Reubin Field (abt. 1775 - aft. 1822)

Born about 1775 in Culpeper County, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Myrtle) Welsh — married 1808 in Indiana Territory

Died after 22 Apr 1822 after about age 47 in Jefferson County, Kentucky

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One of the Corps of Discovery members on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Biography

Reubin Field was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. See Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Reubin Field is Notable.

Reubin Field and his brother, Joseph, were two of the "nine young men from Kentucky" who accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition.

Reubin and his brother Joseph (about a year older) were among the best hunters, but Reubin was possibly the better shot. He was, at least, at Camp Dubois on January 16, 1804, when Clark's men set up a shooting match with some local residents. At stake was a pair of leggings. Clark recorded that Reubin Field came in first.

In a another contest two years later — this time against Nez Perce men at Camp Chopunnish on June 8, 1806 — Lewis wrote that "several foot rarces [sic] were run this evening between the indians and our men. the indians are very active; one of them proved as fleet as Drewer and R. Fields, our swiftest runners." Reubin had some trouble getting used to military ways. At Camp Dubois during early March 1804, he refused Sgt. John Ordway's command to stand guard on regular rotation. Castigated by Lewis for "disorderly conduct," Reubin repented, and never was in trouble again.

Capt. Lewis had the following to say about Joseph and Reubin: "Two of the most active and enterprising young men who accompanied us. It was their peculiar fate to have been engaged in all the most dangerous and difficult scenes of the voyage, in which they uniformly acquited themselves with much honor." Both were discharged on October 10, 1806.

Reuben was interested in continuing his life in the army. In St. Louis, he approached Clark and received a recommendation for a lieutenancy, but the down-sized peacetime army had no opening available.

Reubin married Mary Myrtle in 1808 in Indiana. Mary Myrtle was the daughter of John Myrtle of Jefferson County, Kentucky, and his wife Phoebe.

Reubin and Mary acquired land south of present day Louisville, Kentucky, and became farmers.

Reubin Field was enumerated on the 1820 Census for Jefferson County, Kentucky with his wife, but there were no children. They had four slaves; a female between the ages of 14 and 25; and three boys under the age of 14.

Reubin made out his Will on April 22, 1822. He must have been worried about the validity of his marriage to Mary Myrtle as he states, "To wife Mary Field, forever, entire estate; should their marriage performed in Indiana in 1808 by one they thought was a minister of the Gospel named Smith, but later learned may not have been, be considered illegal, then he bequeathed to her as Mary Myrtle, her former name, said estate forever."

His exact burial location is unknown. It was thought that he was buried in the Myrtle Family Grave Yard on Little Bee Lick Creek and subsequently relocated to the Bethany Cemetery, in Valley Station, Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Sources

• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 2005. U of Nebraska Press / U of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries-Electronic Text Center. 5 Oct. 2005 <http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu>.

• Staff. “The People - Corps of Discovery.” Corps of Discovery - United States Army, U.S. Army Center of Military History, 12 Jan. 2019, https://history.army.mil/LC/the_people.htm.

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Reubin Field

• Wikidata: Item Q16836682, en:Wikipedia

• Lewis and Clark in Kentucky; Joseph and Reubin Field

• Inside the Corps; Reubin Field

• Discovering Lewis and Clark; Reubin Field