JAMES MITCHELL
James Mitchell, son of William and Margaret Mitchell, married Euphemia Bower in Augusta County, Virginia, date unknown.
Augusta County Court, Order Book 18, September 16, 1783, page 130.
John Steel, Lieutenant of the 1st Virginia Regiment, made oath
that Robert Bower, a soldier in the Continental Army, died in Charleston
in August, 1780, and it is certified that Euphemia Mitchell, wife of James
Mitchell, and Elizabeth Barnes, wife of George Barnes, are the only
heirs (1).
James Mitchell himself may have served during the Revolution as a lieutenant, but no definite record of his service has yet been identified.
THOMAS MITCHELL
Thomas Mitchell, son of James and Euphemia Bower Mitchell, was born on Dec. 16, 1777, probably in Augusta County, Virginia, and as a young man moved to Shelby County, Kentucky. On September 27, 1797, he was commissioned an ensign in the 18th Regiment of Militia (2).
Thomas Mitchell married Rebecca Ketcham on February 19, 1799. Her parents were Daniel and Keziah Ketcham (3). The couple then settled near the headwaters of South Fork Clear Creek (or Mulberry Creek), Shelby County, Kentucky.
Thomas Mitchell was a Shelby County taxpayer (4) and on January 4, 1801, Governor Garrod signed a still-extant document commissioning him as captain in the 18th Regiment.
In the years that followed Thomas gave much attention to religeous studies as he eventually became a Methodist clergyman. He was ordained as an elder of the church by Bishop McKendra on an unknown date. On October 13, 1809, Francis Asbury, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, made Thomas a Deacon. In Asbury's words: "by the imposition of my hands and prayer, have this day set apart Thomas Mitchell for the office of DEACON..." The ordination certificate, signed and sealed by the bishop still survives.
Thomas Mitchell served as Justice of the Peace for Shelby County sporadically for his entire life. One of his actions was published. (5).
As the U.S. declaration of war in 1812 approached. Thomas Mitchell volunteered for service at Shelbyville on June 1 and was sworn in on June 15, being commissioned by Governor Charles Scott, a lieutenant in Capt. John Simpson's Company, 1st Rifle Regiment of Gen. Payne's Kentucky Volunteer Brigade. On October 14, 1812, Governor Issac Shelby signed Thomas Mitchell's commission as Adjutant of the Regiment. Thomas was also Chaplain of the Brigade. His volunteer term of service was for 6 months. After 6 months and 12 days, near the end of October 1812, Thomas resigned his commission honorably "in consequence of sickness." This is confirmed by his widow's 1850 and 1855 bounty land application.
The first Guardian Book of Shelby County shows that at the April 1813 Court, Thomas Mitchell was appointed guardian of Margaret Mitchell, orphan daughter of William Mitchell, deceased. William is thought to be the brother of Thomas. In 1815, Thomas Mitchell was one of the persons appointed to procure a new Shelby County Clerk's Office. (6)
By 1810 the Census for Shelby County showed the Mitchells had 7 small children.
Thomas Mitchell 33
Rebecca Mitchell 33
Children Under Age 10:
Euphemia Bower Mitchell
Keziah
Lewis Mitchell
Malinda Mitchell
Daniel
Ketcham Mitchell
James Mitchell
Pleasant Lorenzo Mitchell
Sarah Mitchell
Three more children are shown in records provided by a Ketcham descendent
and cited.
Jane Eliza Mitchell
Eleanor Wooden Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell, Jr.
Thomas Mitchell died September 20, 1818, in his home in Shelby County.
DANIEL K. MITCHELL
Daniel Ketcham Mitchell, Thomas Mitchell's son would go on to marry Mary Copeland in Shelby County, KY. on July 20, 1823. They would have a daughter, Sarah Ellen Mitchell on November 2, 1831. Sarah Ellen would then marry Joseph C. Taylor on February, 18, 1856.
Daniel Ketcham Mitchell and Mary Copeland Mitchell are buried in Canaan Cemetery in Jefferson County, Indiana.
Mitchell and how this names relates to the author and his family.
1. James Mitchell b.
unknown
2. Thomas Mitchell
b. 12-16-1777
3. Daniel K.
Mitchell b. cir 1800
4. Sarah
Ellen (Mitchell) Taylor b. 11-2-1831
5.
John Wesley Taylor b. 7-7-1857
6. Joseph Harrison Taylor b. 7-20-1904
7. Sally Ann Taylor b. 8-23-1934
8. Charles M. Taylor b. 12-11-1955
References:
1. Chalkey, Lyman, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement
in Virginia.
Vol. 1, Baltimore 1980 (1912), p. 233.
2. "Excerpts from the Executive Journal of Governor James Garrod,"
Kentucky
Historical Society Register,
vol. 32, p. 133.
3. Woodfill, Gabriel, "A Preacher of the Gospel," Marriage Bonds of Shelby County - 1792-1800, Kentucky Marriage Records: From the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Baltimore 1983, p. 693.
4. Clift, Glenn G., "Second Census" of Kentucky 1800, Frankfort 1954.
5. The Argus of Western America. Frankfort, Kentucky,
Dec. 14, 1810. p. 4, col. 1 "Shelby Co. SCT. Taken up by Richard Ridgeway,
on Gist's Creek near
Greathouse's Mill, a bay filly, 1 yr. old last spring, about 13
hands high...no brand perceivable, a small bell on, appraised $22.10 before
me this 17th day of Sept. 1810/Thomas Mitchell, J.P."
6. Willis, George L. Sr., History of Shelby County Kentucky, Shelbyville
1929,
p. 115.
7. "Index to Shelby County Marriages 1800-1830," Kentucky Marriage
Record: From the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society,
Baltimore 1983, p. 761.
8. Hite, Charles M., Ancestors of the Hite Children of Honolulu.
Almost all of the information contained within this historical piece
was provided by Carol Lee Copeland Thomas, great-great granddaughter of
Rev. Thomas Mitchell and Rebecca Mitchell.
Carol Lee Copeland Thomas
Rt. 1 Box 18
King City, Missouri 64463
Additional information by Charles M. Taylor, great-great-great-great grandson of Thomas Mitchell & Rebecca Mitchell.