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

SPRINGFIELD, 16S6-1886. 451
selves. The character of the men improved under both Lee and
Robb. They became inventors, were even elected to the Legislature,
and tilled a large place in Springfield town. The change from prac-
tical gunsmiths to ordnance officers could not fail to make trouble, and
many of the old armorers were very exasperating in their manners.
They avoided the order against smoking by puffing their pipes in the
stove, claiming that they were not smoking in the shops. Such men
were given their walking-papers in short order. A strenuous effort
was made in 1843 and 1844 to get these men reinstated, and Charles
Stearns even went to Washington to see what could be done there for
them. One of the arguments used was that many of these armorers,
under the belief that their places were permanent, had made valuable
inventions, and given their ideas to the government without a thought
of pay. When Mr. Stearns returned he had an unsatisfactory interview
with Colonel Ripley, who was accused of extravagance in pulling
down the superintendent's residence and putting up a better one.
He was taken to task also for clearing away several small build-
ings rented to armorers. Talcott, lieutenant-colonel of ordnance
at Washington, was a firm friend of Colonel Ripley, and put aside
the protests as the interference of civilians hi military matters. A
communication signed by Chauucey Shepard, Charles A. Bartlett,
Thomas S. Williams, and John D. Lord was circulated on the heels
of this little fight, certifying to the fact that the superintendent's
house was old and rotten, and that it was wise to pull it down.
Charles Stearns felt called upon to respond, and the quality of the
timbers and foundation-stones of the superintendent's house became
an issue of prime moment.
The bitter feeling was increased, in January, 1845, by a side issue,
— a trial in the United States court at Boston. A strip of ground
on Prospect street (since discontinued and now a part of the armory
grounds on the west side) had been bought by Charles Stearns of
Col. Israel E. Trask in 1827. This strip ran from Byers street due
east, and abutted on the then Pi'ospect street, which ran south to