diff --git a/src/morethantext/fieldtype/mod.rs b/src/morethantext/fieldtype/mod.rs
index 10d4367..4a6f959 100644
--- a/src/morethantext/fieldtype/mod.rs
+++ b/src/morethantext/fieldtype/mod.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,29 @@
-use std::fmt;
-
 mod static_string;
 
+use crate::morethantext::error::MTTError;
 use static_string::StaticString;
+use std::fmt;
 
 pub enum FieldType {
     StaticString(StaticString),
 }
 
+impl FieldType {
+    fn new(ftype: &str, data: &str) -> Result<Self, MTTError> {
+        let field = match ftype {
+            "StaticString" => StaticString::new(data),
+            _ => Err(MTTError::new(format!(
+                "field type {} does not exist",
+                ftype
+            ))),
+        };
+        match field {
+            Ok(fld) => Ok(fld.into()),
+            Err(e) => Err(e),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl fmt::Display for FieldType {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
         match self {
@@ -29,7 +45,7 @@ mod converstion {
     #[test]
     fn from_static_string() {
         let data = "a static string";
-        let field = StaticString::new(data);
+        let field = StaticString::new(data).unwrap();
         let ftype: FieldType = field.into();
         assert!(
             ftype.to_string() == data,
@@ -38,4 +54,36 @@ mod converstion {
             data
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn bad_field_type() -> Result<(), String> {
+        let field_type = "dragon";
+        let err_msg = format!("field type {} does not exist", field_type);
+        match FieldType::new(field_type, "marmalade") {
+            Ok(_) => Err("Should have returned an error.".to_string()),
+            Err(err) => {
+                if err.to_string() == err_msg {
+                    Ok(())
+                } else {
+                    Err(format!(
+                        "Error message is incorrect: Got: '{}' Want: '{}'",
+                        err.to_string(),
+                        err_msg
+                    ))
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn new_static_string() {
+        let data = "This is a test.";
+        let field = FieldType::new("StaticString", data).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            field.to_string() == data,
+            "\n\nGot:  {}\nWant: {}\n\n",
+            field.to_string(),
+            data
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/morethantext/fieldtype/static_string.rs b/src/morethantext/fieldtype/static_string.rs
index f555990..8f054c6 100644
--- a/src/morethantext/fieldtype/static_string.rs
+++ b/src/morethantext/fieldtype/static_string.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use crate::morethantext::error::MTTError;
 use std::fmt;
 
 pub struct StaticString {
@@ -5,11 +6,11 @@ pub struct StaticString {
 }
 
 impl StaticString {
-    pub fn new<S>(name: S) -> Self
+    pub fn new<S>(name: S) -> Result<Self, MTTError>
     where
         S: Into<String>,
     {
-        Self { data: name.into() }
+        Ok(Self { data: name.into() })
     }
 }
 
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ mod creation {
     #[test]
     fn new_accepts_str() {
         let data = "some data";
-        let field = StaticString::new(data);
+        let field = StaticString::new(data).unwrap();
         assert!(
             field.to_string() == data,
             "\n\nGot:  {}\nWant: {}",
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ mod creation {
     #[test]
     fn new_accepts_string() {
         let data = "actual string";
-        let field = StaticString::new(data.to_string());
+        let field = StaticString::new(data.to_string()).unwrap();
         assert!(
             field.to_string() == data,
             "\n\nGot:  {}\nWant: {}",
diff --git a/src/morethantext/mod.rs b/src/morethantext/mod.rs
index a42e215..9012066 100644
--- a/src/morethantext/mod.rs
+++ b/src/morethantext/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-pub mod fieldtype;
 pub mod error;
+pub mod fieldtype;
 
 use async_std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
 use error::MTTError;
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ impl Table {
         Self {}
     }
 
-    async fn new_column(&self, _name: &str, _type: &str) {
-    }
+    async fn new_column(&self, _name: &str, _type: &str) {}
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]