James Gaven Field was an Attorney General of Virginia

Attorney General of Virginia

The Attorney General of Virginia is an executive office in the Government of Virginia. Attorneys General are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election . There are no term limits restricting the number of terms someone can serve as Attorney General...

 and the People's Party

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 candidate for Vice President of the United States

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

 in 1892

United States presidential election, 1892

In the United States presidential election of 1892, former President Grover Cleveland ran for re-election against the incumbent President Benjamin Harrison, who was also running for re-election. Cleveland defeated Harrison, thus becoming the only person in American history to be elected to a...

.

Biography

James Gaven Field was born at Walnut, Culpeper County, Virginia

Culpeper County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 34,262 people, 12,141 households, and 9,045 families residing in the county. The population density was 90 people per square mile . There were 12,871 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile...

, the son of Judge Lewis Yancy and Maria (Duncan) Field, and a descendant of Sir John Field, of England. After attending a classical school, he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Fairfax, Virginia

Fairfax, Virginia

The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....

, and subsequently taught school.

Career

In 1848 he accompanied Maj. Hill, paymaster in the U.S. Army, to California as clerk, and became engaged in the pay department of the U.S. Army. He was chosen a secretary of the convention that framed the first constitution of the state of California in 1850, and in October of the same year returned to Virginia, where he studied law with his uncle, Judge Richard H. Field, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He was the Commonwealth’s attorney of his native county during 1859-61.

In the civil war he served on the staff of General A. P. Hill

A. P. Hill

Ambrose Powell Hill, Jr. , was a career U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars and a Confederate general in the American Civil War...

, with the rank of major; was wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor

Battle of Cold Harbor

The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864 . It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles...

 and lost a leg at the Battle of Cedar Creek

Battle of Cedar Creek

The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...

.

He became Attorney General of Virginia

Attorney General of Virginia

The Attorney General of Virginia is an executive office in the Government of Virginia. Attorneys General are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election . There are no term limits restricting the number of terms someone can serve as Attorney General...

 in 1877, and after serving five years in this capacity retired to a farm in Albemarle County, Virginia

Albemarle County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 79,236 people, 31,876 households, and 21,070 families residing in the county. The population density was 110 people per square mile . There were 33,720 housing units at an average density of 47 per square mile...

. In 1892 he was the People's Party

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 candidate for Vice President of the United States on the ticket with James B. Weaver for president, and received twenty-two electoral votes and 1,041,028 popular votes.

Marriage and children

He was married, first in 1854, to a Miss Cowherd, and, second, in 1882, to Miss Logwood.

Death and afterward

His last years were spent in Gordonsville, Virginia

Gordonsville, Virginia

Gordonsville is a town in Louisa and Orange counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 1,496 at the 2010 census.-History:Nathaniel Gordon purchased in 1787 and in 1794, or possibly earlier, applied for and was granted a license to operate a tavern...

, and he died there, Oct. 12, 1901.