HELBLING, SPRINGSTEEN Family (Click for Family Tree)

Mysteries are fun, but solving them even moreso.

Back on June 20, 2016, we posted about Mary G. Springsteen Mythen as a part of the Springsteen family bible series. The bible, we now think, belonged to Anna Conner Springsteen and Jefferson Springsteen. (Please see the original article on the bible for the updated information.) Their children and their spouses, and a couple of grandchildren, were listed in the births, marriages, and deaths in the family record section. There was also an entry for a marriage for “Mary G. Springsteen,” as seen above.

Mary G.’s entry is curious for a number of reasons:

1) There was no birth or baptism entry for Mary G., but there was for Anna, Jeff, and all the other persons listed in the bible.

2) Jeff and Anna Springsteen had a daughter named “Mary E. Springsteen” and we know she married Joseph Beckwith in 1872. The bible and many other records support this fact. Families sometimes named a second child after one who had died young, but both Marys survived into adulthood, married, and had children.

3) “Mary Mythen” had her death at age 44 recorded in the Bible, as was the death of Mary E(lizabeth) [Springsteen] Beckwith, aged 82. Indianapolis has death certificates for both women.

4) Mary Elizabeth is buried with the Springsteen family in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, under the Beckwith name. There is no Mary G. Springsteen Mythen/Mithen buried in Crown Hill with the family.

5) Mary Elizabeth (Springsteen) Beckwith is found in the 1926 Indianapolis city directory, listed as the widow of Joseph F. Beckwith. There is no entry in the 1907 Indianapolis city directory for Mary Mythen, nor Mary Mithen.

With all this evidence, we can be pretty certain these Marys are not the same person.

In the previous article, we hypothesized a number of explanatory scenarios as to the relationship of the mystery Mary G. to the Springsteen family. We had no proof of any of them, except a few clues such as the Indiana Marriage Index 1800-1941 on Ancestry, which mentioned a Mary A. Galvin who wed John Mithen in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1885. We asked for anyone with information to contact us, and waited.

Four years after publication of the mystery, a genealogy librarian working for the State Library of Indiana contacted us. Angi Porter (nporter@library.in.gov) wrote that while doing research for a library patron, she found a newspaper article about Mary’s marriage to John Mythen. The article solved our mystery- Mary G. was the adopted daughter of Jefferson and Anna (Conner) Springsteen. 

It was one of those “why-didn’t-I-think-of-that??” moments. No birth record in the Bible? That makes sense if she was adopted when she was older than a baby. The same first name as another Springsteen daughter? Sure, because she had likely been named by her biological parents, and then adopted out. Not buried with the Springsteens? Again, logical since by blood she was not a Springsteen, family burial plots are only so big, and they may have bought the plots before her adoption. The new information fits easily within what we know, including that Mary G. was obviously very important to the Springsteen family.

As always in genealogy, an answer generates new questions, such as:

1. When was Mary G. adopted by the Springsteens?
2. What were the circumstances of the adoption?
3. What was Mary’s life story before and after her time living with the family?

Being researchers, we of course had to learn more about Mary G.

Next: a bit more about Mary Galvin Springsteen Mythen.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. “Mystery Monday: Mary G. (Springsteen) Mythen,”  Heritage Ramblings family history blog, 20 June 2016. https://heritageramblings.net/2016/06/20/mystery-monday-mary-g-springsteen-mythen/
2. “Treasure Chest Thursday: The Springsteen Family Bible,” Heritage Ramblings family history blog, 9 June 2016.
   https://heritageramblings.net/2016/06/09/treasure-chest-thursday-the-springsteen-family-bible/
3. Angi Porter, Librarian, Genealogy Division, Indiana State Library– https://www.in.gov/library/genealogy.htm
4. Indianapolis, Indiana city directories, found on Ancestry.com and InternetArchive.

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Original content copyright 2013-2020 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Springsteen Family, Beerbower Family, Helbling Family (Click for Family Trees)

[If you are descended from Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling (1881-1954) and Gerard W. “G.W.” Helbling (1882-1971) of St. Louis, Missouri, these are your ancestors!]

As tough as our times are today with the Covid-19 (Corona virus) pandemic, we have ancestors who lived through pandemics too. Their smart thinking, the fact that they (probably) followed the directions of the experts at that time, and their good genes as well as perseverance helped them get through those difficult times. Love of their family was probably a big factor too!

Let’s go back to 1918, and the “Spanish Flu” outbreak. There are plenty of references to learn more about this pandemic, including a PBS documentary, “Influenza 1918.” Let’s explore a bit about our family in particular.

Our Springsteen family had a number of members who were likely living in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1918.  Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909) and his wife, Anna (Conner) Springsteen (1824-1887) had lived there from about 1853. They had eight children, one of whom died as an infant and two sons who died prior to 1918. Their daughter Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower, mother of Anna May Helbling, may have been living in Indianapolis, as she had been born there and moved back a couple of times, her husband had passed away there in 1916, and we cannot find her listed in the 1920 Federal Census in any state. Anna’s sister Mary Elizabeth (Springsteen) Beckwith had been widowed- probably actually divorced- and was living with her daughter’s family in New York in 1915, but had moved back to Indianapolis by the 1920 census. Their younger brother, Abram Springsteen, “the youngest drummer boy of the Civil War” as the family lore called him, could also have been in Indianapolis, as he married there in 1912 but then was enumerated in the 1920 census in Washington, D.C. Their youngest brother, Robert E. Springsteen (1857-1931), is the only sibling that we know for sure was living in Indianapolis in 1918, but the others may have been there.

We are looking at Indianapolis, Indiana because there is an excellent article just published on the Indiana History blog about life there during the 1918 epidemic. “Coping with Quarantine in a Pre-Digital Era” is a great read that details how people spent their time during the 1918 quarantine. The information in the article would also probably apply to a large portion of the United States back then. The kids were out of school, it was a Congressional election year, and the economics and boredom of stay-at-home orders were challenging to all. The cause of the disease was unknown, there were no treatments nor vaccines for it, and the death toll in the US and around the world was staggering. (Any of this sound familiar?) The US was in the midst of World War I too, putting additional pressure on the people and government to keep going.

St. Louis, Missouri is another city to mention here, as Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling, daughter of Anna Missouri and Edgar P. Beerbower, lived there. With her husband Gerard William “G.W.” Helbling, she had three children living then: Edgar Bradley Helbling (1908-1994), Anna May Helbling (later Reilly) (1911-1985), and Viola Gertrude Helbling (later Carrigan) (1913-1971). Anna was expecting their fourth child, Robert Harvey Helbling (1918-2001), as the flu began, and “Bob” was born in August.

World War I was using Liberty Loan bonds to help finance the war, and a huge parade was held on September 28, 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is estimated 200,000 people filled the streets to cheer on those in the parade and the war effort. Unfortunately the “Spanish Flu,” which had already attacked military bases and soldiers starting around March of 1918, was unknowingly present in the crowds as well. It only took 72 hours to fill all the beds in the city’s hospitals, and within a week, 2,600 civilians had died. One week later, the city’s death toll was 4,500. The city was short of doctors and nurses, as so many were in military service due to the War.  With no antibiotics nor vaccines at that time, and health care workers using gauze facemasks that had holes large enough to allow most microorganisms through, containment was challenging. Philadelphia finally shut down schools and businesses, but they had waited too late- they could not keep the virus in check. (The 1918 flu was an H1N1 virus of avian origin, so not exactly like today’s corona virus, but still very virulent and hard to contain.)

Thankfully, Anna May and G.W. Helbling and their children were living in St. Louis at that time. It must have been frightening to have small children, including a newborn, as they read the newspapers and saw how the flu was raging across the country, and the world. (Their first child had died as an infant so they must have been very fearful.) The St. Louis city health commissioner was alarmed by the flu activity in the influenza hotspots of Boston and Philadelphia, and toward the end of September 1918, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the “Spanish Flu” was seen in the Gateway City. He proactively set up a monitoring system, cancelled a Liberty Loan drive, educated the public through articles in the newspaper on how to prepare and avoid the flu, and once cases were being reported, he helped to get a public health emergency declared. Dr. Max C. Starkloff was then given more authority and closures of entertainment, schools, and churches were implemented by October 9th, with public gatherings banned. Those with medical knowledge worked with the city government to minimize any foothold in the community that the flu might gain. As cases of influenza increased, although at a much slower rate than in Philadelphia, St. Louis business hours were cut and then non-essential businesses and factories were closed to further protect citizens. (And yes, business owners and politicians were understandably worried about the economic impact to themselves, their city, and the country.) When restrictions were gradually lifted in mid-December because case numbers had diminished, new illnesses and deaths spiked in a second wave. Eventually, case numbers stayed low and removal of restrictions on December 28, 1918, added some joy to a difficult holiday season.

St. Louis is lauded as a city that looked into the future, followed medical advice, and quickly acted for the good of their citizens. What we now call “social distancing” helped to keep the city’s death toll to the sixth lowest in the country; Indianapolis was one of the five cities that had an even lower mortality rate, helping to save our family there. The graph above shows clearly the effect that physical distancing, done early and across the board, can have in an epidemic. This data has been studied by epidemiologists and will hopefully be heeded by governmental bodies and citizens to “flatten the curve” and reduce illness and deaths in our current pandemic. Implementing the 1918 tactics of St. Louis in 2020 can still buy us time for development of treatments and vaccines, and for ramping up manufacturing of materials needed for protection and treatment of patients and staff. The above graphs show that when strict measures are put in place early, the illnesses and deaths are much less than in places that have waited until the virus is rampant.

We are now experiencing in our day-to-day lives some of what our ancestors went through in those days of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Knowing that they survived through “social distancing” and the economic pain that ensued can help us have resilience and faith that we too can make it through this.

BTW, if you have a little extra time on your hands, the references below can be interesting reading. Reference #4 and #10 are particularly good, quick, and not terrifying. They also may give some comfort knowing that a whole lot of folks got to the other side despite not having the technology and scientific advances we have today. And while you are reading, think about how the ancestors only had newspapers, neighbors, local storekeepers and postal carriers to spread news. Sadly they also carried germs, but at least we have a better understanding of that today.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. “Influenza 1918” on ‘American Experience’ on PBS. May be viewed online at https://www.pbs.org/video/american-experience-influenza-1918/

2. “Have Americans forgotten the history of this deadly flu?” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/have-americans-forgotten-the-history-of-this-deadly-flu

3. Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower lived with Anna May and GW Helbling in St. Louis possibly in the 1920s, and it is known she was there in the 1930s. We do have pictures of her there before the 1920s, but do not know if she was visiting or living there.
4. “Coping with Quarantine in a Pre-Digital Era”
   https://blog.history.in.gov/coping-with-quarantine-in-a-pre-digital-era/. Thank you, Dick Eastman, for featuring this article in your wonderful newsletter.: https://blog.eogn.com/2020/04/03/coping-with-quarantine-in-a-pre-digital-era/
5. Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling and G. W. Helbling had two more children after the pandemic: William G. “Bill” Helbling (1920-2018) and Mary Theresa Helbling (later McMurray) (1925-2008).
6. “Philadelphia Threw a WWI Parade That Gave Thousands of Onlookers the Flu”  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/philadelphia-threw-wwi-parade-gave-thousands-onlookers-flu-180970372/

7. “The Spanish influenza of 1918 in St. Louis, Missouri.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16961567

8. “The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: St. Louis, Missouri” https://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-stlouis.html#

9. “Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the 1918 influenza pandemic.” Richard J. Hatchett, et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, May 1,2007. PNAS May 1, 2007 104 (18) 7582-7587; first published April 6, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610941104
10. “This chart of the 1918 Spanish flu shows why social distancing works” by Michael J. Coren, March 11, 2020, Quartz. https://qz.com/1816060/a-chart-of-the-1918-spanish-flu-shows-why-social-distancing-works/
11. “1918 Pandemic” https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html

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Original content copyright 2013-2019 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

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: 

1. Family treasure chest.
2. Indiana Marriage Index 1800-1941 on Ancestry.com.
3. 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.

Helbling Family, Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

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.”

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: 

1. Family treasure chest.

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Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Gridded notepaper pinned to front page:

Mary died Jan. 6^th,
1928
Ind.
In her 82^nd year
At her sons. 2331-
N. New Jersey St.
Indianapolis
Ind.

[Mary Elizabeth Springsteen Beckwith, Anna Beerbower & Edgar Springsteen’s daughter (b. 1846); married to Joseph E. Beckwith (1844-1922).]

Abram F. Springsteen
Died Jun 20^th 1930.
In his 80^th year
Santille Calif-

[Abram Furman Springsteen, brother of Anna May Springsteen Beerbower. Served as ‘youngest drummer boy’ of the Civil War.]

Birdie Springsteen
Died Jan 11^th
Calif.     1932

[Birdie Crozier Rosengarten Springsteen, second wife of Abram F. Springsteen, Anna Missouri’s brother.]

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Beerbower family bible.

2) Springsteen and Beerbower Family Group Records compiled over many years using bibles, census, and other data.

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Copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.