John H. MittenVeteran

When John Mitten died in 1931 at the age of 87, he was lauded as being the oldest active newspaperman in the United States. In fact, he served as editor of The Times, a Westminster newspaper, until three weeks before his death. He was the oldest member of his church, the oldest member of the Westminster Fire Company, and probably the only 87-year-old active volunteer fireman in Maryland. Just one other member of the Burns Post, Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), was still alive when John passed away. That organization was replaced locally by an American Legion post after World War I ended and most Civil War veterans were dead.

As an 18-year-old, Mitten enlisted in a locally recruited Union regiment, Company A of the 6th Maryland Volunteer Infantry. That was August 1862. Like many of his comrades-in-arms, he was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, but it was a minor wound to his hand. He recovered and continued fighting until the Civil War came to an end.

Back home, he picked up where he had left off – working for a newspaper. He began his journalism career at the age of 12 in the office of the Carroll County Democrat. When he returned to Westminster in 1865, he joined the staff of the Republican-leaning American Sentinel and worked there as compositor, manager, and editor until 1909. In 1914 he began working as editor of The Times and continued with that paper until the end of his life. Like many local men who served their country during the Civil War, Mitten joined the Burns G.A.R. Post when it was founded in Westminster in 1880. The meetings brought together survivors from Company A as well as other Union companies and regiments.

This photo shows Mitten in his G.A.R. uniform wearing the ribbon of the Burns Post.

Mitten’s 1931 funeral was an elaborate affair. Mary Shellman, the devoted supporter of Civil War

veterans, read one of her original poems; General John R. King, Past Grand Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and one of Mitten’s closest friends, placed a wreath on the casket; a firing squad fired off three volleys; and two buglers played “Taps.” Nearly 30 people served as honorary pallbearers – a show of support for one of Westminster’s popular and heroic figures.

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.