A Tale of Two Mildreds
The life of Leo Homer Callin (1893-1958)
I am descended from John Callin, one of two brothers who settled in Milton Township, Ohio, in the 1810s. Leo Homer Callin (1893-1958) was descended from John’s brother, James. Their father was (most likely) James Callin, the Revolutionary War soldier I’ve written about
Leo was the son of George L Callin (1860-1917) and Catherine Bell Imhoff (1868-1941), born on 30 Nov 1893 and raised in Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio. After he finished school, he found work driving a grocery wagon for F. E. Helt. His father, George, and his uncle, Fred, both worked as drivers in Mansfield in 1900 and 1910.
In September 1910, Leo’s horse became unmanageable, and Leo was thrown from his wagon into the street.
After that, Leo’s occupation was grocery clerk - not a driver. And you can hardly blame him!
Leo married Mildred M. Apgar on 6 July 1915, and their daughter, Evelyn Ruth, was born on 27 Dec 1915. In 1917, his draft card claimed an exemption so he could support his wife and child. They were still listed at the same address as late as 1922, but in 1925, Leo was granted a divorce and custody of Evelyn by probate judge C. L. McClellan.
The divorce was granted on 9 July 1925 in Richland County, Ohio. Less than a week later, on 13 July 1925, Leo married Mildred Hartman in Monroe County, Michigan, just over the state line from Toledo.
The First Mildred
Judging from the City Directories records I have found, Mildred (Apger) Callin ran the Callin Beauty Shop at 11 E. 4th Street and lived there with her daughter, Evelyn, after parting from Leo, despite the court’s custody decision. 1926 newspaper ads call her "Mildred M. Callin graduate of the Cleveland Academy of Cosmetology."
Mildred seems to have married someone named Smith after 1930. Records and obituaries for her mother (in 1957) and her sister, Flossie (1961), refer to her as “Mrs. Mildred Smith” and she is listed as Mildred Smith, a hairdresser, living in Lakewood (near Cleveland) in 1940. That 1940 census says she is married, but in 1950 she is listed as separated. I have not found a record to tell me who Mr. Smith was. But the last we see of the first Mildred is in Cleveland in 1961, probably working as a hairdresser.
Evelyn was married twice, and her second husband, William Primm, died in 1979. She died in 2002 in Largo, Florida, and her obituary said, “Survivors include several nieces and nephews.”
The Second Mildred
Mildred Hartmann was born on 10 October 1907, meaning she was about 16 when she got pregnant in 1923. Her parents had divorced between 1910 and 1920, and in 1920, Mildred and her brother Frank lived in the Richland County Children’s Home.
Her daughter, Doris, was born on 26 April 1924 - more than a year before she married Leo. If 30-year-old Leo was the father, that might explain why the first Mildred divorced him. It’s possible that Leo met the second Mildred after the first Mildred left him, and he decided to take care of this young, pregnant girl, but I think the first scenario is more likely.
They had a second daughter, Betty Jean, born 9 September 1926. I can’t find them in the 1930 Census, but the Mansfield City Directory lists them at different addresses in 1926, 1928, and 1930. In 1932 and 1934, the directory only lists Leo’s name and shows him living back at his parents’ home on 26 Pleasant Avenue.
Leo’s attorney placed this notice in the local papers, suggesting Mildred left Leo and ran away to New York around 1934, taking their daughters with her. She married Mathias Barth on 10 August 1938, and in 1940 they are all listed under the name Barth living on Gerard Street in the Bronx.
Betty Jean died on 13 June 1943 from a heart infection - subacute bacterial endocarditis. Her death records give her name as “Betty Jean Edwards” but list her father’s name as “Leo Callin.” She was only 16 and there are no marriage records, so it’s not clear where the name “Edwards” came from.
Doris Callin married in Dec 1943 and by 1950 had two children. They may all still be living1, so I will simply assume “they lived happily ever after” until I learn more.
Mildred and Mathias Barth eventually moved to Long Island. Mildred died in Florida on 24 March 1985, and Mathias died in Levittown, NY, on 3 January 1994.
Post-Mildred Leo
Leo’s situation deteriorated after his second divorce. He was admitted to the hospital in 1939, and in 1940 the Census listed him in the “paupers infirmary” in Richland county. By 1950, he appears to have been moved to the Central Ohio Psychiatric Hospital in Columbus. He died on 24 March 1958 and was buried in the Columbus State Hospital Asylum Cemetery.
There is no way to know what Leo’s affliction may have been. Even if some records indicated what his condition was called at the time, the state of psychiatric medicine in the mid-1900s was not very advanced. Treatment could be brutal, and non-scientific notions about how the mind works persist to this day.
To learn more about researching mental health and disability, check out Emma Cox’s recent interview with Kathy Chater:
Leo’s family did have a history of alcoholism and that could explain a lot of Leo’s story. I don’t like to judge, since I don’t know all of the facts, but it seems likely that he made several poor life choices and made life more difficult for two amazing women named Mildred.
Nevertheless, his grandchildren are my 6th cousins, and they share as much DNA with our Revolutionary War ancestor, James Callin, as I do. I hope that despite the less savory aspects of Leo’s story, they might find their way here and find some satisfaction in learning about their family’s past.
My general policy is to not post information about living people, but I also think people who live past 100 deserve to be celebrated far and wide. This is my compromise.