James Reuel Smith (1852-1935) deserves to be considered the Father of Spring Hunting.  He bicycled all over New York City documenting springs from 1898 to 1901, and wrote Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx.  Another book that he wrote, perhaps better known, is Springs and Wells in Greek and Roman Literature, for which he traveled throughout the Mediterranean.  He was also preparing a book about the springs of the Bible but did not finish it.  I found his work an inspiration during my own spring survey of the Twin Cities in 1993.  See my article, "Along the Great Wall: Mapping the Springs of the Twin Cities," in the Minnesota Ground Water Association Newsletter, for March, 1997.