James A. Fields

James Apostle Fields (August, 1844 – November 23, 1903), although born enslaved in Hanover County, Virginia, became a prominent lawyer, educator and landowner in Virginia's Hampton Roads area, including serving one term in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1889-1890.

Early life and education

Born in slavery in Hanover County, Virginia in 1844 to Washington Fields and his wife Martha Ann (her surname given as Berkley or Thornton). One of his duties was to tend the horses of lawyers practicing in the Hanover County Courthouse.

Career

By 1873 and until 1886, Fields lived in Elizabeth City County. He became active in Republican Party politics and was a captain in the Libby Guards, a local militia unit in Hampton. He received a patronage post as the doorkeeper for the Virginia House of Delegates in Richmond for the 1879-1880 session. Meanwhile, Fields farmed as well as took courses at Howard University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1882. Following graduation, he began a private legal practice in Hampton, and was a justice of the peace in either Elizabeth City County or nearby Warwick County. Voters elected Fields commonwealth attorney (prosecutor) for Warwick County in 1887. He did not seek reelection, having accepted a position as school superintendent.

In addition to his legal practice, Fields taught students for 14 years in makeshift schools at Williamsburg’s First Baptist Church and at Hampton’s Third Baptist Church. He become a school superintendent in 1890. In 1893, as Newport News expanded due to the construction of a railroad line, Fields founded the first hospital serving Blacks in Newport News and Elizabeth City. James' brother George Washington Fields also became a lawyer. His niece Inez C. Fields was the third black woman to practice law in Virginia.