HELBLING Family, SPRINGSTEEN Family (Click for Family Tree)
After his divorce from Mary Galvin Springsteen Mithen, John Mithen continued his tailoring business in Indianapolis. He ran an ad regularly in the The Recorder- A Negro Newspaper, published in Indianapolis Indiana. The paper included his ad on 21 Oct 1899 on page 1, and he repeated the ad regularly, including in the 29 Dec 1900 issue of the paper.
An interesting article appeared in the Indianapolis News of 29 Aug 1900- “Inquiry About a Brother.” A man named Martin Mithen had sent a “peculiar communication” to the Indianapolis Sheriff asking for a search of the county records, as he was trying to find his brother, John Mithen. John was supposed to have been in the Insane Hospital for a period of nine years, according to Martin. John had written his brother in Carpenteria, California, stating that he had been released from the hospital, and had also divorced his wife. This information is fairly correct, as John was to be committed in July of 1889, and had divorced his wife in 1899, within a year or two of the stated ‘nine years.’ We have been unable to find anything about John during the time between those two events, so he may well have been in the Insane Hospital. (That is something to research too.)
Martin Mithen continued his letter to the Sheriff stating that he had another letter from 23 Indiana Ave., but did not believe that was actually from his brother John. Indianapolis records were searched and none were found for any man named Mithen to be admitted to the Insane Hospital. The Sheriff would contact Martin Mithen, and try to find out who actually sent the second letter.
Two days later, on 31 Aug 1900, the Indiana Tribune, had an article on page 5 that included the names Martin Mithen and John Mithen. The problem was that this was a German language newspaper, and the typeface used was as above. This made it difficult to put into a translation program, and it was tempting to give up, since it seemed like it might be similar to the first news article. Luckily, however, a friend was born in Germany, and he was able to read it:
“Martin Mithen asked the local Sheriff to help with the search for his brother John Mithen. Sheriff Clark found a tailor named John Mithen who lived at Indiana Ave, No. 23, who turned out to be his missing brother.
“John Mithen now wants to move to California.”
So good call to check that one more thing!
We do not know when or where John Mithen died. His son, Patrick James Grattan Mythen stated in his 18 Oct 1920 Passport Application that his father was dead, but some of James’ facts have been wrong. Had John died in Indianapolis, or Massachusetts, where one daughter married, or in California near his brother? We have looked at death records and cemetery listings in all three states but have not yet found anything substantial to indicate when John Mithen passed away.
During these years, we have found Mary Agnes Galvin Springsteen Mythen mentioned or involved in a number of things. The 15 Sep 1900 issue of the Indianapolis News stated that” James Mythen, son of Mrs. Mary Mythen… has gone to Baltimore [Maryland] to enter a seminary.” Mary’s stepson, James planned to become a Catholic priest. (It is interesting that his father is not included in the announcement.) In August of the next year, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Y.M.I. (Young Men’s Institute) held a garden party at Mary’s home at 324 S New Jersey St. It was well- attended, and featured Japanese lanterns lighting the lawn, dancing, a phonograph, and a palm reader. As the article says the entertainment would be repeated in the evening, it may have been a fund-raiser. The Y.M.I. was a group that supported members of the African-American community. Another group that Mary participated in, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, was a Catholic organization that celebrated their Irish heritage. Mary was in charge of a refreshment booth at an event in August 1903.
Mary Agnes Galvin Springsteen Mithen died of cancer less than 3 years later, on 15 April 1906 in Indianapolis. She was only 44 years old! Mary was remembered in the Springsteen Family Bible, so was still loved by her adoptive family.
Obviously there are some Mithen/Mythen researchers out there as a query by one of them inspired this review of Mary and her family. Mary had three children with John and they each had families of their own, so hopefully there are still some direct descendants today. Please let us know if we need to correct any of this information, or if you have any additional knowledge. We would really love to see a picture of Mary Agnes Galvin Springsteen Mythen or her husband John Mithen!
Notes, Sources, and References:
- “Springsteen Family Bible,” Heritage Ramblings, 9 Jun 2016. https://heritageramblings.net/series/the-springsteen-family-bible/
- Newspaper articles are from GenealogyBank.com and Hoosier State Chronicles. https://newspapers.library.in.gov
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