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.¹  He also served as the founding president of the Kansas School of Optics in 1901² , 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.⁶  

He wrote a book The Littlefield System of Eye and Nerve Measurement that helped standardize the practice.   

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, 1921,³ and built one of the first homes in the Atascadero, California  community at 12-13 Z.A. Atascadero Avenue.⁴    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 1916.⁵

In an article for January 8, 1920 of the 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

1. Jewelers Circular and Horological Review, 1901
2. 2016 Martin City Telegraph article on 100+ years in the optometry industry
3. "The Optical Journal and Review": January 19, 1922; 
4. California Board of Optometry Directory: 1921-1922; 
5. https://archive.org/stream/birthofatascader00trav/birthofatascader00trav_djvu.txt The Birth of Atascadero by Marguerite A. Travis; 1960's
6. 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;