Here is the Springsteen name again on a tax record from Indianapolis, Indiana, in May of 1863. This is an excise tax record for a company called, “Theodore & Springsteen.” So who is the Springsteen in this entry?
The entry itself gives us a clue, as the company is listed as “Builders & Contractors.” From censuses and City Directories, we know that our Jefferson Springsteen was a painter by trade, but was also in law enforcement- in 1860 he was the City Marshall, and in 1860 was listed as a detective. His oldest son John was noted as a painter in 1870, as were sons Jeff and Charles; younger son Abe F. was listed as a brickmason. The boys were still young enough to be living at home, but could possibly have been in business with a partner since all practiced trades involved in the building industry.
Another option was Abraham Springsteen, Jefferson’s brother, since he was a brickmason. Checking an Indianapolis City Directory, we were able to find both Jeff and Abraham listed at their homes, but further in the directory was another entry that gave us the answer we were seeking:
Theodore & Springsteen, bricklayers & builders, as listed in the “Indianapolis directory and business mirror for 1861,” via Archive.org.
So know we know it most probably was Abram/Abraham Springsteen (1824-1895) that was in the partnership, since Abe F., nephew of Abram, was just 11 and heading off to war as a drummer boy.
A tidbit in a newspaper article also mentions the elder Abram:
“Abe Springsteen, the great North American contractor, returned yesterday from Muscatine, Iowa.”
So the evidence is highly suggestive of Abram Springsteen (the elder) being the partner of Thomas Theodore.
We haven’t discussed the taxes yet. ‘Theodore & Springsteen’ was listed as owing $25 for a Class B license, likely for their business. That would be the equivalent of $456.75 in today’s money.
Abram probably said a few choice words about the government hitting him up in May on his income, and then again at his business in June of 1863!
Notes, Sources, and References:
U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918, Ancestry.com Online publication, Provo, UT, USA. Original data – National Archives (NARA) microfilm series: M603, M754-M771, M773-M777, M779-M780, M782, M784, M787-M789, M791-M793, M795, M1631, M1775-M1776, T227, T1208-T1209.
Abraham Springsteen mentioned in “About People” in the 29 June 1882 Indianapolis Sentinel, Vol. XXII, No. 185, p.3.
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On 3 June 1863, during the Civil War, “Abel Springsteen” was assessed taxes on income of $117 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was recorded on a form for excise taxes, although detailed information is not written in at the top. The rate he was taxed was 3%, and the assessment was considered to be in Class A, which was apparently ad valorem duty. (Today many citizens pay ad valorem taxes on their vehicles.)
1863 Income Taxes of Abel/Abraham? Springsteen of Indianapolis, Indiana, part 2. Abel was line 9, the last line in this image.
The total tax liability on income of $117.00 was $5.31!
In today’s dollars, that would be $2,137.58 in income, and $97.01 for taxes.
But their math is confusing, as 3% of $117.00 is actually $3.51. The tax paid was about 4.5%, if he really did pay the listed amount.
Wonder if the 3 and the 5 were just transposed when written in the list? Would Abel/Abraham have just paid the higher amount, or contested it? He didn’t have a lot of income compared to others on the same list, so he probably needed to save every penny he could; hopefully he paid the lesser amount.
And just who is “Abel Springsteen”? That name has not come up in other Indianapolis searches, so it might actually be “Abram” or “Abraham” Springsteen. Abram Furman Springsteen, “the youngest drummer boy” of the Civil War has been mentioned quite frequently in this blog, but would have been just 13 in 1863. So it is probably his uncle Abraham, who was born in 1824 in New York and arrived in Indianapolis by 1860. This Abraham was a master brick mason, and we know he was working in Indianapolis as a mason at the time of this tax. More to come about Abraham and his business, and that too has to do with taxes.
Notes, Sources, and References:
U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918. Ancestry.com Online publication, Provo, UT, USA. Original data – National Archives (NARA) microfilm series: M603, M754-M771, M773-M777, M779-M780, M782, M784, M787-M789, M791-M793, M795, M1631, M1775-M1776, T227, T1208-T1209.
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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
We complete our series on the Springsteen Family Bible records with a sad and sweet piece of “Memoranda.”
Transcription:
Inds 9-12-1891
Anna M. Beerbower
Divorced from E. P. Beerbower
Sept. 12-1891 by Judge Harks
================================
Anna M. Beerbower & E. P. Beerbower
Remarried Dec. 26-1908, St. Charles, Mo.
These entries reference Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower, daughter of Jefferson and Anna (Conner) Springsteen, and her husband Edgar Peter Beerbower.
The family story is that “E.P.” Beerbower worked for the railroad, and would be gone for long stretches of time because of his job on the train. The story is that he also came home frequently without a paycheck- possibly due to a drinking or gambling problem or ?? per their granddaughter, Mary Theresa (Helbling) McMurray. Anna would have been left alone frequently, and would have needed to find a way to feed her 3 children. (Anna had 2 other children, one who only lived one day after birth, the other only about two months.) She had family nearby when they were living in Indiana, but after they moved to Illinois- they were in Urbana, Champaign, Illinois before November of 1885, and Cairo, Alexander, Illinois by 17 April 1887- she would have had to care for the family herself.
Less than three years after the death of their last son on the day after his birth, Anna was granted a divorce on 12 September 1891 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Son Robert W. was about 17, Edgar S. about 15, and Anna May just 10 years old. Anna Missouri moved to Indianapolis- probably to be near family- and was living with her sons Robert Warson Beerbower and Edgar Springsteen Beerbower in 1897, when she was listed as a widow in the Indianapolis City Directory. (Anna May was probably there too, but daughters would not have been listed i the city directory.)
By 1900 Anna and her three children had moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Could the move have been to be closer to E.P.? We do not know, and know of no other family in St. Louis but it was a railroad hub. As per the entry above, the two were remarried in 1908. A marriage record has possibly been found for the couple, although it is a hard to read. A marriage record for 28 December 1908 (2 days later than the bible entry) with the husband as “E P Beerbower” and the wife’s name “Mrs. Mae Clore” is in Ancestry’s Missouri Marriage Records 1805-2002 database. Interestingly, the record states that EP Beerbower was from Indianapolis, and “Mrs. Mae Clore” from St. Louis. The wife’s name on this record my have been copied incorrectly, as their granddaughter, who was very close to her grandmother who lived with them, did state that they had remarried, and lived together until EP’s death in 1916.
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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
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.
Mary G. (Springsteen) Mithen death from Springsteen Family Bible. (Click to enlarge.)
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
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Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
We continue our posts of the Springsteen Family Bible with the small piece of paper clipped to the “Memoranda” page:
It reads:
Baby Born 2/26/06
” Baptized 4/22/06
Mary My then died 4/15/06
Jefferson Springsteen died 4/14/05
John ” died 5/2/06
Ed married 10/19/05
Mother 4/2/07
Baby died 6/12/07
The dear “Baby” who has a birth, baptism, and death listed was the first child of Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling (1881-1954) and William Gerard Helbling (1882-1971). Anna May was the daughter of Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower (1854-1939), probably the original owner of the bible. The baby’s name was William Francis Helbling. Anna Missouri had two of her own five children die young- one just a day old, the other only nine weeks- so she surely understood the pain that her daughter felt at losing a child. It was probably doubly painful to Anna Missouri because she had lost her first grandson (she did have a granddaughter at that date), but also to see her own baby in pain from losing a baby must have been almost unbearable.
If memory serves, Mary T. (Helbling) McMurray said that the handwriting was that of her grandmother, Anna Missouri, but the last 3 entries on this scrap were written by her own mother, Anna May.
Mary Mythen is Mary G. (Springsteen) Mythen (or Mithen), married to John Mythen. See next week’s “Mystery Monday: Mary G. (Springsteen) Mythen” for the little bit we know about Mary and John.
The Jefferson Springsteen who died 4/14/05 would be the younger family member, known as Thomas Jefferson Springsteen, born in 1848. He was the brother of Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower, the bible owner, thus son of Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909) and Anna M. (Conner) Springsteen (1824-1887).
Anna Missouri’s other brother John William Springsteen is listed on the scrap with his death date. The rest of her siblings died in the 1930s, except baby Joseph Springsteen who only lived not quite two years, and Mary Elizabeth (Springsteen) Beckwith, who died in 1928.
The Ed who married in 1905 was Edgar Springsteen Beerbower (1876-1940, Anna May’s brother. His wife was Rosabel K. Hoppe (1885-1976), but sadly their marriage did not last, and they divorced sometime between 1920 and 1930.
The next entry for “Mother” likely means that Anna May’s mother married on 4/2/1907. Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower had divorced her husband years before, but had, as was common, been listed as ‘widowed’ on the census and even in an 1897 Indianapolis, Indiana city directory. This marriage entry is curious, as Anna Missouri was living in St. Louis in 1900, and she and Edgar Peter Beerbower (1849-1916) did remarry. A marriage record has been found for her husband dated either 26 or 28 December 1908- a very different date than what is in the bible. The marriage record is for E. P. Beerbower (Edgar did use his initials) and a “Mrs. Mae Clore.”
Marriage record of E.P. Beerbower and “Mrs. Mae Clore,” 26 December 1908, via Ancestry.com.
This does not make sense with anything we know of the family, as in 1910 Anna Missouri and Edgar P. Beerbower were living together in Indianapolis. No re-marriage certificate has been found for them in Indiana (their 1873 first marriage is a record available on Ancestry.com), and none with Anna Missouri’s name on it. Clerical error, perhaps, with the marriage register? Anyone have other ideas?
Notes, Sources, and References:
Family treasure chest.
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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.
Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
