- Treasure Chest Thursday: The Springsteen Family Bible
- Friday’s Faces from the Past: The Springsteen Family Bible- Family Portraits
- Amanuensis Monday: Births from the Springsteen Family Bible
- Wedding Wednesday: Marriages from the Springsteen Family Bible
- Funeral Card Friday: Deaths from the Springsteen Family Bible
- Sorting Saturday: Memoranda from the Springsteen Family Bible
- Mystery Monday: Mary G. (Springsteen) Mythen
- Wedding Wednesday: Anna M. Beerbower and Edgar Peter Beerbower in the Springsteen Family Bible
Helbling Family, Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)
So just who is Mary G. (Springsteen) Mithen/Mythen? And why is she in our family bible?
Mary is listed in the Springsteen Family Bible twice- once as getting married, the second a record of her death.
There was (and still is) a St. Patrick’s Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, at that time.
No one other than immediate family members (and their spouses) are mentioned in the bible, plus two grandchildren.
There is no birth record of a Mary G. Springsteen that we have found, but there is a Mary E. Springsteen who was the daughter of Jefferson and Anna M. (Conner) Springsteen. It does not seem logical that they would have a daughter with the first same name and a different middle initial, and there is no record of an additional daughter. Mary E. married Joseph Beckwith in 1872; Mary G. married John Mithen in 188(6?). Mary E. did not have a second marriage that we know of, is buried with family in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis as a Beckwith, and the handwriting in the bible record is clear enough to be the middle initials discussed.
Interestingly, the Indiana Marriage Index 1800-1941 on Ancestry.com lists a Mary A. Galvin who married John Mithen on 25 February 1885 in Marion County, Indiana- the number written in the bible could easily be a 5 instead of a 6. The Galvin name could explain the Mary “G.” Springsteen.
Mary A. Galvin was about 19 when she married John per the marriage record, so she would have been born about 1866, and the bible states she died in 1906.
So was the Mary in our Springsteen Family Bible a Galvin who married first a Springsteen, and then John Mithen? Or was she a Springsteen who married a Galvin, then John Mithen? She was only 19 when she married John, so she would have been a very young widow but that was possible. Or was Galvin just her middle name?
Getting a copy of the marriage record might be of help in learning more about Mary.
It would be interesting to know if she is a married-in, or a Springsteen cousin. Of the Springsteens that we know about, there is no Mary G. Springsteen. Jefferson’s brother Abraham, who also lived in Indianapolis, had only two sons who survived into adulthood per our research.
One last minute bit of research, since doing genealogy is like eating potato chips- you just can’t stop:
FamilySearch has a listing for the marriage of Anna Laurel Mythen, who married Robert Willis Merriam on 23 November 1910 in Medford, Massachusetts. Anna was 20 as was her groom, but she was born in **Indianapolis, Indiana.** Her parents were listed as John Mythen and Mary A. Springsteen. Note that Mary’s middle initial is “A” instead of “G” in this source. Another Massachusetts marriage record states that Anna Laurel’s mother’s middle name was “Agnes.”
The 1910 US Federal Census for Anna L shows her living in the Merriam household, where her future husband is a son. Anna is listed as being born in Indiana, but her parents (John Mythen and Mary Agnes Springsteen) as born in Holland-Dutch! Of course, we do not know who gave that information, and ‘our’ Springsteens have been in America even before it was a country- back into the 1600s. So that does not fit, but otherwise it sure does seem like this is the correct family. But how are they related to ‘our’ Springsteens?
Any light that can be shed on this mystery would be much appreciated!
Notes, Sources, and References:
- Family treasure chest.
- Indiana Marriage Index 1800-1941 on Ancestry.com.
- FamilySearch marriage record for Anna Laurel Mythen- “Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N48R-YQP : accessed 12 June 2016), John Mythen in entry for Robert Willis Merriam and Anna Laurel Mythen, 23 Nov 1910; citing Medford, , Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,315,512.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-63PY-4Z?i=696&wc=3G11-PTL%3A1063288401%3Fcc%3D1469062&cc=1469062
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Hello,
Do you know when John Mythen died?
Thanks you
Tom Mithen
Tom, I have sent an email to you personally, but. unfortunately I do not know when John Henry Mythen died. There are some Ancestry trees that state he died in Wexford, Ireland 17 Feb 1918, but I have not seen proof that it is the same John Henry Mythen we are researching. Also, John and Bessie Hays Mythen’s son, Patrick James Grattan Mythen, stated on his 18 Oct 1920 passport application that his father was dead. His accuracy on some things was a bit off so not sure if that is correct.
There will be three posts published in the next three days on the blog with the solution to this mystery and other information recently learned about the family. We hope you enjoy them, and thank you for reading and contacting us!
indiana State Archives
4:38 PM (3 hours ago)
to me
Mr. Mithen,
Thank you for your inquiry with the Indiana State Archives. It appears that John Mithen died on January 28, 1913 as the Julietta Hospital, aka Marion County Mental Hospital. According to a 1908 inquest, he was denied admittance to CSH as he was chronic and there was no room for such patients at CSH at the time.
John appears to have been admitted to CSH previously on several occasions for recurring mania, what we would likely class as bi-polar disorder today. If you would like scans of his records there is a $15 fee for all out-of-state requests which can be paid via check or money order or online at https://on.in.gov/IARApayment/. When paying online simply select the “Research fee” option from the drop-down menu. Once payment is received, I’ll send you the scans via email. Let me know if you have any questions or additional requests.
Best,
Keenan Salla, archivist
Thank you, Tom, for being persistent in learning what happened to John Mithen, and for sharing what you found. I guess CSH is Central State Hospital Indianapolis?
What a sad situation.