Springfield Burying Ground

Springfield Burying Ground. . , The pioneers James and Elizabeth Demint settled this land on the banks of Buck Creek in 1799, four years after the Treaty of Greenville opened this portion of the Northwest Territory to western settlement. James Demint's original plat contained ninety-six lots over 60 acres, with a large public green at the intersection of the village’s two principle streets. He located the burying ground 470 feet outside the settlement’s western boundary, just north of the earliest road to Dayton., At the turn of the 19th century, this was a picturesque landscape of native, old-growth trees and wild prairie grasses. A fast-moving stream formed the cemetery’s eastern edge. Its deep banks provide ample drainage, making this land ideal for cemetery purposes. The first known burial was that of Elizabeth Demint, who died from unknown causes in 1803. The earliest graves were marked with wood memorials, which have long since been lost to time., The Springfield Burying Ground is the eternal resting place of the city’s earliest residents, including settlers from the eastern states, former slaves who escaped bondage in the South, and even a member of the Boston Tea Party. It served as the city’s principle burial ground until Greenmount Cemetery was opened in 1845. The last known burial at the “Old Burying Ground” was Alice Berry in May 1863.