ALFRED DERBY2 MITTENDORF (William Frederick1) was born at Manhattan, New York County, New York, on 3 January 1880 a son of William Frederick Mittendorf and his first wife Emma von Keith Zeuschner. He died at Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut. on 16 November 1965. He married first at Manhattan on 27 November 1907 ELLEN M. MAHANY. She was born at New York about 1881-2 and died at Greenwich, Fairfield County, on 6 July 1960. They divorced about 1925. Alfred married as his second wife at Wilmington, Newcastle County, Delaware, on 30 October 1926 MILDRED (ROSS) (HAVENS) EDSON. She was born at Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, about 1889-90, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Keller) Ross. She died in an automobile accident near Purchase, Harrison Town, Westchester County, New York, on 5 September 1950. Mildred had married first at Wilber, Saline County, Nebraska, on 16 June 1908 JOE DEAL HAVENS. He was born at Saint Paul, Howard County, Nebraska, on 8 March 1886 and died at Roy, Weber County, Utah, on 31 May 1958. Mildred married second from a marriage license issued at New York City on 26 October 1915 WILLIAM RUSSELL EDSON. He was born at Canisteo, Steuben County, New York, on 2 March 1888 and died at New York City on 14 April 1938.[1]
Alfred Mittendorf grew up in New York City, the youngest of three sons of an eye surgeon. He was baptized at Saint Luke's Methodist Church, New York City, on 28 February 1880.[2] When he was four years old his mother died. About a year later he acquired a step-mother.
Alfred Mittendorf attended Princeton University earning a degree in 1900, and Columbia University Medical School for his medical training, where he graduated in 1904.[3] Like his father and older brother, Alfred became an ophthalmologist in New York City.
When Alfred Mittendorf was twenty-seven, he married twenty-six year old Ellen Mahany. The 1910 Census reported them at 138 55th Street, Manhattan, as follows:[4]
Line | Name | Related | Sex | Race | Age | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
57. | Mittendorf, Alfred D. | head | M | W | 30 | M | NY | Germany | NY | physician, oculist |
58. | Mittendorf, Ellen M. | wife | F | W | 28 | M | NY | NY | OH | none |
59. | Mittendorf, Helen M. | daughter | F | W | 1 6/12 | S | NY | NY | NY | none |
90. | Mittendorf, Dorothy E. | daughter | F | W | 3/12 | S | NY | NY | NY | none |
61. | Mahoney, David | brother-in-law | M | W | 25 | S | NY | NY | OH | broker, bonds |
62. | Johnson, Margaret | nurse | F | W | 34 | S | England | England | Ireland | nurse, private family |
63. | Stewart, Annabelle | waitress | F | W | 20 | S | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | waitress, private family |
64. | Matthews, Violet | nurse | F | W | 23 | S | England | England | England | nurse, private family |
65. | Brady, Delia | cook | F | W | 33 | S | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | cook, private family |
66. | McRann, Bessie | chambermaid | F | W | 26 | S | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | chambermaid, private family |
When Alfred registered for the draft in 1918 he reported his residence as 830 Park Avenue, New York City, and the location of his medical practice as 399 Park Ave, New York City. He was described as being of medium height, medium build, with blue eyes and blonde hair.[5]
Their first child, Helen, died at the age of two years, but they had two more children, as reported in the 1920 Census. They were living at 830 Park Avenue:[6]
Line | Name | Related | Sex | Race | Age | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
17. | Mittendorf, Alfred D. | head | M | W | 40 | M | NY | Germany | NY | doctor, general practice |
18. | Mittendorf, Ellen M. | wife | F | W | 38 | M | NY | NY | OH | none |
19. | Mittendorf, Dorothy | daughter | F | W | 10 | S | NY | NY | NY | school |
20. | Mittendorf, Alfred D. | son | M | W | 7 | S | NY | NY | NY | school |
21. | Mittendorf, David | son | M | W | 15/12 | S | NY | NY | NY | none |
22. | Quinn, Annie | maid | F | W | 32 | S | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | waitress, private family |
23. | Moniker, Annie | servant | F | W | 32 | S | chambermaid, private family | |||
24. | Gilligan, Margaret | F | W | 34 | S | cook, private family | ||||
25. | Spintalla, Olga | F | W | 25 | S | NY | NY | NY | nurse, private family |
I do not know why the census taker chose to draw a line through certain entries. The Alfred Mittendorf family continued to have a staff of servants.
Alfred and Ellen divorced sometime around 1925, when their children would have been about 15, 12, and 6. The children remained with their mother; Alfred remarried in 1926. At about the time of their divorce, "Ella" Mittendorf moved from Manhattan to Greenwich, purchasing an estate in Field Point Park in the Belle Haven section of Greenwich. The 10,500 square foot home was built in 1905, the property, which included a carriage house and boat dock, was situated on a four acre lot on Long Island Sound. The Field Point estate was sold in the 1960s to entertainer Victor Borge.[7]
Alfred was 46, his second wife Mildred 37, when they married at Wilmington. Mildred was born in Ohio, but her family had evidently moved to Nebraska before she married Joe Havens in 1908. The 1910 Census reported Joe Havens, 24, dealer in coal and wood, his wife Mildred, 20, and their son Jack, nine months, at Dundee, Douglas County, Nebraska. They evidently divorced, as Joe remarried in 1918, and Mildred remarried in 1915 at New York City, into the prominent Edson family. In 1920 William Edson, 31, manager of an automobile company, his wife Mildred, 28, and his daughter probably from a previous marriage, Clover Edson, 8, were living at 251-255 West End Avenue, New York City.[8] They evidently divorced before Mildred's marriage to Alfred Mittendorf in 1926.
The 1930 Census reported Alfred D. Mittendorf, 50, physician and veteran of the Great War, and his wife Mildred, 40, living at Park Drive South, Harrison, Westchester County.[9] The household did not include any servants. By contrast, his ex-wife Ellen, in Greenwich, had an extensive household:[10]
Line | Name | Related | Sex | Race | Age | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
34. | Mittendorf, Ellen M. | head | F | W | 47 | D | NY | NY | OH | none |
35. | Mittendorf, Dorothy E. | daughter | F | W | 20 | S | NY | NY | NY | none |
36. | Mittendorf, Alfred D., Jr. | son | M | W | 17 | S | CT | NY | NY | none |
37. | Mittendorf, David M. | son | M | W | 11 | S | NY | NY | NY | none |
38. | Nichelson, Edith | servant | F | W | 58 | S | Sweden | Sweden | Sweden | cook, private family |
39. | Dahlgreen, Edith | servant | F | W | 20 | S | Sweden | Sweden | Sweden | parlormaid, private family |
40. | Higgins, Mary | servant | F | W | 23 | S | Irish free State | Ireland | Ireland | waitress, private family |
41. | Travers, Catherine | servant | F | W | 27 | S | Irish Free State | Ireland | Ireland | chambermaid, private family |
42. | Healey, John | servant | M | W | 30 | S | Irish Freee State | Ireland | Ireland | houseman, private family |
43. | Schoenwalter, Olga | servant | F | W | 37 | S | NY | USA | Switzerland | nurse, private family |
44. | Donnelley, Thomas | servant | M | W | 42 | M | NY | Ireland | Ireland | chauffer, private family |
45. | Donnelley, Anna | servant | F | W | 35 | M | NY | Ireland | Ireland | none |
46. | McCauley, Nicholas | servant | M | W | 30 | M | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | gardener, private family |
47. | McCauley, Margaret | servant | F | W | 30 | M | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | none |
48. | Carlson, Gustave | servant | M | W | 55 | M | Sweden | Sweden | Sweden | captain, boat |
49. | Bates, Thomas | servant | M | W | 28 | S | ME | ME | ME | sailor, private boat |
50. | Jones, James | servant | M | W | 25 | S | ME | ME | ME | sailor, private boat |
Alfred and Mildred Mittendorf were still living at Harrison in 1935, but by 1940 had moved to Ponus Avenue, Norwalk, Fairfield County.[11] I have not found Ellen Mittemdorf or the children in the 1940 Census. About 1947 Alfred and Mildred moved to New Canaan, Fairfield County.
Mildred (Ross) (Havens) (Edson) Mittendorf died in a traffic accident in 1950. The Port Chester Daily Item carried a banner headline at the top of its first page: P. C. MAN KILLED IN FLAMING PARKWAY CRASH. The article follows:[12]
PC Man May Have Had Heart Attack Before Collision Autopsy Ordered A two-car head-on collision early last night near King Street on the Hutchinson River Parkway brought death to two persons, one a well known Port Chester man, and serious injuries to a third. The accident raised the county auto death toll to 58 compared with 42 at this time last year. The deaths were the second and third so far in the town of Rye which had five all last year. All three were on the parkway. Dead at the scene was George H. Hess, sixty, of 16 Summer Street, Port Chester, who was driving alone south on the parkway, when his car jumped the center strip into the path of an oncoming car. In the northbound car, which burst into flames, were Mrs. Mildred Mittendorf, sixty, who was fatally injured, and her husband, Dr. Alfred Mittendorf, seventy, of New York City and Canaan, Conn., the driver, who was seriously injured. Parkway patrolman John Dychko pulled the couple from the burning auto and fire companies from Purchase, Port Chester and Glenville extinguished the blaze. Mrs. Mittendorf was taken to United Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Dr. Mittendorf, a New York City eye specialist, was admitted to the same hospital suffering fractures of the upper and lower jaw, head cuts and body bruises. Today his condition was described as "satisfactory." County Medical Examiner David M. Spain will perform an autopsy on Mr. Hess later today to investigate a report that the victim had been suffering from a heart condition which may have caused the accident. Police up to now have not been able to get a statement from Dr. Mittendorf. . . . |
The autopsy concluded that Hess died from injuries in the accident and not from a heart attack.
Alfred Mittendorf's first wife died in 1960. The New York Times reported:[13]
survivors: daughter Miss Dorothy Mittendorf, 2 sons, Alfred E., Jr., and David M., 3 grandchildren |
Alfred Mittendorf lived for another fifteen years after Mildred's death, dying in 1965. His obituary follows:[14]
Dr. Alfred D. Mittendorf of 225 Carter St., New Canaan, a retired eye surgeon, died today at a private convalescent hospital, after a brief illness. He was 85. Dr. Mittendorf was born in New York City, Jan. 3, 1880. He received degrees from Princeton and Columbia Universities in 1900 and 1904, and practiced medicine in New York City. He had lived in New Canaan 18 years, and retired from practice in 1952. We was predeceased by his wife, Ellen Mahany Mittendorf. Surviving are two sons, Alfred D. Mittendorf, Jr. of Potomac, Md., and David Mittendorf of Westfield, N.J. and three grandchildren. . . . |
Daughter Dorothy is not mentioned because she had died the year before.
Cencerning the children of Alfred and Ellen Mittendorf:
Dorothy Mittendorf, never married, died at the age of 54 in Los Angeles County, California.[15]
Alfred Mittendorf, Jr., graduated from Princeton University in 1934. He served in the U. S. Navy in Chile during the early years of World War II; by 1945 he was a member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS--later to become the Central Intelligence Agency). He served in Germany after the war, and continued to serve in the U.S. State Department for the rest of his career.[16]
At the age of 48 Alfred married Joan Rowles, a 32 year old secretary. In his retirement in Arizona he got involved in opera. His obituary from the Arizona Daily Star follows:[17]
Alfred D. Mittendorf, Jr., vice president of the Arizona Opera Company, died yesterday at Tucson Medical Center from complications after brain surgery. He was 68. Mittendorf, a Tucson resident since 1970, was born at Greenwich, Conn., and graduated from Princeton University in 1934. After serving in the U. S. Navy as an officer and a military attache, he joined the U. S. Information Agency in 1956. He retired from the Agency in 1970 as coordinator for emergency planning. He is survived by his wife, Joan; a brother, David M. Mittendorf, of Westfield, N.J.; and a daughter, Ellen Mary Mittendorf of Tucson. . . . |
David Mittendorf graduated from Hunt School, Princeton, New Jersey, and during the war served with the 7th regiment, New York National Guard.[18] His death in 1995 was noted in the Bridgewater (New Jersey) Courrier News:[19]
Bedminster - David M. Mittendorf, 77, died Thursday (Oct. 19, 1995) at Overlook Hospital, Summit. He was born in New York City and lived in Greenwich, Conn., and then Westfield for 27 years before moving to Bedminster in 1988. Mr. Mittendorf was in the liquor business for 20 years before retiring in 1968. He was a communicant of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Westfield and was a member of the Knights of Columbus of the church. He was an army veteran of World War II and served in the 7th regiment of the National Guard in New York. Mr. Mittendorf's wife, Rita Purdy Mittendorf, died in 1990. Surviving are two sons, David M. Mittendorf, Jr., of Derry, N.H., and Jaime P. Mittendorf, of Burlington, Vt., and a daughter, Anne E. Mittendorf, of Bridgewater. . . . |
Alfred Mittendorf and his first wife Ellen Mahany had the following children:
1"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, United States, Selective Service System, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 31 May 2018), New York County, New York, draft board 164, no. 2955, Alfred Derby Mittendorf; citing : National Archives and Records Administration. Washington, D.C., microfilm record group M1509: Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. Connecticut Department of Health, "Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001," index, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Alfred D. Mittendorf; Ellen Mittendorf. "Mittendorf-Mahany," New York Times, 28 November 1907; Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Historic Newspapers, Birth, Marriage & Death Announcements, 1851-2003. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1167, roll 1043, p. 5B, household 173, Alfred D. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 March 2018); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Delaware Vital Records, Delaware, Marriage Records, 1806-1933, certificate 31, Mittendorf-Edson, 1926; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021); Delaware Public Archives, Dover. Nebraska State Library and Archives, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska, Nebraska, Marriage Records, 1855-1908, Saline County, p. 327, Havens-Ross, 1908; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2021); select counties. "Hess Dead; Crash Fatal to Woman," Daily Item (Port Cheter, New York), 6 September 1950; Newspapers+ (newspapers.com : accessed 10 August 2021). p. 1,13. Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, Death Certificates, 1904-1961, certificate 58-29-0335, Joe Deal Havens, 1958; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2021); Series 81448. Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. New York City Clerk's Office, New York, New York, "New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2021), William Edson/Mildred Havens. New York State Department of Health; Albany, New York, "New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2021), William R. Edson, 1888. "Committal Here for Mr. Edson, 49," North Adams (Massachusetts) Transcript, 15 April 1938; Newspapers+ (newspapers.com : accessed 16 July 2021). p. 11.
2Saint Luke's Methodist Church (Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library; New York, New York), Baptisms, , Alfred Derby Mittendorf, 1880; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021).
3"Dr. Mittendorf of New Canaan Dies at Age 85," Stamford (Connecticut) Advocate, 16 November 1965; Genealogy Bank (genealogybank.com : accessed 8 August 2021). p. 6.
41910 Census, Manhattan, New York County, New York, ED 1167, roll 1043, p. 5B, household 173, Alfred D. Mittendorf family.
5"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," New York County, New York, draft board 164, no. 2955, Alfred Derby Mittendorf.
6Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1082, roll 1213, p. 10A, household 161, Alfred D. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 March 2018); NARA microfilm record group T625, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
7Elaine Shisler Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too: A Portrait of the Bagster-Collins Family Tree (N.p.: self published, [2010]), 53.
81910 Census, Dundee, Douglas County, Nebraska, ED 98, p. 8B, household 194, Joe Havens family. 1920 Census, Manhattan, New York County, New York, ED 556, p. 12A, household 15, William Edson family.
9Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Harrison, Westchester County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 162, p. 9B, household 14, Alfred Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021); NARA microfilm record group T626; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
101930 Census, Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut, ED 138, p. 18A, household 365, Ellen Mittendorf family.
11Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, enumeration district (ED) 1-115, p. 16A, household 510, Alfred Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021); NARA microfilm group T627.
12"Hess Dead; Crash Fatal to Woman."
13"Mrs. A. D. Mittendorf," obituary, New York Times, 7 July 1960; Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Historic Newspapers, Birth, Marriage & Death Announcements, 1851-2003.
14"Dr. Mittendorf of New Canaan Dies at Age 85."
15State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics, "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, Ancestry (ancesty.com : accessed 8 August 2021), Dorothy E Mittendorf, SSN: 562667224.
16Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too, 54.
17"Opera Exec Mittendorf Dies at 68," obituary, (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star, 16 November 1980; Newspapers+ (newspapers.com : accessed 8 August 2021). p. 19.
18Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too, 54.
19"David M. Mittendorf, in Knights of Columbus," obituary, Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), 21 October 1995; Newspapers+ (newspapers.com : accessed 8 August 2021). p. B-3.
20New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives., "New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1866-1909," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2021), certificate 57265; Helen Mittendorf. New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives "Index to New York City Deaths 1862-1948," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2021), Helen M. Mittendoof.
21"New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1866-1909," certificate 62068; Dorothy Mittendorf. "California Death Index, 1940-1997," Dorothy E Mittendorf, SSN: 562667224.
22Information on the family of Alfred Mittendorf is from: United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, "Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 August 2021), Alfred Derby Mittendorf, SSN 136075891. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014, Certificate 1961004446, Mittendorf-Rowles, 1961; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2021). Iowa, State Historical Society of, Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1944, certificate 107, Joan Eleanor Rowles, 1929; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 August 2021). Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too, 54.
23Information on the family of David Mittendorf is from: Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 April 2017), Alfred Mittendorf, 136-07-5891; Rita P. Mittendorf, 040-12-0959. "Miss Rita Purdy, David Mittendorf, Wed Yesterday," Daily Item (Port Cheter, New York), 27 July 1950; Newspapers+ (newspapers.com : accessed 8 August 2021). p. 12. "David M. Mittendorf, in Knoghts of Columbus."
Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Pima County, Arizona. 16 November 1980.
California, State of. Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics. "California Death Index, 1940-1997." Database. Ancestry. ancesty.com : 2021.
Connecticut Department of Health. "Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001." Index. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.
Courrier-News. Bridgewater, Somerset County, New Jersey. 21 October 1995.
Daily Item. Port Chester, Westchester County, New York. 27 July 1950; 6 September 1950.
Delaware Vital Records. Delaware, Marriage Records, 1806-1933. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Iowa, State Historical Society of, Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1944. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Nebraska. Lincoln. Nebraska State Historical Society. Nebraska State Library and Archives. Nebraska, Marriage Records, 1855-1908. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives. "New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1866-1909." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
________. "Index to New York City Deaths 1862-1948." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York City Clerk's Office, New York, New York. "New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York State Department of Health; Albany, New York. "New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York Times. New York, New York. 28 November 1907; 7 July 1960.
North Adams Transcript. North Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. 15 April 1938.
Saint Luke's Methodist Church (Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library; New York, New York). Methodist Episcopal Church Records in New York City and vicinity. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Smith, Elaine Shisler. History of the Family and Her Story Too: A Portrait of the Bagster-Collins Family Tree. N.p.: self published, [2010].
Stamford Advocate. Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut. 16 November 1965.
United States Department of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. "Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, 1850-2010." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
United States, Selective Service System. "World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
United states Social Security Administration. "U.S. Social Security Death Index." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2017.
Utah Department of Health. Office of Vital Records and Statistics. Death Certificates, 1904-1961. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.