Sketch XXXIII
A Veteran Educator and Judge
One of the most prominent characters in the history of Long Point settlement was Judge James Mitchell. He was born in Scotland and educated in Edinburgh University. Dr. Strachan, of historical fame, was a fellow student at this grand old institution of learning, and he and Mitchell were ever after the warmest of friends.[1] At the close of last century, Colonel Hamilton, a member of the Provincial Parliament, while visiting his native land, engaged young Mitchell to come out and serve as private tutor in his family, and this engagement was the means of bringing him into the new country.[2] He served as private tutor until the district grammar schools were established, in 1807. His friend, Dr. Strachan, was a member of the Executive Council at this time, and through his influence, Mr. Mitchell was placed in charge of the London District Grammar School. He was granted Lots 21 and 22 in the 1st concession of Charlotteville, and on this grant, at his own pioneer home, the grammar school was established.[3] Many of our most distinguished men of later times received their education at this little grammar school. When it is remembered that such men as Dr. Egerton Ryerson, Dr. John Ryerson, Rev. William Ryerson, Rev. Edway Ryerson, Rev. George Ryerse, Ephraim Tisdale, and others of like calibre were prepared at this school, exclusively, for their future work in life, the superior qualifications of James Mitchell as an instructor will be readily perceived. True, the old educational war-horse, Dr. Egerton Ryerson, put a finishing touch on his education elsewhere, yet he always referred to the old grammar school as his little Alma Mater.
Judge Mitchell was a busy man. Every moment that could be spared from his school duties was devoted to clearing and improving his land. In this way he found his recreation. By this alternate exercise of brawn and brain he preserved a vigorous manhood and accomplished many difficult tasks. There is good authority for stating that this school received an annual grant of £100 during the time Judge Mitchell had charge of it, although the total sum voted in 1807 for the support of eight grammar schools was £500.
The District Grammar School was removed to Vittoria after the Court-house was completed at that place, in 1822. Several years before this, however, Mr. Mitchell, having resigned his charge of the school, had been succeeded by one of his old pupils, Rev. Egerton Ryerson. In 1819, through the influence of Dr. Strachan, he was appointed Judge of London District. When the new Court-house in Vittoria was burned in 1826, the courts were removed to London. This change made it necessary for the Judge to reside in London a large portion of the time. This appointment was a most fortunate one for the country; but it was a most unfortunate thing for the members of the Judge’s family who remained on the farm, as they were deprived of the ennobling and stimulated influence of his companionship for so much of the time during his long tenure of office. For twenty-four years and nine months Judge Mitchell held the position of District Judge. Nearly a quarter of a century he sat on the judicial bench, and during all this time, it is claimed, there were only three appeals made from decisions rendered by him! “Acts speak louder than words,” and the official record made by Judge Mitchell in the judicial annals of Upper Canada speaks louder in his praise than would the highest eulogy that might be written.
For a portion of the time during which he served he was burdened with this duty of collecting tavern licenses, in addition to his ordinary judicial duties, and the yearly salary paid him by the Government in remuneration for his arduous labors amounted, it is said, to the enormous sum of £40. In token, however, of his sterling uprightness of character and the efficient manner in which he performed his judicial duties, he was presented with twenty-five acres of land in London which he afterwards sold for $800.
The success which crowned Judge Mitchell’s judicial labors appears more wonderful when we remember that he was not a member of the legal profession. He was a learned man and was endowed with a judicial mind, although not versed in the quibbles of the law. He possessed a keen sense of justice and a resolute will to administer it in all cases; and as justice in the fountain-head of all wise and wholesome laws, his decisions were sound, and were generally accepted as final adjustments of all matters in dispute.
During the war of 1812 the then grammar school teacher took up arms in defence of his home. He was captain of a company of militia, and took part in the battle of Lundy's Lane. When he retired from the bench, in 1844, he returned to his farm, where he lived during the remainder of his life.
Judge Mitchell had four sons¾ James, Lorenzo, John and Erasmus; and two daughters¾ Elizabeth and Frances.[4]
Dr. James Mitchell, eldest son of the Judge, married Martha McKay, of Hamilton, and settled at Dundas. He died with cholera in 1853.
Lorenzo Mitchell, the second son, married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Samuel Ryerson, and settled on the old homestead. They are now living in Port Ryerse. They had ten children, seven of whom fell victims to diphtheria and other maladies in childhood. Three daughters grew up, and married¾ Sarah, Jane Ann and Frances. Sarah married James Thompson, and settled in Paris. Jane Ann married Charles Winter, and settled in Michigan; and Frances married C. C. Backhouse, barrister, of Simcoe.
John Mitchell, the third son, died single in Detroit, with small-pox, in 1850. He was Professor of Penmanship in a commercial college in that city.
Erasmus Mitchell, the fourth son, married Mary Sheridan, of Waltham, Mass., and settled on the homestead. He is at present living in Detroit.
Elizabeth Mitchell, elder daughter of Judge Mitchell, married John McDonald, Sheriff of Huron District, and settled in Goderich. She had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married a lawyer, a son of the late Colonel Gordon of Toronto.
Frances Mitchell, the younger daughter, married Donald McDonald, the veteran senator, who died in 1880. After the Senator's death his family, a large one, moved to California.
It is believed by many of Judge Mitchell’s descendants that the notorious Henry Sovereign was tried and sentenced by their ancestor, but this is a mistake. Mr. Mitchell was simply a district judge, and had nothing whatsoever to do with the Court of Assize.
The venerable Judge D. Hughes, of St. Thomas, was a young and rising member of the legal profession in the new and thriving town of London when the district courts were held there, and the many amusing incidents related by him in connection with Judge Mitchell’s courts in those early times would fill a volume. Indeed, a most interesting volume of local history might be written on the experiences of the jurymen of old London District in their travels through the forest and in their attendance at Judge Mitchell’s courts. The writer of such a work would be able to find an abundance of material to amuse as well as to instruct his readers Judge Hughes speaks of a certain place in the forest which was a much frequented pioneer house of accommodation in those times. During court terms its means of entertainment were taxed to the utmost by the demands of jurymen and others having business with the courts. Many came long distances on foot, bringing their rations with them; while others came on horseback, prepared to purchase whatever supplies were needed during the journey. There was one thing, however, that was supposed to be absolutely indispensable in those times, and that was simple, plain, old-fashioned whiskey. It would never do to take changes in obtaining this grand essential at the stopping places, and so pretty much every traveller carried his own supply. Near this popular tavern was a remarkable spring of clear, cold water, and it is said these pioneer juryman were wont to pour their “grog” into this spring, and thus slake their thirst during their temporary stay. Nowadays jurymen drink watered whiskey, but in pioneer times they drank whiskeyed water.
[1] Reverend John Strachan (1778-1867) arrived in Upper Canada as a schoolmaster in 1799 then ordained as an Anglican clergyman in 1803. Taking an interest in politics, he rose quickly to power. Strachan served on the Executive Council of Upper Canada for decades and was the first President of King's College (the present University of Toronto) in 1827. In 1839, he became the first Church of England Bishop of Toronto. Source: Loyal She Remains, The United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada (Toronto, ON: 1984), p. 368
[2] Honorable Robert Hamilton, a son of Reverend John Hamilton of Dumfries, Scotland came to Canada about 1770 and in 1779 established a trading station on Carleton Island in the eastern part of Lake Ontario. He removed to Niagara about 1784 where he became a partner with Richard Cartwright in a major mercantile firm. Hamilton was appointed to the Land Board of the province and was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the District of Nassau (Niagara) from 1787-1791. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada 1792-1808 and Lieutenant for the County of Lincoln 1792-1808. At his death in 1809, Hamilton was said to have owned as much as 100,000 acres of land in the province. Source: E. A. Cruikshank, ed., The Correspondence of Lieut. Governor John Graves Simcoe, The Ontario Historical Society (Toronto, ON: 1923), Vol. 1, p. 100
[3] James Mitchell’s Charlotteville lots were not a grant. On October 3, 1809, Mitchell purchased 39 acres in the northeast part of Lot 22, Concession 1 from Abraham Powell. On February 24, 1817, he purchased from John McGlashan all 200 acres in Lot 24, Concession 1. On January 24, 1817, he purchased another 20 acres in Lot 22, Concession 1 from Christopher Oakes. Mitchell received an Assignment of the Crown Lease in Lot 23, Concession 1 from John McGlashan. Lot 21, Concession 1, mentioned by Owen was also a Crown Lease for which Mitchell did not apply.
[4] James Mitchell married Elizabeth Ryerson, a daughter of Joseph and Mehitable (Stickney) Ryerson). The names and order of the James Mitchell family was: Infant child, died 1812, buried in Mitchell family cemetery; Margaret, born c. 1813; James, born 1814; Elizabeth Amelia, born March 7, 1815; Erasmus Mitchell, born 1816, died 1819; George Lorenzo Mitchell, born September 14, 1819; Aereas Mitchell, born 1820, died 1823; Frances Mitchell, born 1821; Helen Mitchell, born 1821, died 1824; John Mitchell, born 1824, died 1850; Erasmus Mitchell, born June 3, 1826. Margaret, who was not included in Owen’s list, married Robert Owen, a son of Abner and Elizabeth (Buchner) Owen. Source: Phyllis A. Ryerse and Thomas A. Ryerson, The Ryerse-Ryerson Family (Ryerse-Ryerson Family Association, Ingersoll, ON, 1994)