There are few communities in this great country of ours that have such an interesting and historic background as that of Springfield. Situated in one of the most beautiful and fertile parts of Delaware County, the area has been the scene of home life for nearly three centuries. The first established white settlement was made by the hardy Quaker pioneers who arrived with William Penn at Chester in 1682. Some of them secured land-grants in the Springfield territory as early as 1681 but it was several years later before actual residence was made. Listings of the family names on the land-grants issued prior to the year 1700 show the nationality background of the newcomers. They were mostly English and Welsh, with an admixture of Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Swedish and German surnames. Prominent among them were Coppock, Taylor, Lownes, Lester or Leicester, Maddock, Kennerly, Edge, Bonsal, James, Yarnall, Thomas, Powel, Maris, Stidman, Levis, Simcock, Smith, Wood, Elliott, Clews, Cartledge, and Foulke. Slightly later the names of Hall, Evans, Pennock, Davis, Ogden, Pancoast, Gleaves, Worrall or Worrell, and many others whose descendants still reside in the township, appeared on the tax lists.

Springfield is first mentioned as a governmental entity in 1686. In that year Peter Lester was named as constable by the court at Chester. In the same year George Maris, Samuel Levis, and Bartholomew Coppock, all prominent citizens of the frontier community, were appointed commissioners to the first Court of Equity. Even at this early period, the inhabitants were eager to assume their civic responsibilities - a clarion call to service that Springfield citizens today never fail to heed. Farming and the grazing of cattle were the principal occupations of the inhabitants of the township. Each cattle owner had his own brand and the strays that wandered off into the virgin forest were usually returned unless destroyed by wolves. These predatory beasts became so numerous that in 1687 a bounty was offered by the authorities for their destruction.

The white newcomers had little trouble with the Indians. This was no doubt owing to the wise and just principles inaugurated by Penn in all his dealings with the natives. The local tribes belonged to the Lenni-Lenape family, more frequently termed the Delaware Indians, since they inhabited the sylvan Delaware River Valley. They maintained several villages or wigwams in the Springfield locale and one large settlement was situated on Lownes Run, a small stream flowing into Crum Creek. The Delawares were an ancient tribe designated by the other Indians as a "Grandfather tribe" and reciprocated the fairness of the Quaker dealings with them. Their actions proved them to be peace-loving and sagacious. The historian can but conjecture what would have happened to the gentle Quakers had they decided to settle in lands occupied