ISAAC NEWTON DEMMON was born at the Centre of Northfield, Summit County, Ohio, August 19, 1842, the eldest son of Leonard and Nancy (Boughey) Demmon. His grandfather, David Demmon, with his wife Susan Torrey and their seven children, the youngest of whom was Leonard, removed from the town of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, to Wyoming County, New York, in 1816. The Demmons (some members used Deming) and the Torreys had been very early settlers in the Connecticut valley. Boughey was an Englishman from Shropshire, and his wife was of Pennsylvania German parentage. Leonard Demmon settled on the Western Reserve about 1838, and there pursued his trade of carpenter and builder for some years. But seeking an outdoor life, and having acquired lands near Kendallville, Noble County, Indiana, he removed thither with his wife and two children, in the fall of 1844, and there hewed out a farm from the wilderness. The son thus grew up with his full share of the experiences of pioneer life. He received such training as the country district school could offer and at the age of eleven was sent to a private school in a little village three miles away. He made the trip to and from school on foot each day, progressing so rapidly in his work that by his fifteenth year he was prepared to enter the University of Michigan. But the farm was not yet entirely won from the wilderness, the family had increased to six children, and the eldest son could not be spared from the home. So, some years more were passed in work by his father's side in the summer, and in reviewing his own studies and teaching district schools in the winter; and it was not until he reached the age of legal manhood, in 1863, that he was able to undertake definitely a collegiate course. In that year he entered the Northwestern Christian University (now Butler College), Indianapolis, where he remained two years. Even thus his work as a student suffered interruption, through an absence of several months in the service of his country in 1864 as a private in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Indiana Infantry. In 1865 he fulfilled his early ambition and entered the University of Michigan, where he was graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1868. The degree of Master of Arts followed three years later. Mr. Demmon was one of the maturer and stronger men in a class which was peculiarly distinguished in those respects. He was one of the twelve appointed by the Faculty to represent the class at Commencement as speakers, and one of the six seniors elected by the students at large to edit "The University Magazine." Immediately upon graduation he was appointed Professor of Greek in Alliance College, Ohio. Two years later he resigned this place to accept the chair of Ancient Languages in Hiram College, under the presidency of B. A. Hinsdale. In 1872 he returned to Ann Arbor as Instructor in Mathematics under Professor Olney, but resigned this position after one year to become Principal of the Ann Arbor High School. In 1876 he was recalled to the University as Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and History. Three years later he became Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Anglo-Saxon; and on the resignation of Professor Tyler in 1881, he was appointed to the vacant chair, with the title of Professor of English and Rhetoric. In 1903 the chair was divided, and he chose the professorship of English, which he still holds. He has given much attention to the relation of the University to the public schools and to the growth and use of public school libraries. He has been a member of the Library Committee of the Faculty since 1880 and has devoted a large part of his leisure to bibliographical studies and to the development of the various collections of the University, notably the Dramatic Collection and the McMillan Shakespeare Library, which are almost wholly the results of his unwearied vigilance. Besides numerous contributions to various periodicals he has done a large amount of editing for the University. In 1888 he brought out "The Semicentennial Celebration of the Organization of the University of Michigan"; in 1897, "The Quartercentennial Celebration of the Presidency of James Burrill Angell"; in 1891 (in conjunction with Professor Pettee), "General Catalogue of Officers and Students, 1837-1891"; and in 1902, "General Catalogue of Officers and Students, 1837-1901." These labors have involved extensive research in disentangling and perfecting the early records of the University. He is a member of the Modern Language Association of America. From 1873 he was for many years an active member of the Michigan State Teachers' Association, and for a considerable period a member of its Executive Committee; and he contributed a number of papers and discussions to its Transactions. In 1896 the University of Nashville conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. On June 29, 1871, he was married to Emma Regal, daughter of the Reverend Eli Regal, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, by whom he has had four children: Tessa (Mrs. Stephen Demmon), Rose (A.B. 1896, Mrs. Daniel B. Ninde, died November 12, 1897), Edward (died in infancy), and Eleanor, now a student in the University.

Burke A. Hinsdale and Isaac Newton Demmon, History of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1906), pp. 260-261.