Background
He was born in Corinna, Maine in 1839 and received an education as a printer.
He was born in Corinna, Maine in 1839 and received an education as a printer.
The town of Fifield, Wisconsin is named after him. He moved to Wisconsin in 1854, where he worked as a clerk on a steamboat on the Saint Croix River. He founded the Polk County Press in 1861.
After the American Civil War, he entered politics and served as a Serjeant-at-Arms for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1871 and 1872.
He was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1876, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry Doctorate. Barron. He served in the State Senate until 1881, at which time he was elected as Wisconsin"s 14th Lieutenant Governor.
Having lived in Ashland since 1872, he helped found the Ashland Press newspaper. He was the chairman of the first board of supervisors in June, 1872.
After retiring from politics in 1887, he served as Postmaster in Ashland, and opened a summer resort on Sand Island in Lake Superior.
Named "Camp Stella," after Fifield"s wife, the camp was one of the first successful resorts in northern Wisconsin. The site is now within the boundaries of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Many of the buildings are still standing, and one, the "Sevona Memorial Cottage," is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fifield died in 1915 at his home in Ashland.
In Ashland, there is a street of Historic homes named Fifield Row, in his honor.
He later served as a Republican member of the Assembly from 1874 through 1876, serving as speaker the last year.