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The Eugene Field House

Tour Stop

The Eugene Field House at 634 South Broadway in St. Louis, Missouri

Directions: The Eugene Field House [ Waypoint = N38 37.194 W90 11.526 ] is located on the northeast corner of Cerre and Broadway at 634 South Broadway in St. Louis, Missouri 63102.

  • After returning to your car, get headed south on Broadway.
  • After about 0.4 miles, turn left (east) onto Cerre Street. It will the first left after passing under I-55.
  • Pull into the parking area behind the Eugene Field House on the left.

Description: Now a standalone structure, the Field House was originally part of Walsh's Row, a single structure containing 12 brick row houses built by Edward Walsh in 1845. Although his son, Eugene, was more famous, Roswell M. Field was a prominent St. Louis attorney in the 1850s. Originally born in Vermont, Field emigrated to St. Louis in 1839. Roswell M. Field took on Dred Scott's case in 1853. Field was Dred Scott’s attorney in Dred Scott's suit filed in the Circuit Court of the United States. The trial took place in the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. Roswell M. Field is buried in Bellafontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. [105]

The small historical marker located at The Eugene Field House at 634 South Broadway in St. Louis, Missouri

There are two historical markers on the outside of the Field House. The text of the smaller marker on the right reads as follows:

FIELD HOUSE

Home of Roswell Field, attorney

in the pivotal Dred Scott freedom suit.

has been designated a

National Historic Landmark

This site possesses national significance

in commemorating the history of the

United States of America

2007

National Park Service

Department of the Interior

The large historical marker located at The Eugene Field House at 634 South Broadway in St. Louis, Missouri

The text of the larger marker on the left reads as follows:

Eugene Field

“The Children's Poet” - was born

here in 1850. He such poems as

Little Boy Blue, Wynken, Blynken and

Nod, and The Gingham Dog and the

Calico Cat. Field was also one of

America's most admired newspaper

columnists when he died in 1895.

“Time was when the little toy dog was new

And the soldier was passing fair,

And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue

Kissed them and put them there.”

This was also the home of Eugene's

father, Roswell Martin Field, who

serve as attorney for the slave Dred

Scott and his family when they sued for

their freedom. The Dred Scott case was

the centerpiece of the Lincoln-Douglas

debates of 1858 and was a major cause

of the sectional division and mistrust

which led to the Civil War in 1861.



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