Mary Galvin Springsteen Mythen- The Early Years
HELBLING, SPRINGSTEEN Family (Click for Family Tree)
Mary Agnes Galvin was born about 1862 in Kentucky, per her later census records. Mary and her family were thus living in the midst of the Civil War, with Kentucky a state divided- part Union, part Confederate, with fighting occurring in the state. Kentucky and Indiana share a border, however, so the family may have decided to move north to the Union state of Indiana, for protection from armies on both sides. We do know they were in Indiana by 1870.
Mary’s father, the records suggest, was Michael Galvin, an Irish immigrant born about 1826. He married Ann (maiden name unknown), another Irish immigrant who was about nine years younger, born circa 1835. We have not determined where they were living at the time of the 1860 Federal Census, probably before Mary’s birth, and have not found a marriage record. “Michael Galvin” was a fairly common Irish name, so it is hard to differentiate Mary’s father Michael from others with the same name.
The first record we found for Michael and Ann Galvin was the 1870 US Federal Census taken 9 Feb 1870 in the Ninth Ward of Indianapolis, Indiana (above). This census states Michael was a 44 year old white male and a laborer. Michael and his (presumed) wife Ann were both born in Ireland, as were each of their parents. Michael could not read nor write. Anna was 35 and ‘keeping house’ but apparently she could both read and write. They were living with their five (presumed) children: Ellen Galvin, age 17, who had been born in Ohio; Jeremiah Galvin, 13, was born in Kentucky, as were the remaining children. Thomas Galvin was 10, Mary A. Galvin, our main interest, was 8, and young Michael Galvin (Jr.?) was 6 years old. Only Mary was listed as being “at school” with the three older children “at home.” The other families on the page were similar in some ways- one a railroad laborer, another a brickmason, a carpenter, another laborer who was an Irish immigrant like Michael, plus a druggist (whose home and personal value were the highest on the page- only one other resident had a personal estate value listed). Three of the households were headed by women, each with young children. One of those women had her occupation listed as ‘keeps house” but the other two were more interesting- one was a plasterer, and the other was listed as a prostitute. So this was the neighborhood that Mary Agnes Galvin and her siblings experienced as they grew up in America.
As has happened occasionally, the census that year was not very accurate and required a second enumeration in three large cities that felt their population, especially their immigrant population, had been severely undercounted. Indianapolis was one of those cities, so we found another listing (the 2nd Enumeration) of the Indianapolis Ninth Ward with the “Gallivan” family, taken 14th-18th July 1870.
The family has the same first names but slightly different ages. “Mike Gallivan” was 45 and a laborer, wife Ann 36. They are listed on page 68 of the census, which has a date of 14 July 1870. Their children were continued on page 69, with the date written as 18 July 1870: Ellen was listed as 16, Jerry (Jeremiah) as 12, Tommy as age 9, Morgan (who is most likely Mary Agnes) 8, and Michael age 5. There were still problems with the wide variety of languages and accents, both by enumerators and those being counted, and many of the enumerators were semi-illiterate. “Mary Agnes” said quickly with a strong Irish brogue could have been heard as ‘Morgan,’ or a neighbor who was giving the information could have heard or given Mary’s name wrong, or had yet another accent to challenge the enumerator to spell correctly.
The families around the Galvins on these pages had a few more of the skilled occupations than those for the Galvins in the first enumeration, including painters (likely for buildings) – and even a Rabbi! More importantly to our research, within the additional families counted in the 2nd Enumeration, was the family of Jefferson Springsteen- just one dwelling number away.
Unfortunately, no streets were given in either census enumeration, but there was actually no place on the form for them. “Hutchinson’s Indianapolis City Directory” of 1870 tells us that Jefferson Springsteen and family lived at 117 Spring St., that year, while a “Michael Galivan” lived at 148 S. Noble; these streets are about a mile apart today. So were the Springsteens and Galvins neighbors? Or did they know each other through other sources?
We have been unable to find Michael and Annie ten years later in the 1880 census for Indianapolis. There are two men named Michael Galvin listed in the 1880 Indianapolis City Directory, both listed as laborers- this could be Mary’s father Michael and her brother Michael, who would have been about 16 that year and therefore working.
In 1880, Jefferson Springsteen was 60 years old, working as a painter after a career as a police detective among other occupations; his 26 year old son Charles Springsteen, who lived with Jeff and Anna, was also a painter. Anna (Connor) Springsteen was 55 and their son Abraham/Abram Springsteen, who was 28 and had been recently widowed, lived with them too. (We have some stories about Abram, the “youngest drummer boy of the Civil War” on the blog.) In addition, this census lists “Mary Galavan,” age 17, as a part of the Springsteen household, working as a servant. The census lists Mary’s birthplace as Kentucky, and Ireland as the place her parents were born. This therefore does appear to be the same Mary Galvin that we have been researching.
Mary may have actually worked in the Springsteen household as a servant, a position not uncommon in families who were middle class in those days. However, sometimes there were persons listed in the census as a ‘servant’ despite actually being family members, often elderly or sometimes with disabilities. Perhaps it was the idea that having an occupation was a good thing, something to be proud of, for each person or even in one’s older years. It could have been a family status elevation to list a servant, too, although the census was likely not available to the public at that time. Or perhaps it was the idea of no free lunch for anyone- especially since often there was so little for the family. So Mary may have just been living with the Springsteens, which is possible since we cannot find her parents in the census in 1880. She was 17 though, which in those days was past time for a working-class child to be earning their own living. So Mary G. may may have actually worked as a servant to help as Jeff and Anna got older. We will likely not know for sure unless more personal family information turns up.
Next: The rest of what we know about Mary Galvin Springsteen Mythen and her family.
Notes, Sources, and References:
- 1870 US Federal Census for Michael Galvin family, 9th Ward, Subdistrict 20, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, page 38, lines 25-31.
- Ancestry and possibly NARA has labeled its 9 Feb 1870 census results as “2nd enumeration” although it was taken before the 18 July 1870 Enumeration, so Feb. would actually be the 1st Enumeration.
- “The 1870 Federal Census’ Second Enumeration,” by Aaron Goodwin, https://ngsmonthly.ngsgenealogy.org/the-1870-federal-censuss-second-enumeration/
- 1870 US Federal Census, 2nd Enumeration, for Jefferson Springsteen- Anna Connor Springsteen family, and Michael and Ann Galvin family, 9th Ward, Subdistrict 20, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, pages 68-69.
- Indianapolis, Indiana city directories, found on Ancestry.com and InternetArchive.
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