Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/301

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

SPRINGFIELD 289 aldermen of one member from each ward, and a common council of 18 members. "Water is supplied by works recently erected, there being three reservoirs for low service, with an aggre- gate capacity of 110,577,000 gallons, and one for high service, with a capacity of 2,132,- 817,000 gallons. The expenditures in 1874 amounted to $781,847, viz. : pauper depart- ment, $23,153 17; highways, $117,310 83; salaries, &c., $110,118 79; erection and re- pair of school houses, $81,849 78 ; fire depart- ment, $35,735 55; interest, $58,742 77; po- lice, $29,046 63 ; sewers, $45,004 80 ; miscel- laneous, $228,815 30. The valuation of prop- erty was $38,336,778; interest-bearing debt at the close of the year, $1,794,875. The principal charitable institutions are the alms- house, city hospital, home for women, and home for children. The public schools are under the general management of a committee of one member from each ward., and under the immediate supervision of a superintendent. In 1873-'4 there were 26 school houses, with a high school, 140 . teachers, and an average attendance of about 4,000; current expenses, $110,185 79, of which $85,593 41 were for teachers' wages. Two newspapers with daily and weekly editions and two weeklies are pub- lished. There are 26 churches, viz. : 1 Adven- tist, 3 Baptist, 6 Congregational, 1 Episco- pal, 5 Methodist, 5 Roman Catholic, 1 Spiritu- alist, 1 Swedenborgian, 1 Union Evangelical, 1 Unitarian, and 1 Universalist. Springfield was first settled in 1635 by emigrants from Roxbury, who on May 14 drew up and signed an agreement for self-government. The place was first named Agawam, the Indian name of a river of West Springfield, which with several adjacent towns of the present day was then included in its boundaries. In 1637 a church was formed. In 1638 the settlers chose William Pyn- chon magistrate, and in April of the same year named the settle- ment Springfield, from the name of his resi- dence in England. Mr. Pynchon returned to England in 1652; but his son John remained, and in 1662 erected the famous " Pynchon house," the first brick house in the Connecti- cut valley, and long a fortress against the In- dians. In 1675, du- ring King Philip's war, the Indians burned the settlement, destroying about 30 houses and 25 barns. The growth of the town was slow till the opening of the Boston and Albany railroad in 1838. It was made a city in 1852. SPRINGFIELD, a city and the capital of Clark co., Ohio, at the junction of Lagonda creek with Mad river, 45 m. W. of Columbus and 70 m. 1ST. E. of Cincinnati; pop. in 1850, 5,108; in 1860, 7,002; in 1870, 12,652, of whom 2,169 were foreigners. It is in the heart of one of the richest and mojst populous agri- cultural regions in the Union, and is well laid out and handsomely built. Six lines of rail- road intersect here, viz. : the Cleveland, Colum- bus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis; Cleveland, Sandusky, and Cincinnati ; Columbus, Spring- field, and Cincinnati ; Little Miami (Spring- field branch) ; Springfield and Jackson (nar- row-gauge coal road) ; and Atlantic and Great Western. A large trade is carried on in wheat, flour, Indian corn, and other produce, and many cattle*and swine are shipped to eastern markets. Water power is abundant, and about 80 factories are in operation, employing 4,000 hands. These include flouring mills, iron founderies, machine shops, manufactories of agricultural implements, linseed oil mills, and a paper mill. More than 30,000 mowers and reapers are manufactured annually. Lime- stone is largely quarried and burned. Four national banks have an aggregate capital of $900,000. There are six large public school buildings, including a fine new high school house. The Springfield seminary is a flourish- ing institution. Wittenberg college, under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran church, was opened in 1845; in 1874-'5 it had 10 in- structors, 163 students (100 in the collegiate department), and a library of 6,000 volumes. Springfield has a free public library of 4,000 volumes, a daily, a tri-weekly, and five week- ly newspapers, two monthly periodicals, and 20 churches. SPRINGFIELD, a city and the capital of Illi- nois, and seat of justice of Sangamon co., 178 New State Capitol of Illinois. m. S. W. of Chicago ; lat. 39 48' ST., Ion. 89 33' W. ; pop. in 1840, 2,579 ; in 1850, 4,533 ; in