Springfield's Founding Father

by Paul W. Schanher, III

This blog will chronicle lives of some well-known, and some not so well-known, men and women who forged the path from the humble beginnings of Springfield’s early pioneers to the modern days of our beloved All-American city. Each article will introduce you all to people who were our founding fathers, our resourceful inventors, our leaders of social reform, our military heroes, our practical politicians, our sports figures, and our mighty industrialists, all leaders of our community. It will focus on our first settlers, those who had amazing resoucefulness and the wherewithal to plot a new town out of the wilderness known only to roving bands of Indians and the abundant wildlife.

James Demint, considered by most local historians past and present to be the founder of Springfield, arrived with his family in 1799, holding a deed for 640 parcels of land procured from a real estate agent John Cleve Symmes of Cincinnati. A Kentuckian by birth, Demint was no stranger to wilderness wanderings. Upon arriving in what would become Clark County in 1818, Demint and his family encountered the Mad River leading into Lagonda Creek [Buck Creek today] and followed that rapid flowing stream until he found a suitable place to settle. He built a two story “saddleback” log cabin above the cliffs overlooking Buck Creek. Today a large rock with an inscribed plaque situated in the front yard of the William Toy Board of Education building on College Avenue, marks the exact location of the first dwelling built in the modern day Springfield city limits. Demint did meet Simon Kenton and told him of his idea of laying out a town along the banks of Buck Creek, but at this point in time, it was only a dream.

In the spring of 1801, a young surveyor named John Daugherty happened upon the lonely Demint family. Now James Demint felt that his dream of laying out a town would come true with the hiring of this young surveyor. They began the survey process on March 17, 1801, with the finalizing of the original plat signed by Demint on September 5, 1803, and certified in Xenia of Greene County on September 17, 1804. During this time around 1803, Demint’s beloved wife Elizabeth died. He buried her in a space of three plats of land that eventually was designated as the Demint Cemetery, now located along modern day Columbia Street. After a time of grieving and trying to raise their five children on his own, Demint married a woman named Nancy. Together they had three more children.

James Demint was a “rough, reckless man”. His hardworking first wife complemented him well. As they cleared the land chosen for the homestead, both had to smoke out and eliminate the dens of numerous snakes that lived along Buck Creek. He began the first business in town near his cabin building a grain mill at the edge of the hill so that he could sell his alcoholic beverage to the towns people and wandering Indians. He also built the first grist mill on Mill Run in which he would grind the wheat and corn thus allowing the local farmers not to have to travel great distances after harvest. He was quite the entreprenurial man.

According to noted local historian Ann Benston, Demint “ in early March 1816, rode his horse with his salable wares to various businesses and taverns. His final stop was the widow Fitch's tavern in Urbana where he laid down for a rest never to rise again." He was buried with his first wife "under the larger tree in the corner" of the Demint Cemetery.

John Daugherty, the surveyor of Demint's first plat of Springfield, was born in Virginia, but left at a young age to explore and survey the Ohio territory. Again, historian Ann Benston says of Daugherty, "he was a man of considerable natural ability, uncouth in person, but endowed with the faculty of making friends among all classes." In fact, the towns people elected him as "overseer of the poor" of Mad River Township during the 1803 election. He later served as a clerk of Springfield Township, sheriff at the first Court of Commom Pleas, elected auditor of Clark County, and justice of the peace in 1818. He later served as a State Representative from 1820-24. He represented his country during the War of 1812 as a field officer with the Ohio militia. It was said of Daugherty upon his death on Friday, March 25, 1836, that he was "one of the earliest settlers and most active citizens of this section of the country. He cut the first logs and built the first house on the corner of Limestone and Main Streets where he kept the post office." He was buried in the Demint Cemetery.

These two early pioneers, James Demint and John Daugherty, paved the way for our All-American city to grow into a highly regarded industrial giant in the times to come. We will continue to look into the lives of those who led the way. In the next issue we will investigate the impact that several other early settlers had upon our early years.