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

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.