Location: 1919 S. Prairie; Telephone: South 732 (1892)
Occupants: Marshall Field Jr.
Life Span: 1902-Present
Architect: Solon S. Beman
Chicago Telephone Directory, 1892
Field Marshall, Jr., Residence, 1919 Prairie av. South-732
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Field Marshall jr (Marshall Field & Co) 200 Adams h 1919 Prairie av
Inter Ocean, July 10, 1903
The conveyance has been recorded by which, Marshall Field transfers to his son, Marshall Field, Jr., the residence at 1817 Prairie avenue, with 20×177 feet of ground, for a nominal amount. Mr. Field purchased his property last year for $35,000 presented it to his son. The record is a mere formality.
- 1919 S. Prairie, before facade alterations made in 1902.
- 1919 S. Prairie Avenue
The complete story on the mystery of Marshall Field Jr.’s death can be found at Death of Marshall Field Jr.
Inter Ocean, November 23, 1905
Marshall Field, Jr., son of the Chicago merchant and capitalist, shot and perhaps fatally wounded himself at his residence, 1919 Prairie avenue, shortly before 6 o’clock last night. Within half an hour he had been taken to the Mercy hospital, where an operation was performed. The attending surgeons said the patient had a slight chance for recovery.
Mr. Field was alone in his dressing room when the shot was fired. Statements authorized by the Field family last night were to the effect that the shooting was accidental, but the physicians refused to discuss the question.
The wound was caused by a bullet from a new automatic revolver which Mr. Field has been examining and cleaning, preparatory, it was said, to going into the Wisconsin woods on a hunting trip.
Henry Dibblee, who was summoned to the Field residence, made the only statement for the family. Marshall Field, the father, and his wife, formerly Mrs. Arthur Caton, are in New York. Mr. Field was informed on the tragedy by long distance telephone, and he made plans to start for Chicago at once, either by special train or one of the regular New York-Chicago fast trains.
The ball entered the body on the left side, tore its way through to the back, and lodged just under the skin. Dr. Bevan, who performed the operation at the hospital, found it necessary only to make a slight incision to extract the ball.
A bulletin, given out at the home of Mr. Driblee, the wounded man’s uncle, late last night was to the effect that the ball did not touch the intestines or the stomach, but had apparently passed through the liver, as the patient suffered a severe hemorrhage of that organ after he was taken to the hospital.
Mrs. Field was not at home when her husband shot himself. She had been making calls with her son Henry, and returned to find an ambulance at the door. The only persons in the house before Mr. Dibblee was called from his residence at 1920 Calumet avenue were the servants and Marshall Field III and Miss Penfield, a nurse, who was caring for the boy.
The butler and Miss Penfield were the first persons to reach Mr. Field’s side after the shooting. They heard the sound of a muffled shot at 6:10 o’clock. A moment later Mr. Field called for help and the nurse and the butler ran to the room, which is on the second floor in the front of the house.
- Enormous Queen Anne mansion of Marshall Field, Jr from 1890 till 1905. designed in 1884 by architect Solon S. Beman at 1919 S. Prairie Avenue. The home contains fifteen bedrooms, nine bathrooms, fourteen fireplaces and over 21,000 sq. ft. of living space, plus a coach house.
Found Lying on Couch.
They found Mr. Field lying on a couch fully dressed and pressing his hands to his left side. The pistol was lying on the rug at the injured man’s feet. The police were not informed of the shooting, but a telephone message to Mr. Dibblee brought him to the Field residence within a few minutes.
Dr. R. H. Harvey, 2100 Calumet avenue, was the first physician summoned. Dr. Arthur Bevan, 2917 Michigan avenue, was sent for and he accompanied the patient to Mercy hospital, where he was placed in a private room on the second floor of the west wing.
The operation was performed at 6:30 o’clock. It was then discovered that the bullet had perforated the liver, but that it had missed the intestines by aq narrow margin. The bullet was removed from the right side, where it had lodged a short distance beneath the skin.
Operation Stops Hemorrhage.
Dr. Bevan, the operating surgeon, said after the operation:
“We operated upon Mr. Field at the hospital at 6:30. We found a good deal of hemorrhage and a perforation of the liver. We controlled the hemorrhage and removed the bullet. The wound is a very serious one, but I think he has a chance of recovery.”
The doctor was asked, “Do you mean, doctor that he his chances of recovery are slight?”
“I prefer to express myself in this way:
He has some chance of recovery.”
Dr. Frank Billings, family physician of Mr. Field, Sr., for years, was not at home when first summoned, but he arrived at the hospital later in the evening and explained the wound. He said:
“I have seen Mr. Field and I think he has a chance to recover.”
Dr. Harvey also expressed the hope that the wound might not prove fatal.
Insist Shot Was Accidental.
None of the physicians would enter into a discussion of the wound from the circumstances surrounding the shooting. When approached on that subject they referred the questioner to Mr. Dibblee, who, they said, had sole authority to talk about the case.
Mr. Dibblee was found at the Field residence and he protested that the shooting was entirely accidental. He had obtained no statement from Mr. Field himself, as the wounded man had been unconscious soon after he was shot.
“From all I can learn,” said Mr. Dibblee, “Mr. Field must have been cleaning the revolver. He had been talking about going hunting for a day or so. He was in his room and the butler and the nurse were the only persons within the sound of the shot. They sent for me at once.
“I do not know the caliber of the revolver. It was a new make of some sort, and worked automatically. That is about all I can tell you of the affair. I have sent word to Mr. Field in New York, and he told me over the long distance telephone that he would start for Chicago at once.”
The butler, when sought for a statement as to the circumstances under which he found Mr. Field in the dressing room, was said to have left the Field house. The nurse would not say anything at all concerning the shooting.
Chicago Tribune, November 21, 1909
High Class Residence Sales.
Three Interesting sales in high class south side residence property were reported by Eugene A., Bournique & Co. involving the sale of the Marshall Field Jr. residence at 1919 Prairie avenue to Dr. Milton B. Pine for about $40,000; also the J. W. Doane residence at 1823 Prairie avenue to Arthur B. Peck of Syracuse, N. Y., for $25,000, and the Coolbaugh homestead at 2252 Calumet avenue to D. B. Fisk & Co., wholesale milliners, for $36,000. The purchasers will improve with a seven story factory building. The Doane lot is 81×160 feet and the three story brown stone residence cost originally $200,000.
Cohen’s Grand Opera Theater Programme, 1919
- One of the first Prairie Avenue mansions to be converted to another use was Marshall Field Jr’s residence at 1919 S. Prairie. Appropriately, it was acquired by Dr. Milton Pine in 1909 for the Gatlin Institute that treated drug and alcohol addiction. It later housed the Monterey Convalescent House which closed in 1977. The house was empty for the next 25 years.
Chicago Tribune, September 12, 2004
- 1919 S. Prairie Ave.
Robinson Fire Insurance Map
1886
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