Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1 S86. 373
mark a new era. The bitterness in politics occasioned by the em-
bargo liacl been carried even to the breaking up of families. It was
not, however, quite so bad as at the election of Jefferson, when manj'
New England women hid their Bibles in the belief that the Virginian
would inaugurate a system of persecution against Puritanism.
Monroe had been so well received at New York and elsewhere
that by the time he reached our bridge he was greeted by a thoroughly
cordial community. When the visiting chief magistrate reached the
Massachusetts line from Connecticut, ascending the west bank of
the river, he found sixty Springfield citizens upon horseback, many
of them in military uniform, as well as scores in carriages, making
a procession half a mile long. As they approached the village
Captain Warriner had assembled his company of artillery at the
bridge, where also a crowd had gathered. The church bells were rung,
and a federal salute was fired. Old inhabitants can recall that
memorable day : how
a formal address was presented tlie President
when he arrived at the Parsons tavern, then kept by Captain Ben-
nett ;
the visit to the armory, and the review of four hundred and ten
school-children. President Monroe was much interested in the little
ones, and he said to the committee of entertainment standing beside
him on the veranda of Parsons tavern, "I am much pleased and grati-
fied with their appearance, and pra}' God to bless them, and you to
carr}' your good designs into effect." Tliey say that men fraternized
after the Monroe visit who had not spoken to each other for years.
Springfield had entered the century with a population of 2,312,
which was less than the West Springfield figures. p]veu with the
armory population the west side still led. The struggle was severe,
ten years later Springfield having 2,767 inhabitants and West Springfield
3,109. But in 1820 the village had risen to 3,914, Avith West
Springfield a good second at 3,246, — the first time the village had
secured the advantage in the memory of any man then living.
Both business and church activities were marked. In March, 1814,
the Springfield bank (the first local bank of discount) was organized