Natchez has a rich history of many interesting people and their stories. I offer another.

My great grandfather, Robert R. Field, and his first-cousin Robert Field Stockton, ran away from home when they were 12 years of age and joined the U.S. Navy. Their grandfather, Richard Stockton, had signed the Declaration of Independence only a few years earlier for the state of New Jersey.

Upon the urging of family members, Robert Field and Robert Stockton were located and sent to the Naval Officer Training Academy. They both had illustrious careers and were highly decorated during campaigns of the War of 1812 and the War with Mexico. Robert Stockton eventually became a Commodore of the U.S. Navy and was the first governor of California. Many places are named in his honor, one being Stockton, Calif.

Following his retirement from the Navy, my great-grandfather Robert Field, came to Natchez from Princeton, N.J. in 1822. He married Charlotte Brooks, the daughter of a wealthy planter and owner of the Anchorage Plantation. There is a compote (large fruit bowl) in the Mississippi Museum of Archives and History that was donated with the following caption: “As a wedding present to Charlotte Brooks and Robert Field, her father, William Brooks, gave them this punch bowl. When their oldest son, Wm. B. Field and Medora Cotton married Feb. 22, 1865, and settled at LaGrange plantation, Natchez, Miss., this bowl was given to them as a wedding gift. Then when their only daughter, Charlotte Field and Wm. Darden married at Fayette, Miss., 1902, the bowl was passed on to them as a wedding gift.”

Robert Field and Dr. William Dunbar Jr. were close friends. Dr. Dunbar married two Field sisters. Following the death of one sister, he then married another. The Dunbar/Field offspring spread throughout the early city of Natchez and surrounding area. It has been said that everyone in Natchez is more-or-less related. For those interested in more information on the populace and offspring of early Natchez, I would suggest going to www.antebellumnatchezfamilies.com.

Following the Civil War, the Anchorage Plantation was lost and my great-grandfather moved to Hattiesburg. Upon a subsequent visit with the Dunbar family in Natchez, he contracted yellow fever and died. He is buried in the Dunbar Family Cemetery at the Forest Plantation on U.S. 61 South.

Somehow, my father ended up with a sterling silver fork, knife and spoon of the William Dunbar family. (I don’t believe it was stolen.) My sister took these three pieces and had a complete set of sterling silver dinnerware made, complete with the ornate “D” in the handle. William Dunbar, as everyone knows, was instrumental in surveying and laying out the community of Natchez. For me, this family and the old Forest Plantation is ground zero for my connection with Natchez. It has been said that everyone in Natchez is more-or-less related, going back to the early families of the time.

Be nice to each other — we may all be kin.

Ed Field

Natchez resident