Husband John Houston Mifflin 1
Born: 7 Feb 1807 2
Christened:
Died: Aft 1883
Buried:
Father: Joseph Mifflin ( - ) 1 3 4
Mother: Martha Houston ( - ) 1 3 4
Marriage: - Columbia, Lancaster Co, PA
Wife Elizabeth A. Bethel Heise 5
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Solomon Heise (Abt 1761-1833) 6
Mother: Patience Bethel (Abt 1773-1855) 6
Children
1 M Lloyd Mifflin 2
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Died:
Buried:
2 M Houston Mifflin 2
Born:
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Died:
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3 M James DeVeaux Mifflin 2
Born:
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Died:
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4 M Charles West Mifflin 2
Born:
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Died:
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5 U Bethel Mifflin 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried: - Mt. Bethel Cemetery, Columbia, Lancaster Co, PA
6 F Martha Elizabeth Mifflin 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried: - Mt. Bethel Cemetery, Columbia, Lancaster Co, PA
7 F Mary Bethel Mifflin 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried: - Mt. Bethel Cemetery, Columbia, Lancaster Co, PA
General Notes: Husband - John Houston Mifflin
When about six years of age his parents removed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his father assisting his own brother, Lloyd Mifflin, in the banking-house of the Camden Bank of New Jersey, at their office in Church Street, Philadelphia. There he attended an excellent private school until the death of his mother, which occurring at an early age, he was sent to the celebrated boarding-school of the Society of Friends, or Quakers (that being the religious faith of his family), called Westtown, near to West Chester, and about twenty miles from Philadelphia.
Having early shown fondness and facility for drawing, after abundant drawing-lessons under I. R. Smith, then celebrated in Philadelphia, and opportunities of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in that city, he had the privilege of instruction from Thomas Sully and John Neagle, two of the most distinguished portrait-painters of that day. He pursued his art as a portrait-painter in the city where his boyhood was passed, and where his many friends kept him moderately busy, until his old and particular friend and fellow-student at drawing-school, James DeVeaux, enticed him to the South to spend the winters. Here he found such hospitality and high appreciation of his art as to influence his return in the winter to its hospitable cities, and to protract his visits till the early summers of the sunny South attracted him to view the wonderful and romantic scenery of the northern part of Georgia,-in particular, those localities where mountains and water-falls compressed all Switzerland within a radius of thirty miles, and which he traversed, occasionally sketching during this period. In his business as a professional portrait-painter Mr. Mifflin was amply rewarded by his friends and liberal patrons in the South, and in company with his artist-friend, DeVeaux, made the tour of Europe, visiting in 1835-36 the galleries and museums in parts of England, in London, Brussels, and Paris, and nearly all the collections in every city in Italy. Later he returned to Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, and was greeted with hospitality and success.
On one of his revisits to his native town, Columbia, Pennsylvania, he married. For a time he attempted to pursue his favorite art of portrait-painting in Columbia. Its population, however, not furnishing patient sitters to dispute the celerity of the daguerreotype or the rapidity of the photograph, the palette and pencil were laid aside. The management of the landed interests of the family gradually absorbed his time, and he gave much attention to the improvement of this property. He may justly claim to be identified with the growth and development of Columbia, having erected more than forty dwellings within its limits. He also laid out a cemetery adjoining those denominational burial-places which were being overcrowded, and afterwards furnished additional ground for the beautiful spot, chartered under the name of the Mount Bethel Cemetery Association of Columbia, of which he was the president. He was honored by his fellow-citizens with many positions of importance, such as school director for several terms, treasurer of the Public Grounds Company, and president of some manufacturing companies. He was for thirty successive years elected a trustee of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Mifflin and most of his relatives were members, although his parents were members of the Society of Friends, which entitled their children to membership in that society. In his political affiliations Mr. Mifflin was first a Whig, and subsequently adopted the principles of the Republican party, though he was devoid of ambition for distinctions of a political character.
He had a love for literature, and a facility for writing verse, of which he printed a small volume called "Rhyme of an Artist," for private distribution. He contributed essays and poetical pieces, some of which were set to music, to Graham's Magazine and to Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in Philadelphia, and frequently wrote spicy articles for the local papers of Columbia. He was also an elocutionist as far as dramatic recitation indicated the capacity, and frequently entertained his friends and benevolent organizations with lectures, readings, or recitations. [HLC 1883, 592]
General Notes: Wife - Elizabeth A. Bethel Heise
from Columbia, Lancaster Co, PA