Cufflinks

PeriodCirca 1880 - 1900

Place MadeNew Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumGold

Dimensions0.75 × 0.88 × 0.56 in. (1.9 × 2.2 × 1.4 cm)

ClassificationsAccessories, Men's

Credit LineGift of Mr. Frank Schultz, 1993

Object number1993.5

DescriptionA pair of men's cufflinks, with a rectangular curved tablet style face plate. The back plate, post, hinge pin, and bullet style swivel bar are all of gold-toned metal. The face plate includes matching delicately engraved Eastlake or Aesthetic-Movement style floral and foliate motifs.
NotesThis pair of restrained and elegant gold cufflinks belonged to Joel Parker Fields. Named for New Jersey's Civil War Governor Joel Parker (1816-1888), Joel P. Fields was one of four children of Edmund Fields (1812-1896) and Margaret Jackson Field (1812-1890). Born on September 14, 1852, Joel Fields followed in his father's footsteps, taking over the running of the family farm located in Eatontown. The property had descended from Joel's grandfather, John Fields, to his father Edmund, and then to Joel himself. The house on the property had been constructed in 1788 by David Woodmansee. Joel Field never married. He and his unmarried brother, Ira Fields (1855-1918) devoting his energies to the successful running of the family farm. Fields focused on vegetables and produce. In 1896, local newspapers reported that "Joel Field is said to have grown the largest field of corn ever grown in this vicinity." In 1902, another newspaper article noted that a huge white oak, estimated at about 150 years old, was cut down and that "over a score of large bullets were found near the heart and some people think that they are relics of Revolutionary days." Farm life was not, however, as quiet and calm as one might think. During World War I, the miilitary approached Joel Fields, offering $100,000 for a portion of the farm with the plan to use it as a communications site. Fields refused. In July of 1921, high winds later considered an actual tornado (described as a "cyclone" in local papers) ripped across the property, destroying the family home and several outbuildings. Fields' farm became a popular tourist destination that summer, with locals driving by to view the damage. After inheriting the family farm, Fields renamed it "Gold Hill Farm." Small gold nuggets were frequently discovered around the property, and even brought up in a bucket from the farm's well. Joel Fields discovered a nugget in the crop of one of his chickens, and had it made into the faceplates of his cufflinks. The source of the gold was never discovered. Upon his death in 1937, numerous tributes to Joel Fields appeared in the newspapers. Described as "one of the most respected citizens of the [Eatontown] community," one editorial noted that "Joel Parker Fields was as he had always been, the same kindly, benevolent patriarch...treasured by all who had the good fortune to know him."

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