JOHN MITCHELL, a banker and prominent citizen of Kendallville, born June 2, 1830, in Montgomery County, N. Y.; a son of William and Nancy (Keller) Mitchell, also natives of that State and farmers. William Mitchell was of Scotch-English and his wife of German descent. In 1836, they removed to this county, and located on a tract of 160 acres of timber land, on which he platted the first village lots in the present city of Kendallville. He occupied a position of distinction and influence among the people, and, although he had but meager scholastic opportunities, yet his good sense and sound judgment made him master of a practical education. In 1843, Mr. Mitchell was the leader in the construction of the plank road built from Fort Wayne to Ontario, La Grange County, a distance of about fifty miles, which opened up that section of country in 1852, he also engaged in the completion, under contract, of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad (now a part of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad), the first constructed in northeast Indiana, extending from Cresline, Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Ind., a distance of 131 miles, and to Mr. Mitchell is largely due the credit for the commercial importance of the city of Kendallville. He was an attendant of the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife was an active member. In 1840, he was elected by the Whig party to represent his district in the State Legislature, and in 1860 he was elected by the Republicans of his district of Congress, and has also served the public in minor offices with distinction. When on a business expedition to Macon, Ga., in 1865, he diedm lamented by a large circle of friends. His wife, a lady of marked worth, died in 1864. John Mitchell was six years of age when he came West with his parents. He attended school winters and worked on the farm the rest of the time during his minority. In 1863, the First National Bank of Kendallville was organized, in which he was a stockholder and Director. His father was President until his death, when John succeeded him, which position he still holds, and to whom the success and prosperity of the bank is due. In connection with the banking business, Mr. Mitchell is engaged in farming and real estate transactions. He is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church, belongs to the Masonic fraternity, of which he is a Knight Templar, and politically a Republican. He was married January 6, 1857, to Miss Sophronia J. Weston, of Rome City, this county. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is highly esteemed. They have three children--Lydia A., Kate R. and William. Mr. Mitchell is eminently successful in business, and a citizen of sterling worth. He has recently remodeled his residence, and surrounded himself and family not only with comfort but luxury.
Counties of La Grange and Noble, Indiana, Historical and Biographical, Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers, © 1882, Part 2, p. 311.
Transcribed by Denise Wells, May 2013
JOHN MITCHELL
For many years as a banker and prominent business man of Kendallville, John Mitchell has ranked among the distinguished citizens of Noble county and occupies a conspicuous place in the annals of norther Indiana. No other resident of the community has been so long identified with its growth and development and none has so indelibly impressed his personality upon the city of his residence or exercised so potent an influence in directing and controlling the business interests of the county. The Mitchell family is of Scotch origins and the name frequently appears in connection with the war of American independence, in which struggle one of John Mitchell's ancestors bore a brave and distinguished part. This ancestor was Andrew Mitchell, a native of Scotland, born in Ayrshire county about the year 1728. His father, Robert Mitchell, was born in the same part of the country and there spent his entire life, dying when a very old man.
From the most reliable information obtainable it appears that Andrew Mitchell, about 1753, came to America and engaged in merchandising in the city of Philadelphia. Subsequently, 1760, he left that place and took up his residence in Schenectady, N. Y., where he also conducted a mercantile establishment. Later he went to Ballston Spa, and while living at the latter place on a farm he was commissioned second major in the Twelfth Regiment, New York militia, October 20, 1775. The regiment to which he was appointed was raised in what was known as the "Half Moon" and "Ballston" districts, and saw much active service in the Revolutionary war, during the progress of which Andrew Mitchell was reappointed second major on the 22d day of June, 1778. He displayed signal bravery while fighting for his adopted country, and from Sims' History of Saratoga County, N. Y,, it appears that he was not only a gallant soldier but a cool-headed, reliable officer under a number of very trying circumstances. On an old country record, bearing date of December 31, 1779, his name appears assessed with twenty-one pounds and two shillings upon a valuation of four hundred and ninety-nine pounds, which shows the enormous taxes our forefathers were obliged to pay in order to raise revenue with which to prosecute the war and sustain the government. In 1780 he was elected town collector of Schnectady, and in 1785 the office of supervisor was thrust upon him. Subsequently, in February, 1791, he was appointed a justice of the peace--an office the same as associate justice now--and from the records it seems that he discharged the duties incumbent upon him with great efficiency. In 1792 he was elected a member of the New York assembly from Saratoga county, and in that capacity distinguished himself as an able and discreet legislator. He was married, July 23, 1761, to Miss Maria Van Eps, a native of the Mohawk valley, and lived the remainder of his life an honored citizen of New York, dying on the 15th day of October, 1812.
Charles Mitchell, son of Andrew, was born near Ballston Spa, Saratoga county, N. Y., January 2, 1773. He was reared on what, in local annals, is known as the "Old Delavan farm,: and followed agricultural pursuits all his life; he died in the town of Root, Montgomery county, N. Y., on the 11th day of September, 1857.
Among the sons of Charles Mitchell was William Mitchell, father of the subject of this sketch and a man not only prominent in local and state affairs in Indiana, but of national repute as a member of the United States congress. William Mitchell was born January 19, 1807, in Montgomery county, N. Y., and grew to manhood on a farm. On the 19th day of February, 1829, he was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Keller, whose birth occurred in the above county and state July 4, 1807. In the year 1836 William Mitchell and family left New York for Indiana, coming via the Erie canal to Buffalo, thence by steamer to Monroe, Mich., from which point thre remainder of the journey was made by a wagon to the present site of Kendallville. The place where the flourishing city now stands was a deep forest in which no work of any kind had been done. At the time of his arrival at this new home in the forests of Noble county Mr. Mitchell's family consisted of himself and wife and two children, namely, John and Charles Stewart Mitchell, the latter of whom died in Kendallville September 2, 1866.
Mr. Mitchell located a tract of about two hundred acres of timber land, which he began clearing and otherwise improving, and it was not long until he had a comfortable home for that period and a goodly portion of his land in cultivation. With the influx of population the necessity of a trading point closer than the nearest market then partronized by the early settlers became apparent. With shrewd discrenment Mr. Mitchell realized the advantages the locality possessed as the center of a region which was rapidly being settled by a sturdy and industrious class of people. Accordingly, in the year 1849, he platted twenty lots, some of which he gave away to suh persons as would locate upon and improve them. This inducement had the desired effect, and it was not long until quite a number of people were attracted to the place, making necessary an addition to the original plat. He then laid out another block of twenty lots which were soon disposed of, after which another addition was platted and put upon the market. It is unnecessary in this connection to describe in detail the graduated growth of the flourishing little town, but suffice it to say that in due time all the lots in the first three surveys were disposed of either by gift or sale, thus rendering necessary a still further extension of the town in all directions. Its advantages as desirable place of residence as well as a trading point becoming apparent, population continued to increase, and in the course of a few years, Kendallville became the rival of its sister villages of Noble county. Previous to this time a postoffice had been established, with Mr. Mitchell as the first postmaster, his commission bearing the date of December 7, 1836. He discharged the duties of the position in an eminently satisfatory manner, meanwhile using all the influences he could command to induce settlers to locate in the new and thriving town, of which he was the controlling spirit. Mr. Mitchell was the father of Kendallville. He gave the place an impetus which made it in the course of time one of the most thriving towns in the northern part of the state. He took great interest in its growth and prosperity, and to his efforts is directly attributable the proud position the city new enjoys. DUring his life-time he always occupied a position of distinction and influence among the people and manifested his interest by many liberal benefactions, as well as by inaugurating and carrying to successful conclusion a number of enterprises for the public good. In the early 'forties, he obtained a contract for the constructing of a apart of the Wabash & Erie canal near Defiance, Ohio, and it was while prosecuting this work that his barn in Kendallville was burned by a gang of "blacklegs," some of whom he had been instrumental in arresting for acts of lawlessness committed in various parts of Indiana, for at that time horse stealing and counterfeiting were of common occurrence. Mr. Mitchell took the lead in ridding the country of these desperadoes and was made to suffer for the activity he displayed in the good work. Through his efforts two men charged with horse-stealing were arrested and taken to jail in Bluffton. Sometime previous to the day set for trial they succeeded in breaking jail and effecting their escape. To avenge for their arrest and imprisonment they watched their opportunity for destroying the property of Mr. Mirchell, and when a favorable one presented itself his barn, together with others in the neighborhood, were burned to the ground.
In 1841 Mr. Mitchell was elected to the lower house of the general assembly as joint representative from the counties of Noble and Lagrange. He served during the session of 1842 and took an active party in all the deliberations of the body, bearing the reputation of an able and judicious lawmaker. He presented a number of bills which passed both houses, and the laws of which he was the author had a very decided influence upon the subsequent history of the state. Prior to his election to the legislature, Mr. Mitchell served the people of his part of the county as justice of the peace. In 1848 he was the leader in the construction of the old plank road built from Fort Wayne to Ontario. Lagrange county, a distance of about fifty miles, which opened up that section of the country to the trade of a large part of southern Michigan. He superintended the work, and the enterprise was pushed forward in the face of many difficulties, chief among which were the heavy timbers and swampy condition of the country in many places. But little money was available, and to procure the necessary labor resort was had to trade, the workmen receiving their pay in goods at Kendallville. A man of less energy would hae abandoned the enterprise long before completion, but not so with Mr. Mitchell. Having once undertaken the work, he bent all his energies to its successful prosecution and it was to his directing and controlling genius alone that the road was finally finished and turned over to public use.
Mr. Mitchell, in connection with Samuel, Hanna and Pliny Hoagland, of Fort Waynem under the firm name of WIlliam Mitchell & Co., entered into a contract to construct one hundred and thirty-one miles of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad (now part of the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne Y Chicago), the first railroad in northeastern Indiana, extending from Crestline, Ohio, to Ft. Wayne, Ind. Like his other undertakings, this work was also completed under Mr. Mitchell's personal direction, and the towns and villages along the line, together with the wonderful development of the part of the country through which the road runs, are monuments to his energy and enterprise.
For a number of years Mr. Mitchell had taken an active part in the political affairs of Indiana and early became a leader of the Republican party in the northern part of the state. In 1860 he was elected to represent the old Tenth district composed of Elkhart, Kosciusko, Whitley, Allen, Noble, Steuben, Lagrange and DeKalb counties, in the Congress of the United States. He served with distinction in that honorable body and made a record of which his constituents felt proud. He was placed upon some of the most important committees, and his sound judgment, native tact and superior business training eminently fitted him to discharge training eminently fitted him to discharge worthily the high trust reposed in him by the people of his district. He was a great admirer and warm personal friend of President Lincoln, between whom and himself the most pleasant and cordial relations long existed.
In 1864 Mr. Mitchell was appointed with three others a committee to visit General Sherman in the field, and, if possible prevail upon him to allow the Indiana soldiers in his command to return home and vote at the ensuring presidential election, Jesse J. Brown, of New Albany, Ind., being the only one who accompanied him on the trip. Previous to their departure the matter was submitted to President Lincoln, who became so warmly interested in the movement that he wrote a strong letter to the General, urging him, if possible, to comply with the request of the committee; this letter is stil in possession of John Mitchell, who prizes it very highly. As is well known, the Indiana boys did return that fall and the state, which without their aid would have been carried by the opposition, was kept in line with the part of the Union.
At the expiration of his term in Congress, William Mitchell returned to his home in Kendallville and turned his attention to his large business interests. He was always foremost in advocating reforms and measures tending to ameliorate the condition of the people, and his influence was invariably upon the moral side of every great question or issue.
Although of meager scholastic opportunities in his youth, yet his good sense, sound judgment, wide reading and intelligent observation made him master of a practical education which, with his strong character and wonderful energy, insured him financial success in all of his business affairs. He was a man of decided religious convictions, but did not identify himself with any church. He was a regular attendant, however, of the Presbyterian church, to which his wife belonged, and contributed liberally of his means to be the support of he gospel at home and in foreign lands. While on a business trip to Macon, Ga., for the purpose of buying cotton, he died on the 11th day of September, 1865, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, deeply lamented by his family and a large circle of friends. William Mitchell was in the largest sense of the term a western man although of eastern birth. The effects of his strong controlling power are felt in the city which he founded and his name adorns the roster of Indiana's eminent and distinguished men.
Mrs. Mitchell was a lady of marked worth, possessing many Christian traits of character, and, with her husband, had uncomplainingly and cheerfully shared all the straits and hardships of pioneers times, and was his active co-laborer when success came to him in after years. She died at her home in Kendallville, February 18, 1864, preceding her companion by one year to the other life. The father of Mrs. Mitchell was Henry S. Keller, who died in the town of Root, Montgomery county, N. Y., October 12, 1818. Her mother's maiden name before marriage was Lany Failing; she was born August 1, 1770, and departed this life on the 9th day of January, 1846. Henry S. Keller and wife were both natives of York state and descendants of old and prominent German families that came to America at an early period in the history of the colonies. Mr. Keller's father, a patriot of the war of 1812, was killed in the battle of Oriskany.
John Mitchell, whose name introduces this biography, was born in the town of Root, Montgomery county, N. Y., on the 2d day of June, 1830. His childhood to the age of six years was spent on the farm where he first saw the light of day, and the familiar scenes of his first home and its surroundings are still fesh in his memory. He recalls the incidents of the long journey by canal, lake and overland, to the new place of residence in the primeval forests of northern Indiana, and recounts the part he took in felling the timber, clearing the land, and the hundred and one other kinds of labor a boy who is reared to manhood in a new country was obliged to do. To such subscription school as his neighborhood afforded he is indebted for his early scholastic training, but his attendance was not very regular, being continued to about three months of each year during the winter season. The greater part of his time was spent on the farm, where je learned the lessons of industry and thrift which have characterized his subsequent career. Long hours of unremitting toil with little time for rest or recreation was the daily routine, the result of which was the development of strong bodily powers and the building up of a study, manly spirit. Realizing the need of a better education than the district schools could impart, young Mitchell afterward attended a seminary at Ontario several terms, where, in addition to mastering the common course, he obtained a knowledge of some of the more advanced branches of learning. With this as a foundation, he added to his mental attainments as opportunities presented by reading such books as he could get hold of, so that in the course of a few years he was recognized as one of the best-informed young men of his neighborhood.
Selecting agriculture for his vocation, Mr. Mitchell entered heartily into the work and in due time et with the success his efforts deserved. He continued farming with encouraging results until1854, when he succeeded his father as president of the First National Bank at Kendallville, a position which his abilities eminently qualified him to fill. Previous to the above date, in connection with his father and several other business men of the town, he assisted in organizing the bank and became a stockholder and director. He held the office of president uninterruptedly for twenty-nine years and as such displayed executive abilities of a high order; also earned the reputation of a reliable and successful financier; meanwhile he continued to look after his farming and real estate interests, which had grown in magnitude and importance, and his attention was also directed to a number of other enterprises of private and public nature, in all of which the results of his leadership were unmistakably apparent.
Mr. Mitchell retired from the bank presidency in 1894, since which time his private affairs have engaged his attention. By judicious investments he has become the owner of a large amount of valuable real estate in Kendallville and throughout Noble county, as an agriculturist, and keeps fully abreast the times, ranking with the most successful and progressive men of this vocation in Noble county. His various real estate transactions have been uniformly fortunate, as has also every undertaking to which he has addressed himself. Mr. Mitchell assisted his father when the original plat of Kendallville was made and he has lived to see the town emerge from the forest, with a few log cabins and pole sheds and a population of perhaps a halt dozen white families, and gross to be the industrial and commercial center of one of the most populous and fertile agricultural regions of Indiana. When he came to the place the red men were still numerous, and but few indications of civilization were in evidence. The few settlements were as niches in the surrounding forests and the prophecy of what the town has since become would hardly have been made by the most optimistic of the early pioneers.
In no part of our great state are the changes of last half century more strikingly illustrated than in the wonderful advancement and improvement that have marked the history of Kendallville. In its career fact has assumed the place of abstract theory and practice has ejected speculation from her thrown. From a wilderness infested with savages and wild beats the country has been reclaimed and transformed into a very Eden of plenty unsurpassed in all that tends to vuil up an enlightened community and make man content with his lot. In bringing about this wonderful consummation Mr. Mitchell from the beginning has been a wise leader and an untiring worker. Realizing the needs of the people he has ministered to them freely and unsparingly and in various avenues; his leadership has been fruitful in results, calculated to give stability to the community and shape its future destiny. Closely identified with the place since 1849, his history and the history of Kendallville during the intervening period have been pretty much one and the same thing. He still takes a pardonable pride in its prosperity, has a firm and abiding faith in its future possibilities, and makes every reasonable sacrifice within his power to convert these possibilities into verities. Foremost in every movement having for its object the public weal, Mr. Mitchell is destined to be remembered as one of Kendallville's most unselfish friends as well as its greatest benefactor. Mr. Mitchell is as much interested in the moral advancement of his city as he is in its material progress. He has always been an earnest advocate of temperance, a friend of churches, and his interest in the cause of education has aided materially in building up the splendid public school system which the city of Kendallville now enjoys. Reared a Whig, he was an earnest supporter of that party until its disintegration, since which time he has been a Republican. While taking a lively interest in all political questions, he is not a partisan in the sense of seeking office, nor has he any part in the methods such as the politician resorts to in order to accomplish his ends. Mr. Mitchell is a believer in revealed religion, and for many years has been an earnest and devout member of the Presbyterian church of Kendallville. At the present time he holds the office of trustee and ruling elder in his congregation. While loyal to the church of his choice, he possesses a broad, catholic spirit which leads him to contribute liberally of his means to all denominations. In 1867 he donated to a private company twenty-five acres of ground for burial purposes, which was platted under the name of the Lake View Cemetery. He advanced means sufficient to defray all expenses until it became self-support, and it is now one of the most beautiful and tastefully arranged cemeteries in this section of the state. His interest in this attractive city of the dead has never flagged and since its organization by the present time he has een officially connected therewith as treasurer and trustee, also general manager. On the 1st day of January, 1901, the assets of the Lake View Cemetery amounted to $15,322.41.
Mr. Mitchell is a Mason of high standing, having taken a number of degrees, including that of Sir Knight. Mr. Mitchell was married on the 7th day of January, 1857, to Miss Sophronia Julia Weston, a resident at the time of Rome City, Ind., but a native of Geauga county, Ohio. She was born in the town of Troy, August 16, 1833, and was the daughter of Hon. John and Fidelia (Lamb) Weston. John Weston was born in Middlesex, Ontario county, N. Y., August 15, 1809, and died in Kendallville, Ind., February 9, 1881. His wife was born December 4, 1812, in the town of Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., and departed this life on the 1st day of January, 1884. They were married December 9, 1830, and in 1851 came with their family to Noble county, settling at Rome City, where Mr. Weston built a mill and engaged in the mercantile business. He was elected joint senator from the counties of Noble, Kosciusko and Whitley in 187, and was prominent in local and state politics for a number of years. He and wife were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Rome City, and are remembered for their good work and liberal benefactions in the cause of religion, charity and benevolence.
John and Fidelia Weston had a family of nine children, namely: Elon D., Sophronia J., Eli B., John E., Elijah, Albert, Albert H., Marilla and one that died in infancy.
Mrs. Mitchell was a lady of marked personal presence and possessed many sterling qualities of head and heart. Like her husband, she, too, was a member of the Presbyterian church and by her beautiful character and sweet, moral nature endeared herself to a large number of friends and acquaintances in Kendallville. She was popular in the social world, and being well versed on general topcs and widely read in the best literature she was calculated to adorn any circle in which she moved. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell was blessed with the birth of three children, the oldest of whom, Lydia Agnes, born October, 1860, married Perry D. Creager, of Kendallville, and died December 13, 1895. She left three daughters, viz.: Dorothy, Margaret and Catherine M., all of whom make Mr. Mitchell's house their home. The second daughter is Kate Rice, born December 18, 1863, now the wife of Archey Campbell, of Kendallville. The youngest of the family, William, born August 23, 1865, is a clergyman of the Episcopal church with a charge at Redwood Falls, Minn. He is a young man of fine intellectual attainments, a popular minister, and has before him a career of usefulness in his chosen field of labor.
Thus, only too briefly, have been set forth the leading facts and characteristics in the life of one of Noble county's representative men. He has lived long and well, and his creer throughout has been above reproach. In the language of another, "In social life he is a genial Christian gentleman. His domestic habits are pure and strong, and his home is the center of a generous hospitality. There, surrounded by his family and friends, he enjoys that repose which comes from a cordial interchange of kindly deeds with those near to him, and without which life would lose many of its charms." To the above beautiful and well deserved compliment it may be added that never in the course of his long and useful life has Mr. Mitchell consciously wronged a fellow-man nor acquired one dollar of his fortune by questionable methods. "He has stood four square to every wind that blows," and is a striking type of the symmetrically developed man. Actuated by the highest sense of honor in all his relations with his fellow-man, he has tried to realize his ideal of manly living, and there is nothing in the future for him to fear.
Alford's History of Noble County, Indiana, by Samuel E. Alvord, (c) 1902, pp. 152-160. .
Transcribed by Denise Wells, May 2014