She was the daughter of George Belden and Sophia Louisa Miles, both of Putnam County, New York. She was the niece of John Belden, who was like a father figure to her after her father died in 1855. Laura married Dudley Field on January 29, 1861. Dudley's father writes in his diary on June 30, 1860: "Wishing to mark Dudley's engagement by a pleasant excursion, we made up a party to the Catskill Mountains, consisting of Mrs. Belden, Miss Laura, Mr. John Belden, Jeanie, Dudley and myself." The wedding was announced in the New York Evening Post issue of January 30, 1861 as "29 January 1861 Rev. Dr. Hawks, Dudley Field to Laura Frederica, the daughter of the late George Belden."

Laura and Dudley are found on the 1870 census in New York and with them is her mother, Louisa Belden; there is no mention of John Belden on this census. But in 1880, Sophia Louisa has died (1873) and John Belden, age 76, is living with them and is listed as an uncle. George Belden, Sophia Louisa Belden and John Belden are all buried in Gilead Cemetery in Carmel, New York. Sophia's death was reported in the NY Evening Post issue of 4 April 1873 as "Sophia Louisa wid late George Belden, son-in-law Dudley Field of NY".

Laura and her husband, Dudley Field, built a house in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York in 1869 on land owned by Dudley's father (this historic house was demolished in 2007). They later built a home for themselves in 1872 in the Hudson Valley of New York. Their home was part of an area that in 1890 became known as Belden Park. Dudley died in 1880 and Laura carried on with the development of the real estate project. She owned a 15 acre country residence in Dobbs Ferry, New York with a stone manor house named "Beacon Hill" and she bought, sold and rented properties in the region, including those lots on Belden Avenue. When Laura died in November 1894, she still owned that first house they built on the Dobbs Ferry land, which is now numbered 29 Belden Avenue. Having no living heirs, she bequeathed her entire personal estate to her sister, Julia Belden Tallmadge, who soon died a month later in December 1894 and in turn passed the estate on to her husband, Frederick S. Tallmadge.

There is no known portrait or photo of Laura. If anyone has anything new information to share about Laura, please contact the manager of this memorial.