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 G. (Springsteen) Mithen death from Springsteen Family Bible. (Click to enlarge.)
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!
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Although Mary Galvin was listed as a servant to the Jefferson Springsteen family in the 1880 US Federal Census, it does seem that there was more than just a servant relationship between Mary and the Springsteens, since she was included in their family bible record- twice.
Her first entry in the bible stated “Mary G. Springsteen To John Mithen Feb. 25, 1885, St. Patrick Church.” There was no explanation in the bible as to how Mary was related. The marriage newspaper announcement, however, found by Angi Porter at the Indiana State Library, tells us that “The bride is the adopted daughter of Jefferson and Anna Springsteen”- our mystery solved as to the relationship of Mary and the Springsteens.
The wedding announcement tells us that wedding guests travelled to the home of the bride’s parents after the church ceremony; we assume this means the Springsteen home. Their guests were treated to a “sumptuous supper” and “…dancing was indulged in until the wee small hours.” The newspaper also stated “The presents were most valuable and numerous. Mr. and Mrs. Mython, like sensible people, went at once to housekeeping at 240 South East street.”
Mary was 23, John 32 when they married. It was John’s second marriage, as he had wed Bessie Hays (1860-1884) on 4 Aug 1880 in Indianapolis. John and Bessie had a son, James Grattan Mythen (1883?-1925). They also had a daughter, Katie Mithen, who was born on 11 Jan 1884 and only lived about 5 hours, dying on 12 Jan 1884. Bessie died the next day from complications of childbirth, and they share a monument in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Lafayette, Indiana. So John may have brought his 2 year old son to the new marriage.
Monument to Bessie (HAYS) MITHEN and her daughter Katie MITHEN, St. Mary’s Cemetery, Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana. Used with kind permission of the Find-A-Grave photographer.Monument to Bessie (HAYS) MITHEN and her daughter Katie MITHEN, St. Mary’s Cemetery, Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana-closeup. Used with kind permission of the Find-A-Grave photographer.
This has been one of those “Stop the Presses!” moments, as in the last few days we have found quite a bit of new information about this family and have needed to rewrite our scheduled posts. Here is one new-to-us article:
“Mary E. I.(?), daughter of Mr. J. Mithen, aged 6 yrs, d. Sun [6/12/1887] @4pm. Funeral this Tues [6/14/1887] @2pm, at 16 Greer st.” -Indianapolis Journal of this date, p7 c3.
This daughter would have been born about 1881, after John’s first marriage, so Bessie (Hays) Mithen might be her mother. Of course, we cannot be certain that “Mr. J. Mithen” is our John Mithen of interest, but a newspaper article we will explore later gives us a hint that he had two children buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana. (We have not, however, found this Mary in the Find A Grave listing for burials at St. Mary’s, though should check with the diocese.) So this is one more intriguing bit about the family that needs further research.
The history of the family is further made confusing by information found about John and Bessie’s son James.We do not know how long John Mithen, his son, and possibly daughter from his first marriage lived with Mary G. and their daughters. Some of the story concerning (Patrick) James Grattan Mythen is discussed in numerous posts by Matthew Namee and others on an Orthodox Church history website. These posts state that the birth mother of James, Bessie [Hays Mithen], was Roman Catholic, his father John Mithen an agnostic Episcopalian, and his step-mother Mary Galvin Springsteen Mithen a German Lutheran woman. James claimed his mother died giving birth to him, which is incorrect. James also stated that his father “lost his mind” and then he was raised by an uncle who was Episcopalian. James possibly also had Unitarian influence when in school, but became a Roman Catholic, as in 1900 he was to enter seminary in Baltimore to study for the priesthood. But then he was back to being Episcopalian, and eventually became both a priest in the Episcopalian and Catholic religions as he switched back and forth. He very actively supported the women’s suffrage movement, joined the US Navy in World War I, and became an advocate of Irish independence, which did not go over well with the Episcopal Church that had roots in England. So James left the Episcopal church and became a Russian Orthodox Christian. James was a very powerful member of that church even though he only stayed in it for 4 years; he returned to the Catholic Church in 1924.
James was very proud of his Irish ancestry, and his middle name of Grattan was a paternal family name, and he stated he was descended from one of the early proponents of Irish independence from Britain, Henry Grattan. Family oral history states that the Mithen brothers who emigrated from Ireland to America changed the spelling of their name to “Mithen” from the “Mythen” that had been used in their homeland. As an adult James changed the spelling of his surname back to the older way, with a “y.” James also added his first name “Patrick” before he converted to the Orthodox Church to honor his Irish ancestry. Sadly, he was found dead at the age of 42. His journey is quite interesting per the Orthodox History posts and other research. Please search within the Orthodox history website to read more about him.
Patrick James Grattan Mythen, 1923.
And what about John Mithen and Mary Galvin Springsteen Mithen? Mary had become a mother in her own right, with the birth of Robert E. Mithen in 1886, Mary Anna Mithen in 1887, and Anna Laurel Mithen in 1888.
In an 1887 Indianapolis city directory, John was listed as a tailor, as he was in various censuses, directories, and advertisements in the newspaper. In December of that year, he was named as a Vice-President of the Peoples’ Saving and Loan Association, No. 3, in Indianapolis, which had a capital stock of $100,000. We don’t know any more about this business venture, or even if it is ‘our’ John Mithen, but it was said that ‘our’ John was a prosperous tailor, and perhaps he was helping his Irish community and others by becoming involved in a banking venture. There was quite a lot of discrimination- especially against the Irish- in banking and bank loans for immigrants in those days, so as many immigrants do, they may have banded together to help those newest to the American shores become successful. Just a theory.
A real estate transfer in the newspaper of 12 Apr 1888 to John Mithen was for Lot 12 in Greer & Bater’s Subdivision of Outlet 101. John paid $2,600 for the property, which may have become the Greer address we find later in records for both John and Mary. In February of 1889 Mary sold a part of the lot for $2,510. For some unknown reason, John’s name was not in the newspaper real estate transfer notice.
In 1889 John H. Mithen was listed in Indianapolis as being a ‘cutter’ (cutting fabric for men’s suits most likely) and he lived at 18 Greer per Ancestry’s transcription- no image is available.
The next year, 1890, Mary was was listed by herself in Indianapolis city directories as working in “dry goods.” The dry goods store address of 157 Virginia av was listed as a millinery shop in 1891 with Mary’s name, and her home address at 17 Greer. (Again, no image on Ancestry.com, just the transcription.) Their children were aged 12, 13, and 14. Women often did not ‘work’ if they were married and generally were not listed separately in a directory, if at all. (Indianapolis city directories generally do not even list a married woman with her husband.) So it seems the couple may have separated.
“John Mithen” was listed under tailors in a 1900 city directory and in the general section, with his business at 234 Indiana av, and residence the same. “Mary A. Mythen”- note name spelling difference- was listed in the general directory section as being a milliner at 307 Virginia av, her residence 324 S New Jersey. In the 1900 article about James Grattan Mithen entering seminary, it states he is the “son of Mrs. Mary Mythen”- no mention of his father. The use of Mary’s first name along with ‘Mrs.’ instead of her husband’s first name, again suggests that she was a widow or separated from her husband John Henry Mythen.
Now, another “Stop the Presses!” moment- we found more information, and will tell that in our next post.
“In Catholic Schools and Churches,” (James Mythen to attend seminary in Baltimore), Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, 15 September 1900, via Hoosier State Chronicles.
Indianapolis, Indiana city directories, found on Ancestry.com and InternetArchive.
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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 2013-2019 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, i.e, reference this blog.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
