40.3596° N, 82.2875° W

SPRINGFIELD

Most Famous People Born in Springfield, United States

Notable people
936
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1933
Most distinctive
Baseball 9.5×

There are several Springfields in this dataset and they blur together statistically, which is the point - the 9.5× Baseball over-index is small-town America's pre-television obsession crystallized, the era when every Midwestern Springfield fielded a semi-pro team and a few of those kids made the Cardinals or Reds. The 2.6× Lawyer ratio is the Lincoln-era Springfield, IL signal still echoing through the data.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Springfield during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 90 notable births.

What Springfield Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Springfield's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (124).

Springfield over-indexes on baseball — 9.5× the global rate.

Springfield under-produces football — only 0.7× the global rate.

  1. Politician124
  2. Baseball101
  3. Football72
  4. Actor59
  5. Lawyer43
  6. Basket38
  7. Music26
  8. Writer23
  1. Baseball1019.5×
  2. Basket383.2×
  3. Lawyer432.6×
  4. Novelist92.4×
  5. Screenwriter92.2×
  6. Music261.9×
  7. Officer101.6×
  1. Football720.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Springfield's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
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Showing 29 of 936 notable people

0059 ENTREPRENEUR

Julius Rosenwald

1862 - 1932

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0089 BASEBALL

Ed Barrow

1868 - 1953

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0155 ENGINEER

Benjamin G. Lamme

1864 - 1924

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0156 EXPLORER

Evelyn Baldwin

1862 - 1933

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0250 POLITICIAN

Albert Johnson (congressman)

1869 - 1957

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0326 POLITICIAN

Edward John King

1867 - 1929

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0335 LAWYER

Dudley G. Wooten

1860 - 1929

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0347 ACTOR

Bigelow Cooper

1867 - 1953

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0384 MISSIONARY

William N. Brewster

1862 - 1916

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0385 POLITICIAN

Daniel E. Garrett

1869 - 1932

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0398 CIVIL SERVICE

Mary Margaret O'Reilly

1865 - 1949

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0428 ETHNOLOGIST

Gilbert Livingston Wilson

1869 - 1930

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0482 POLITICIAN

Edward Lincoln Abel

1860 - 1926

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0533 LAWYER

William P. Hayes

1866 - 1940

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0568 OFFICER

Clarence Stewart Williams

1863 - 1951

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0589 BASEBALL

Bob Keating

1862 - 1922

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0676 JUSTICE

Henry A. Melvin

1865 - 1920

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0693 FABRIKANT

James Beauregard Beam

1864 - 1947

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0705 GAME

Reed Waddell

1860 - 1895

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0709 PAINTER

George W. Picknell

1864 - 1943

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0737 BASEBALL

Dan Mahoney (baseball)

1864 - 1904

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0803 BUSINESS

Hazen A. Brattain

1864 - 1930

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0826 ACTOR

Bud Ross

1868 - 1932

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0854 ARMY

William Wright Harts

1866 - 1961

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0872 BASEBALL

Art Sunday

1862 - 1926

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0897 POLITICIAN

Thomas T. Crittenden Jr.

1863 - 1938

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0907 GOLF

Meade Yates

1864 - 1929

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0927 BASEBALL

Willie Murphy (baseball)

Born 1864

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0929 LAWYER

Seymour Jones

1862 - 1951

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