Selena was wondering a while back why James and Eva never married. Well, I still don't have a definitive answer, but Varnhagen von Ense says he would have married her, but for the class differences.
I also have been curious about their children's names, since liriaen thinks she may be descended from James, but I've never been able to find them. However, through use of Google Translate, I managed to translate a Finnish biographical dictionary entry, and it at least clears up why I can't find them, and gives a possible clue:
Eva Merthen probably married Johan David von Reichenbach, nine years her junior, in Berlin in 1759 or 1760, and lived happily with him in Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania, where von Reichenbach was a castle bailiff and land councilor. The couple had a beautiful home with a considerable collection of paintings. Von Reichenbach died in 1807, four years before her husband.
All sources about Eva Merthen, even those published while she was still alive, say that she had children with Keith, but these have not been identified. There is no indication that the two sisters who initially followed Eva Merthen cared for the children. It is possible that the heirs of the childless von Reichenbachs, JD von Reichenbach's sister and nephews, were actually Eva Merthen's children.
Since this was exactly what Melusine and G1 did, pass off their daughters as her nieces, that sounds very plausible to me!
Other items of note about Eva from this entry:
Eva Merthen was born in Turku in 1723 to a merchant Carl Merthen, one of eight children. Her grandfather and her father were also merchants in Turku, where the latter had apparently come from Lübeck. This Anders Merthen is mentioned as a burgher of Turku in 1624. His son, from his marriage to Katarina Gerdner, was Anders Merthen, who served as a university librarian. The merchant family's connections to the academic world are demonstrated by Carl Merthen's marriage to Helena Kristina, daughter of law professor Matthias Svederus.
Carl Merthen was the city's leader during the Russian occupation of 1742-1743 and was appointed assessor of the Russian imperial court. He died during the occupation.
During the celebrations during the Russian occupation, Eva Merthen attracted attention with her beauty and pleasantness, which led to a love affair with the then 47-year-old commander-in-chief, General James (Jakob) Keith. Already in Turku, Eva Merthen seems to have become his unregistered wife, a position in which she accompanied Keith for the rest of his life. Keith's occupation administration was based on the general instructions of Empress Elisabeth, and its gentleness and flexibility were also credited to the Merthens, father and daughter.
Eva Merthen was, according to contemporary accounts, dark and handsome; she had particularly beautiful eyes. The charming and cultured Eva Merthen spoke French well and read Tacitus, which was apparently the result of her cultured home, and she continued study while living with Keith. In addition, Keith and Eva Merthen shared a Scottish background, as the aforementioned Katarina Gerdner was of Scottish descent.
Keith went over to Sweden in 1743 with the Russian troops and remained for some time as ambassador in Stockholm, but in 1746 he resigned from Russian service, transferred the following year to Prussia and became commander of Berlin and field marshal. He fell at the Battle of Hochkirchen against the Austrians in 1758. James Keith and Eva Merthen lived in Potsdam near Sanssouci, and their union lacked only the "external forms of marriage". George Keith, head of the clan and hereditary Earl Marshal of Scotland, was also in Prussian service.
According to biographers, the brothers' high social status prevented Keith and Eva Merthen from publicly legalizing their relationship, but after Keith's death, Eva Merthen largely won the inheritance process against George Keith in accordance with the deceased's will.
Which we know all about because of my decipherment efforts!
And some info re biographies and historical fiction:
Eva Merthen was already mentioned in CF Paul's Keith biography, published in German in 1759 and in Swedish in 1761, and based on it in the Turku magazine Mnemosyne in 1822. In 1844, KA Varnhagen von Ense's more extensive biography of James Keith was published, and it inspired Zachris Topelius to write his novel Hertiginnan af Finland, romantisierad berättelse, jemte en historisk skildring af Finska Kriget aråen 1741 - 1743, which was first published as a sequel in Helsingfors Tidningar and then as a book in the summer of 1850. This work by Topelius is the first historical novel to achieve popularity in Finland and to have an impact by its example, and the oldest of Topelius' historical novels.
The historical continuation novel was a literary genre that had recently become extremely popular, and Topelius referred to Walter Scott and Alexandre Dumas as his role models in his journal; the former, he said, had written a masterpiece on this subject, the latter a twelve-part novel. But the novel was a dangerous literary genre because of its political nature, which had aroused special concern from the Finnish government, and in the spring of 1850 it was specifically forbidden to publish novels in Finnish. Topelius's novel, which emphasizes the gentleness and humanity of the "petty" Russian conquest and explains how the Finns, in contrast to the Swedes, had learned the value of patience and peaceful cultivation in comparison with conquests, fit well with Topelius's line of loyalty. Topelius revised the work from the newspaper version to the printed novel and then again in later editions. The Duchess of Finland was first published in Finnish in 1874.
Since this was exactly what Melusine and G1 did, pass off their daughters as her nieces, that sounds very plausible to me!
Same here. Good for Eva to find love again! And Stralsund is a pretty town to live in. BTW, I see Eva was 19 to James' 47 when they met, which is a big age gap but back then not that unusual. Otoh, her finding a younger man after his death was.
Wilhelmine Encke: I managed. Barbarina: So did I.
Selena: I seem to recall both of these relationships ended in a breakup despite involving nuptials. Unlike Eva's.
So google chooses "unregistered wife" for what I assume is common law wife?
Re: high social status as marriage impediment - hm. Well. I mean, if the Old Dessauer, who was a Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, i.e. from one of the oldest German noble families, could marry his apothocary's daughter, I think high social status alone does not explain it. More likely either George, as clan chief, said no, and James didn't want to push things to a breaking point with his brother, given they were both in exile.
I'm curious where the tidbit about Eva having read Tacitus comes from. That's awfully specific instead of a general "liked the ancients", so maybe a letter or something like that?
So google chooses "unregistered wife" for what I assume is common law wife?
So I assume? I don't know *any* Finnish, unlike the Indo-European languages where I can usually make some guesses with the help of Google Translate.
Well. I mean, if the Old Dessauer, who was a Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, i.e. from one of the oldest German noble families, could marry his apothocary's daughter, I think high social status alone does not explain it.
I also thought of the Alte Dessauer, and I knew you were going to mention him! George is a possibility--and class may have played a role in his dislike of her--and so are Elizaveta and Fritz. The Alte Dessauer may not have faced the same kind of resistance from above.
I'm curious where the tidbit about Eva having read Tacitus comes from. That's awfully specific instead of a general "liked the ancients", so maybe a letter or something like that?
No idea! It's in Varnhagen von Ense, "She didn't speak German fluently, but expressed herself excellently in French, read Tacitus in Latin, and generally had educated her mind," but he doesn't cite sources.
I also thought of the Alte Dessauer, and I knew you were going to mention him! George is a possibility--and class may have played a role in his dislike of her--and so are Elizaveta and Fritz. The Alte Dessauer may not have faced the same kind of resistance from above.
Hm, just when did the Alte Dessauer marry? Was F1 still King, or FW already? If the later, yes, he might have counted on his buddy, but if the former, well, F1 did love his bling and his titles and had Hannover in laws who had a certified grudge against any noble/non-noble marriages.
But of course Old Dessauer was not an exile depending on someone employing him but a prince with his own territory, so the comparison with James Keith might be unfair. If, that is, Elizaveta and Fritz nixed any non-noble marriages.
It was F1. And yes, I was thinking the part where he was prince in his own territory was relevant.
Also, from my glance through Varnhagen von Ense on James' last years in Russia for the other post, it looks like George and James were separated the entire time between when James met Eva and when they ended up in Fritz's service a few years later. So if George was the reason James didn't marry her, it must have been via writing. And in that case, if George had never met her, the disapproval surely stemmed from class reasons.
But we're still speculating it was George. It may have been James who was like, "You make a fine long-term mistress, but you're not marriage material!"
Since this was exactly what Melusine and G1 did, pass off their daughters as her nieces, that sounds very plausible to me!
This does seem plausible!
BTW, I see Eva was 19 to James' 47 when they met, which is a big age gap but back then not that unusual. Otoh, her finding a younger man after his death was.
Huh, that's true. I also think it's great that she was able to find happiness!
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timeasmymeasure
James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-01 08:18 am (UTC)I also have been curious about their children's names, since
Eva Merthen probably married Johan David von Reichenbach, nine years her junior, in Berlin in 1759 or 1760, and lived happily with him in Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania, where von Reichenbach was a castle bailiff and land councilor. The couple had a beautiful home with a considerable collection of paintings. Von Reichenbach died in 1807, four years before her husband.
All sources about Eva Merthen, even those published while she was still alive, say that she had children with Keith, but these have not been identified. There is no indication that the two sisters who initially followed Eva Merthen cared for the children. It is possible that the heirs of the childless von Reichenbachs, JD von Reichenbach's sister and nephews, were actually Eva Merthen's children.
Since this was exactly what Melusine and G1 did, pass off their daughters as her nieces, that sounds very plausible to me!
Other items of note about Eva from this entry:
Eva Merthen was born in Turku in 1723 to a merchant Carl Merthen, one of eight children. Her grandfather and her father were also merchants in Turku, where the latter had apparently come from Lübeck. This Anders Merthen is mentioned as a burgher of Turku in 1624. His son, from his marriage to Katarina Gerdner, was Anders Merthen, who served as a university librarian. The merchant family's connections to the academic world are demonstrated by Carl Merthen's marriage to Helena Kristina, daughter of law professor Matthias Svederus.
Carl Merthen was the city's leader during the Russian occupation of 1742-1743 and was appointed assessor of the Russian imperial court. He died during the occupation.
During the celebrations during the Russian occupation, Eva Merthen attracted attention with her beauty and pleasantness, which led to a love affair with the then 47-year-old commander-in-chief, General James (Jakob) Keith. Already in Turku, Eva Merthen seems to have become his unregistered wife, a position in which she accompanied Keith for the rest of his life. Keith's occupation administration was based on the general instructions of Empress Elisabeth, and its gentleness and flexibility were also credited to the Merthens, father and daughter.
Eva Merthen was, according to contemporary accounts, dark and handsome; she had particularly beautiful eyes. The charming and cultured Eva Merthen spoke French well and read Tacitus, which was apparently the result of her cultured home, and she continued study while living with Keith. In addition, Keith and Eva Merthen shared a Scottish background, as the aforementioned Katarina Gerdner was of Scottish descent.
Keith went over to Sweden in 1743 with the Russian troops and remained for some time as ambassador in Stockholm, but in 1746 he resigned from Russian service, transferred the following year to Prussia and became commander of Berlin and field marshal. He fell at the Battle of Hochkirchen against the Austrians in 1758. James Keith and Eva Merthen lived in Potsdam near Sanssouci, and their union lacked only the "external forms of marriage". George Keith, head of the clan and hereditary Earl Marshal of Scotland, was also in Prussian service.
According to biographers, the brothers' high social status prevented Keith and Eva Merthen from publicly legalizing their relationship, but after Keith's death, Eva Merthen largely won the inheritance process against George Keith in accordance with the deceased's will.
Which we know all about because of my decipherment efforts!
And some info re biographies and historical fiction:
Eva Merthen was already mentioned in CF Paul's Keith biography, published in German in 1759 and in Swedish in 1761, and based on it in the Turku magazine Mnemosyne in 1822. In 1844, KA Varnhagen von Ense's more extensive biography of James Keith was published, and it inspired Zachris Topelius to write his novel Hertiginnan af Finland, romantisierad berättelse, jemte en historisk skildring af Finska Kriget aråen 1741 - 1743, which was first published as a sequel in Helsingfors Tidningar and then as a book in the summer of 1850. This work by Topelius is the first historical novel to achieve popularity in Finland and to have an impact by its example, and the oldest of Topelius' historical novels.
The historical continuation novel was a literary genre that had recently become extremely popular, and Topelius referred to Walter Scott and Alexandre Dumas as his role models in his journal; the former, he said, had written a masterpiece on this subject, the latter a twelve-part novel. But the novel was a dangerous literary genre because of its political nature, which had aroused special concern from the Finnish government, and in the spring of 1850 it was specifically forbidden to publish novels in Finnish. Topelius's novel, which emphasizes the gentleness and humanity of the "petty" Russian conquest and explains how the Finns, in contrast to the Swedes, had learned the value of patience and peaceful cultivation in comparison with conquests, fit well with Topelius's line of loyalty. Topelius revised the work from the newspaper version to the printed novel and then again in later editions. The Duchess of Finland was first published in Finnish in 1874.
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-01 04:19 pm (UTC)Same here. Good for Eva to find love again! And Stralsund is a pretty town to live in. BTW, I see Eva was 19 to James' 47 when they met, which is a big age gap but back then not that unusual. Otoh, her finding a younger man after his death was.
Wilhelmine Encke: I managed.
Barbarina: So did I.
Selena: I seem to recall both of these relationships ended in a breakup despite involving nuptials. Unlike Eva's.
So google chooses "unregistered wife" for what I assume is common law wife?
Re: high social status as marriage impediment - hm. Well. I mean, if the Old Dessauer, who was a Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, i.e. from one of the oldest German noble families, could marry his apothocary's daughter, I think high social status alone does not explain it. More likely either George, as clan chief, said no, and James didn't want to push things to a breaking point with his brother, given they were both in exile.
I'm curious where the tidbit about Eva having read Tacitus comes from. That's awfully specific instead of a general "liked the ancients", so maybe a letter or something like that?
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-03 06:11 am (UTC)So I assume? I don't know *any* Finnish, unlike the Indo-European languages where I can usually make some guesses with the help of Google Translate.
Well. I mean, if the Old Dessauer, who was a Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, i.e. from one of the oldest German noble families, could marry his apothocary's daughter, I think high social status alone does not explain it.
I also thought of the Alte Dessauer, and I knew you were going to mention him! George is a possibility--and class may have played a role in his dislike of her--and so are Elizaveta and Fritz. The Alte Dessauer may not have faced the same kind of resistance from above.
I'm curious where the tidbit about Eva having read Tacitus comes from. That's awfully specific instead of a general "liked the ancients", so maybe a letter or something like that?
No idea! It's in Varnhagen von Ense, "She didn't speak German fluently, but expressed herself excellently in French, read Tacitus in Latin, and generally had educated her mind," but he doesn't cite sources.
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-03 11:42 am (UTC)Hm, just when did the Alte Dessauer marry? Was F1 still King, or FW already? If the later, yes, he might have counted on his buddy, but if the former, well, F1 did love his bling and his titles and had Hannover in laws who had a certified grudge against any noble/non-noble marriages.
But of course Old Dessauer was not an exile depending on someone employing him but a prince with his own territory, so the comparison with James Keith might be unfair. If, that is, Elizaveta and Fritz nixed any non-noble marriages.
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-03 01:57 pm (UTC)Also, from my glance through Varnhagen von Ense on James' last years in Russia for the other post, it looks like George and James were separated the entire time between when James met Eva and when they ended up in Fritz's service a few years later. So if George was the reason James didn't marry her, it must have been via writing. And in that case, if George had never met her, the disapproval surely stemmed from class reasons.
But we're still speculating it was George. It may have been James who was like, "You make a fine long-term mistress, but you're not marriage material!"
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-05 01:38 am (UTC)This does seem plausible!
BTW, I see Eva was 19 to James' 47 when they met, which is a big age gap but back then not that unusual. Otoh, her finding a younger man after his death was.
Huh, that's true. I also think it's great that she was able to find happiness!