He was born into slavery in Hanover County,Virginia.George was one of 11 children Martha Ann Berkley & Washington Fields.Of the children,one died in infancy,three were sold off, and one was a runaway. George and the others grew up on Clover Plain Plantain in Northeastern Virginia.
In July 1863,during the battle between Union and Confederate solders on the plantation,George,mama escaped along with him and five siblings.After a few months travel,they reached the safety of Fortress Monroe near Hampton,Virginia. Fortress Monroe was one of the first Union-occupied fortifications which received escaping slaves.Those who arrived in 1861 & 1862 were labeled "contraband" and their status as free people was disputed.By the time Martha and her children reached the fort,they were granted freedom by the Emancipation Proclamation since Hanover County was still in Confederate hands.
The family settled in Union-occupied Hampton.George's daddy arrived the next year followed soon after wards by four siblings whom slavery had earlier dispersed.
This was a rare occurrence;an entire enslaved family reunited as free people.
George intermittently pursued a public education in Hampton from 1863 arrival through 1875,while working as a culler on an oyster boat,a hack driver,and as a steamboat waiter.Finally in 1875,with his younger sister Catherine's encouragement,
he enrolled at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at the age of 21. Three years later,in 1878,he graduated and headed north for full-time work.A series of menial jobs at famous resorts and as manservant for prominent families led to a position from 1881-1887 as butler for the Governor of New York,Alonzo B.Cornell.
While in Alonzo's employment,he continued to educate himself through tutors and
schools, studying everything from French to medicine.He settled on law as a career
and as was customary at the time,he read law with a local attorney.
George intended to attend Yale University law school to complete his legal training.his,employer Alonzo Cornell,the eldest son of Cornell University's founder
Ezra Cornell,persuaded him to enroll in the soon to be opened Cornell Law School.In the fall of 1887,George arrived in Ithaca,New York and three years later
graduated as a member of school's inaugural class and its first African American graduate.
George returned to Hampton to practice law, joining his older brother was an attorney and local State Senator.George took the Virginia bar exam before three judges and was admitted to the Virginia bar in April 1891 at the age of 37.George
was also active in politics,representing Elizabeth City and James City in the Virginia
House of Delegates from 1889-1890.
On November 28,1892,George married Sarah (Sallie) Haws Baker,also a graduate of
Hampton University.Together they had two children,a boy who died in infancy,and a girl.
In 1896 he lost his eyesight.He continued,to be active in civic organizations,serving on the board of the Weaver Orphan Home in Hampton and as a Trustee of the Third Baptist Church in the city and Superintendent of its Sunday School.Before his death,
George wrote "Come On,Children": The Autobiography of George Washington Fields,
Born a Slave in Hanover County,Virginia.The original unpublished manuscript was
recently found in the Hampton University Archives.
The family settled in Union-occupied Hampton.George's daddy arrived the next year followed soon after wards by four siblings whom slavery had earlier dispersed.
This was a rare occurrence;an entire enslaved family reunited as free people.
George intermittently pursued a public education in Hampton from 1863 arrival through 1875,while working as a culler on an oyster boat,a hack driver,and as a steamboat waiter.Finally in 1875,with his younger sister Catherine's encouragement,
he enrolled at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at the age of 21. Three years later,in 1878,he graduated and headed north for full-time work.A series of menial jobs at famous resorts and as manservant for prominent families led to a position from 1881-1887 as butler for the Governor of New York,Alonzo B.Cornell.
While in Alonzo's employment,he continued to educate himself through tutors and
schools, studying everything from French to medicine.He settled on law as a career
and as was customary at the time,he read law with a local attorney.
George intended to attend Yale University law school to complete his legal training.his,employer Alonzo Cornell,the eldest son of Cornell University's founder
Ezra Cornell,persuaded him to enroll in the soon to be opened Cornell Law School.In the fall of 1887,George arrived in Ithaca,New York and three years later
graduated as a member of school's inaugural class and its first African American graduate.
George returned to Hampton to practice law, joining his older brother was an attorney and local State Senator.George took the Virginia bar exam before three judges and was admitted to the Virginia bar in April 1891 at the age of 37.George
was also active in politics,representing Elizabeth City and James City in the Virginia
House of Delegates from 1889-1890.
On November 28,1892,George married Sarah (Sallie) Haws Baker,also a graduate of
Hampton University.Together they had two children,a boy who died in infancy,and a girl.
In 1896 he lost his eyesight.He continued,to be active in civic organizations,serving on the board of the Weaver Orphan Home in Hampton and as a Trustee of the Third Baptist Church in the city and Superintendent of its Sunday School.Before his death,
George wrote "Come On,Children": The Autobiography of George Washington Fields,
Born a Slave in Hanover County,Virginia.The original unpublished manuscript was
recently found in the Hampton University Archives.
George died at the Dixie Hospital after a brief illness.He was survived by two sisters,Maria & Catherine,his daughter Inez,C.Fields Scott,and his wife Sallie,who passed away on December 19,1944.
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