In memory of John H. MittenAuthor of the memorial page is Cemetery Manager

Private John Henry Mitten, well-known Carroll County newspaperman, was born on September 12, 1844. When he entered the Union Army in 1862, Mitten was working as a blacksmith. He enlisted in Westminster on August 10, 1862 and was mustered into Company A, Sixth Maryland Infantry Regiment at Camp Hoffman in Baltimore the following day. Wounded in the right hand on May 5, 1864 during the Battle of the Wilderness, Mitten arrived at Mount Pleasant UAS Hospital in Washington, D.C. on May 11, 1864 and was later transferred to Jarvis General Hospital in Baltimore, where he remained through the end of the war. He was mustered out of the army due to disability on June 20, 1865. After returning to Westminster, Mitten could not resume his trade as a blacksmith due to his wartime hand injury, so he became a printer. He married Elizabeth C. Shade Mitten (Bettie) on March 16, 1865. Their union produced five children: Clara, Clarence, Horace, May and George. Bettie died on June 26, 1872 and Mitten re-married. He and his second wife Mary Elizabeth Hoff Mitten (Mollie) were married on November 24, 1873, notably having the first wedding to be held in the newly completed St. Paul’s Reformed Church on Bond Street. They had two children, J. Albert and Florence. Mitten pursued his career as a printer at the American Sentinel newspaper while living just up Liberty Street from the newspaper office. Mitten joined the fledgling Carroll County Times in 1911 and remained its editor until his death on September 4, 1931. Mitten was thought to be the oldest living newspaper editor in the United States when he died. An active member of the Burns Post No. 13 of the Grand Army of the Republic, a G.A.R. graveside ritual was performed by notable local citizen Mary Shellman, who, due to her long and vigorous support of Civil War veterans, had been made an honorary member of the Burns Post G.A.R. prior to Mitten’s death.