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

404 SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
following table, gathered from the records for 1831, speak:
Population (about), 6,700; dwelling-houses, 722; stores, ware-
houses, and shops 118; barns, 580; cotton factories (370 looms),
3 ; bleachery, 1 ; paper-mills, 3 ; priuting-offlces, o ; grist-mills, 5 ;
saw-mills, 7 ; card factories, 2 ; carding-machine, 1 ; fulling-mill, 1 ;
breweries, 2; distilleries, 2; tan-houses, 3 ; tillage lands (acres),
5,301; meadow, 1,807; horses, 389; oxen, 321; cows, 474; steers
and heifers, 237 ; sheep, 954 ; newspapers, 4. Armory property is
not here enumerated. The town had increased in population 2,870
between 1820 and 1830, when the figures were 6,784. The population
of the county in 1829 was 33,000. Much attention was now
paid to village improvements.
New streets were being laid out. In 1828 Charles Stearns was ap-
pointed to widen and deepen a part of the town brook, for which he
used 1,500 feet of block stone, over 10,000 bricks, and 9,000 feet of
planking. There was a bit of what now seems vandalism attending
these improvements. In May, 1829, Charles Stearns proposed to
cut down an ancient elm standmg on Main street, near the land of
George Bliss, in order to carry out the work of draining the meadow
by enlarging the brook. The elm was in the way, and much feeling
was caused by the plan to cut it down. The Blisses applied to
Chief-Justice Parker for an injunction, which, after a learned argu-
ment, was denied, and the elm fell. It stood on Main street, opposite
Bliss street ; a handsome elm stood in the yard of James Bliss,
which was cut down in 1853. A West Springfield farmer, it is
said, gathered some seeds under this tree, sowed them, and in due
time traded elm saplings for a cemetery lot, whence came the ave-
nue of elms leading to the beautiful Maple-street entrance of the
cemetery. The oldest elm on Court square was planted by the
Pynchon family, according to tradition, and was a large tree at
the Revolution. It is understood that the tree at the north-east
corner of Court square was set out by Mrs. Charles Sheldon in
what was then her door-yard. The other trees in the square were
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