View source for James Edwin Littlefield

==Optometry==
Dr. James Edwin Littlefield was born in 1860, the son of jewelers.   He gave birth to three successive generations of optometrists.  He founded the Kansas Association of Opticians, in Topeka, Kansas.<sup>1</sup>  He also served as the founding president of the Kansas School of Optics in 1901<sup>2</sup> , a correspondence school offering post-graduate courses, having been teaching since  1879.    Additionally, in 1905, while living in Topeka, Kansas, he served as an official of the National Board of Optometry, as a keynote speaker for a Los Angeles banquet for members of the California State Board of Optometry.<sup>6</sup>  

He wrote a book [https://books.google.com/books?id=NIl9nQEACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false The Littlefield System of Eye and Nerve Measurement] that helped standardize the practice.   

[[File:littlefieldbook.jpg|300x499px]]

In the book, he states that he held the honor of being the first registered Doctor of Optics to have his degree confirmed by an act of the Legislature, and passing a medical board in the Science of Optometry.  He also claimed to have written a bill to recognize optometrists in Kansas, and coining the term.  

==Family==
James Edwin Littlefield was born in October 1860 in Maine where he spent his childhood in Saco, York County.  His parents were James Woodberry (1833-1927) & Roxanne E. Cook (1835-1907) Littlefield who were also birthed (and died) in Maine.  James & Roxanne were married January 26, 1859 in Hopkinton, MA.  He was a merchant in jewelry, and hats. 

===Siblings===
James E. had a younger sister Alice Louise (1862-1945) who never married, and a younger brother Ralph (1872-) who became a machinist.

===Marriage and Children===
He had two wives and several children:

* Clara Etta Bomgardner Littlefield (b. 1866 in Missouri to farmer John C. (b. 1842 Ohio) & Sarah Hatfield Bomgardner (b. 1845 Iowa).   Married life spent in Topeka, Kansas before divorcing between 1895-1905.   Clara remarried a Wallace in 1925 in Framingham, MA.  
** [[Ralph Edwin Littlefield]] (b. 1886) followed his father into optometry, as did his son Lawrence and grandson who is currently in practice.
** Earl C. Littlefield (b. 1887), optician from as early as age 23, in 1910, worked for the C.B. Norton Jewelry Company in 1918, as reported by a jewelry magazine.    
** James Woodberry Littlefield (1889-1918) served in World War One, earning the rank of Sergeant, dying at 28 of pneumonia from influenza at Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, KY.  
** Bessie A. Littlefield (1895-)  born in Kansas, was living in KCMO in 1910, and self-employed at the age of 15 as a lawyer.  


* May A. Sawyer (b. 1874) married February 4, 1905, living in Saco, Maine.  
** Hugo F. Littlefield (1906-1912)
** Elizabeth Alden Littlefield Williams (b. 1908-

==Atascadero years==
In 1917, he had opened up an optical practice inside a large general store in Atascadero, and was active in the first businessman's association there. 

He retired on May 1, 1921,<sup>3</sup> and built one of the first homes in the Atascadero, California  community at 12-13 Z.A. Atascadero Avenue.<sup>4   </sup> He also assisted with planting thousands of acres of orchards for what he expected to become one of the larger fruit-growing colonies in the area, winning regional awards for gigantic cauliflower and cabbages in 1916.<sup>5</sup>

In an article for January 8, 1920 of the [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.097877749;view=1up;seq=12 Optical Journal and Review], a letter was included of his regarding the fruit growing, and he wrote, "I have raised on one-quarter of an acre over four tons of potatoes, cabbage that weighed over 25 lbs. to the head.  I sold today over ten tons of carrots that I have on about one-quarter of an acre... it will be five years, January 1st, since I put out the first garden in Atascadero... In March, I set out my orchard and this year I have apples, pears, apricots, several varieties of plums and peaches, quince, grapes, raspberries, blackberries, Loganberries, strawberries, almonds, and some others.  With chickens, rabbits and pigeons I did not feel the pinch of "H.C.L."

==Sources==
# [https://archive.org/stream/jewelerscircular00unse_42/jewelerscircular00unse_42_djvu.txt Jewelers Circular and Horological Review, 1901]
# [https://martincitytelegraph.com/2016/02/25/vision-care-has-been-in-the-littlefield-family-business-for-over-100-years/ 2016 Martin City Telegraph article on 100+ years in the optometry industry]
# "The Optical Journal and Review": January 19, 1922; 
# California Board of Optometry Directory: 1921-1922; 
# [https://archive.org/details/birthofatascader00trav/page/n5 https://archive.org/stream/birthofatascader00trav/birthofatascader00trav_djvu.txt The Birth of Atascadero] by Marguerite A. Travis; 1960's
# Jeweler's Circular and Horological Review 1905-1906 

* The Jeweler's Circular Weekly: October 23, 1918  WW1
* Jeweler's Circular and Horological Review 1905-1906
* Hindsight Journal of Optometry History: July 2010: "James E. Littlefield, Author of Optometry - The Littlefield System of Eye and Nerve Measurements", by David A. Goss;