U.S. Congressman. He was a lawyer, who revised the law code of procedure. In 1821, he entered Williams College, but was suspended for his part in a riot on campus; however, in 1865, he donated $25,000 to establish the professorship of astronomy there. In 1825, he started his study of law in Albany, New York; he later went to New York City, where he entered the offices of Messrs. Henry & Robert Sedgewick. Henry soon died and David became a partner with Robert. In 1828, he started his own practice and was an attorney in New York City for 40 years; he presented cases to the Supreme Court, represented railroad moguls like Jay Gould and was the chief counsel for Boss Tweed. But soon after he became a lawyer, he also became interested in law reform, which was his life work. He simplified and arranged the whole code of civil, political and penal law. Although this code of procedure was prepared for New York State, it was adopted later by many other states, as well as some countries. He also helped create a commission to prepare an international code and he sat as a member of this commission. He was a delegate to the Peace Convention of 1861 in Washington D.C. and was a Representative to Congress from New York in 1877. He was also an active force with his voice, pen and purse to help gain the Union victory during the Civil War. He was married and widowed three times: first to Jane Lucinda Hopkins in 1829, second to Mrs. Harriet Davidson in 1841 and third to Mrs. Mary Carr in 1866. Besides his home in New York City, he had a country place in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he was a pioneer in a national movement to use the outdoors for recreation and to promote the environment. He was the brother to Cyrus West Field, promoter of the Atlantic Cable, and Stephen Johnson Field, Supreme Court Associate Justice.