James Demint

James Demint. Founder of Springfield. , James Demint, a Virginian by birth, came to this area from Cincinnati with his family in 1799. Prior to his arrival, he purchased 640 acres from John Cleves Symmes, owner of a large amount of land located between the Great and Little Miami Rivers. Demint and his family found the perfect location on the cliffs overlooking Buck Creek and built a double log cabin there, less than a half-mile northeast of this spot., In the spring of 1801, a surveyor named John Daugherty arrived at the Demint cabin and together they began to lay out a town that Demint envisioned for the south side of Buck Creek. They surveyed the area that would become the future settlement of Springfield, drawing up a map that was signed by Demint on March 14, 1801., His wife, Elizabeth, who died around that time, was buried here in the original one-acre plot of land that eventually was designated as the Springfield Burying Ground. After a time of grieving, Demint married a woman named Nancy. Together they had several more children., James Demint was described as a “rough, reckless man,” whose character was complemented by his wife’s gentler nature. He began the first business in town, a grist mill located on Mill Run. In early March 1816, Demint rode 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, Elizabeth, “under the larger tree in the corner” of the Burying Ground.