Ruth Emma Mitten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- educator
- county superintendent of schools
- Illinois Normal University
- University of Illinois at Champaign
Ruth Emma Mitten | |
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.png) Mitten in 1914 | |
| Born | 1876 Troy Grove, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 1942 Wichita, Kansas, U.S. |
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Ruth Emma Mitten (1876–1942) was an American educator who served for five consecutive terms as county superintendent of schools of Harvey County, Kansas.[1] Employed in educational work during her entire career, she enjoyed many distinctions as a teacher and as a school administrator.[2]
Ruth Emma Mitten was born at Troy Grove, Illinois. She came of a family of educators and farmers. The Mitten family originally came from England to New Jersey in Colonial times. Mitten grew up on her father's Illinois farm.[2]
Mitten's grandfather was born in New Jersey in 1810, and brought his family to LaSalle County, Illinois, in its early days. He farmed there, but finally retired and lived with Mitten's father and afterwards went to Chicago, where he died. He married a Miss Dunn, who died at Steward, Illinois.[2]
J. H. Mitten, Ruth's father, was born near Newark, New Jersey, in 1837, and when a young man, moved west to Troy Grove, Illinois, where he married. He was an active farmer in Illinois for many years, but in 1896, moved to Kansas and bought a farm 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of Newton on First Street. He owned a quarter section there. Politically, he was a prohibitionist and was an active member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He was a soldier in the Union Army in an Illinois regiment of infantry.[2]
J. H. Mitten married Almira Bell Ransbarger. She was born at Troy Grove, Illinois, in 1839, and died on the Kansas homestead in January 1916. They were the parents of a family of ten children, Ruth being the fifth in age. Ruth's siblings included Philena Ellen, Catherine Rebecca, Lucetta Angeline, Charles William, David Oliver, Grace, Louis W., Inez Estelle, and John Franklin.[2]
She attended local schools, and in 1894, graduated from the high school of Mendota, Illinois. While a teacher in LaSalle County, she completed her education in the Illinois Normal University (renamed Illinois State University) at Normal, Illinois and also took special work to fit her for teaching in the University of Illinois at Champaign. All this time, for five years, she taught in rural, graded, and high schools.[2][3]
