You might recall that in a February 2014 column I
argued with myself about whether “Springfieldian” or “Springfielder” is the
more appropriate term for residents of the state capital. While rereading Andy Van Meter’s 1981 history of the State
Journal-Register, Always My Friend, I was reminded that our illustrious civic
ancestors wrestled with a version of the same question.
Springfield in the 1850s
was beginning to be a place of consequence, Van Meter reports, and one citizen
wrote the Illinois State Journal (a predecessor paper of the SJ-R) proposing to
change the town’s name to “something more befitting such a unique community.”
The writer pointed out that “Springfield”
was such a common name for a city that the postal service often misdirected
mail intended for Illinois’ capital; the name “Illini” or
“Sangamo” would better suit the city. Another letter to the editor of
the Journal argued that “Springfielders” sounded awkward, yet
“Illini” sounded silly; the community deserved better. The Register
concurred, as did the Alton Telegraph, the St. Louis News and the St. Louis
Republican. “A change is desired by our citizens,” the Register
reported; “Sangamo” seemed to be the favorite choice. However,
whenever a consensus developed, someone wrote in with a new suggestion, like
“Euclede,” the name of some fabled giant.
Someone’s always ruining things with suggestions;
ask any new governor. Alas, as Van Meter recalls, “’Universal Sentiment’
favored a name change, but ‘Universal Sentiment’ could not decide on the proper
new name; so, for lack of agreement, the town settled for ‘Springfield.’”
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2015.
