More than a year ago I acquired an Isaac Field plane of birch with fluting and a Jo, Fuller style ( relieved) wedge It is 10 inches long and of 18th century appearance. The maker's mark was applied with the same stamp that Field used during his entire career, but in it's original state. On this plane, and on one other very early molder, there is extra space on either end of the name. The stamp was not used long before Field apparently filed both ends back, probably in an attempt to get a deeper strike.

    Having found this early Isaac Field plane, I was motivated to learn more about the maker, and particularly to address the question of whether there had been two generations of Isaac Fields who used the same stamp. My first move was to go directly to Barry Weaver, whose twenty years of research has resulted in the documentation of much of the history of Rhode Island planemaking. Most of Barry's information has not be published, and he is no longer active in this arena. Still, he did not hesitate to help me in every way possible. He took me everywhere from archives to cemeteries, and gave me all his documents.

    In 1824 the first Rhode Island Directory was published and listed Isaac Field Toolmaker at 138 Westminster St. in Providence. Until his death, that address had been the site of Jo Fuller's shop. Isaac also shows up in the land records in 1808 purchasing land from Joseph Fuller witnessed by Wm. Field (housecarpenter) and James Snow lll (Toolmaker). In addition he appears at least 6 times after 1808 where he was a witness for Jo. Fuller (seller) or where he was the seller witnessed by Jo. Fuller. Jo Fuller's last transaction was witnessed by Isaac Field in April 1822, one month before Fuller died. Among Barry's discoveries were the account books of Daniel Proud (Cabinetmaker) who worked from 1810 to 1834. Daniel Proud married Abigail Field in 1787. She was the sister of Jo. Fuller, Jr. who was Jo. Field until he was adopted by Jo. Fuller, Sr. (Jo. Fuller apparently wanted an heir and adopted Joseph Field as a young adult under the condition that the young Field assume the Fuller name.) Abigail Field was also the sister of Richard M. Field. These Fields were distant cousins of Isaac Field. The account books show Isaac Field signing for materials purchased by Jo. Fuller, Sr. starting in 1814. After Jo. Fuller's death those transactions continued by Isaac in his own behalf. At least 40 were recorded between 1822 and 1837. There was a close and long lasting relationship between Jo. Fuller and Isaac Field starting as early as 1808.

    In search of earlier evidence of the Jo. Fuller/Isaac Field relationship I studied the records on Jo. Fuller beginning with his Providence Gazette ad in 1772. I found nothing until 1794 when Joseph Field was adopted by Jo. Fuller and married Lucy Potter. Isaac Field was born in 1781 and was 13 years old at that time. Next in 1798 a notice in the Providence Gazette announced the dissolution of the Jo. Fuller, Jr. and Jo. Fuller, Sr. partnership by "mutual consent". Isaac was then 17 years old and by all standards of the time would have been working, and/or serving an apprenticeship.

    In 1804 the marriage of Isaac Field "Planemaker" to Sally Berry took place in the Beneficent Congregational Church. Deacon Joseph Fuller was of this congregation as was his adopted son. Joseph Fuller, Jr. was also married there in 1794, but it appears that no other Fields were affiliated with this church in any way.

    My Isaac Field plane is very precisely made with round chamfers on top and flat on the ends, and is virtually identical to Jo. Fuller planes of the same style. That style is considered to date from the later part of the 1790's, plus or minus just a few years. Planes marked FULLER & FIELD or ARNOLD & FIELD are of a very similar style but with flat chamfers on top as well and are identical to the Jo. Fuller planes of that style. Jo. Fuller planes from that period are thought to date to the first half of the 1790's - possibly a little later or several years earlier.

    Based on the styles of the planes, and on the tentative dating of those styles it is reasonable to believe that the early Isaac Field planes were made right around 1800, at which time he would have been 19 years old. It is also reasonable to believe that he would have been too young to have made the flat chamfered FULLER & FIELDs or the ARNOLD & FIELDs. FULLER & FIELD probably represented the brothers; Joseph Fuller, Jr. and Richard M. Field. ARNOLD & FIELD might also have represented Richard M. Field in partnership with an Arnold (the daughter of Joseph Fuller, Jr. was married to an Arnold).

    There is no proof that Isaac Field learned his planemaking from Jo. Fuller, but other possibilities are not very likely. The same is true for Richard M. Field, Jo. Fuller, Jr. and possibly for Arnold. How they happened to go into independent businesses is another cause for speculation. They may have simply left and gone on their own, or Jo. Fuller may have assisted them to some extent, perhaps even allowing them to make and sign their own planes in his shop.

    When Jo. Fuller died in 1822, at 75 years old, his shop was at 138 Westminster St. and his residence was next door at 136. Isaac Field worked for Fuller until Fuller's death, certainly beginning by 1814, almost certainly from 1804 or 1808 and probably from about 1796. In 1824 Field was working from 138 Westminster.

    I speculate that Isaac Field obtained the tools and stock of the shop where he continued to work. Jo. Fuller's "E" marked planes are identical in body and wedge to a number of the Isaac Field planes. Many of these planes are birch and some of them may have been in the stock of Fuller's shop. In any event, Isaac very likely made them! Sometime late in Jo. Fuller's life his Providence location stamp was filed or ground on the edges making it a little narrower and more rounded on the corners than it had been in its earlier state.This distinctive stamp was used to mark the later Fuller planes, and subsequently, those of Isaac Field, providing strong evidence of at least some continuity between the different shop occupants!

    Isaac Field stayed at the 138 Westminster shop at least until 1837. The 1844 Directory shows him on Pine St. The last entry in the Directory was in 1850-53 still at 64 Pine St. There is no evidence that Isaac Field's son ever made planes or that he worked in his father's shop. He was listed most of his life as a teamster. The 1850 census has the ages and occupations of those in Isaac's household transposed and some are just plain wrong when compared to other sources. This census has been cited in other places and the errors included probably account for the 2 Isaac Field planemakers theory. There was another Isaac Field, a merchant who was younger than the planemaker by about 15 years and does not appear to have had anything to do with planes.

    It seems, then, that there was only one Isaac Field, planemaker, and that he lived in Providence, pursuing the same profession, for his entire life (1781-1860). What's more, his life's work was apparently a continuation of that of his mentor and long time employer, Jo. Fuller.

    Acknowledgments: In addition to acknowledging Barry Weaver's great contributions to this project, I would like to thank Rich D'Avila, Mike Humphrey and Rick Slaney for his generous assistance.