
· The c hild WS8 drowne d WlllftL.skat~ ... '
"t
Jo••"h
,.,
,·~r
ncar
Con- · .l.
l n;: on tt 1e w •
• -~
wll'h· : ··
t'n• whc r " ,;!>c lmd ~one
,. ..
stn.n • c.
..
, . ··' tl> ~ hQlida.}·~ .
h r parents to S! "''"
.... ' ..
, 0 !• oa st•) r oC the. iJ:J:":.: ·
e
,.,. 1 ld
1
ftev . ,. e • w ' ..
·' '" merlY• ... d·:,~
:\{. E . .ohurch ,, r, .. --:
.:m;·•<!
,.....• . "'"a"o'n .ulplt In th <> 8u r:"~ ,\\ enue
. t~·
,;
ohur·~b. will rcm:< ln tn Adrla~lii . ':..f.."•
attar the ~ew Yca.r.
. ': ..i;l{':·.,,.;!ll;~ ' ·
t
l
;:=,: .