Field (W. Abner) is born in Springfield, Vermont.

Abner Field comes to Boston in 1855 to study law and moves to 43 Rutland Square in approximately 1870. He serves as assistant U.S. attorney general and in the U.S. House of Representatives. Appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1880, Field is elevated to chief justice in 1890. He dies on July 15, 1899.