Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/429

 MITCHELL

MITCHILL

Wethersfield, 1772. He was a delegate to the Continentul congress, 1783-88 ; was associate jus- tice of the county court of Hartford county, 1779- 90, and its presiding judge, 1790-93. Hb was elected to the U.S. senate in 1793, to till the vacancy caused hy the death of Roger Sherman, and served until March 4, 1795. He was judge of the superior court, 1793-1807, and its chief justice. 1807-14. He was presidential elector in 1801, and voted for John .\danis. The honorary d'^reeof LL.D. was conferred on him by Yale in 1807. He was married in 1709 to Hannah, daughter of Donald and Arminal (Toucey) Grant of Newtown, Conn., and tlieirson Alfred (1790- 1831), a Congregational minister, was the father of Donald Grant Mitchell (q.v.). Judge Mitchell dieil in Wethersfield. Conn., Sept. 30, 1835.

MITCHELL, Thomas Rothmahler, repre- sentative, was born at Georgetown, S.C., about 1783. He was graduated at Harvard, A.B., 1802, A.M., 1805 ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Charleston. S.C. in 1808. He settled in practice at Georgetown, S.C, and was a repre- sentative in the 17th. 19th. 20th and 22d con- gresses, 1821-23, 1825-29 and 1831-33, defeating Col. Robert B. Campbell of Brownsville, and being defeated for the 18th, 21st and 23d con- gresses by Colonel Campbell, who was his politi- cal opponent at every election. 1820-34. He died at Geo;-;,'etwn. S.C. Nov. 2, 1837.

MITCHELL, William, astronomer, was born in Nantucket. Mass., Dec. 20, 1791. He was one of the '• birthright " members of the Society of Friends, as were also his ancestors for a century before. He was prepared to enter Harvard col- lege, but the war of 1812 prevented, and he taught .sciiool for several years and developed a taste for astronomy in association with Walter Folger (q.v.). He was for many years cashier of the Pacific bank at Nantucket, where from the cupola of the bank building and from observatories in the yard, he and his daughter Maria (q.v.) made long series of observations in connection with tl»e coast .survey studies of the figure of the earth. He furnished time and rated chronome- ters for the whale shii>s ; he also gave lectures in Boston and other cities as means of support for his large family. The last eight years of his life were spent with his daughter at the observatory of Vassar college. The honorary degree of A.M. was conferred on him by Brown university in 1848 and by Harvard in 1800. He was an overseer of Harvard, 1857-65, and chairman of the com- mittee of the observatory. He was a member of various scientific societies, including the Ameri- can Academy of Arts and Sciences. He con- tributed articles on astronomy to the American Journal of Science and other publications. He died in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., April 19, 1868.

MITCHELL, William, jurist, was l>orn in New York city, Feb. 24, 1801 ; son of the Rev. Edward and Cornelia (Anderson) Mitchell. He was grad- uated at Columbia with first honors, A.B., 1820, A.M., 1823. He was admitted to the bar in 1823 and ^ttled in practice in New York city, becom- ing a solicitor in chancery in 1824. counselor-at- law in 1826, and counselor-in-chancery in 1827. He was married in 1841 to Mary P. Berrian of New York. He was a master in chancery in New York, 1840-43 ; justice of the supreme court for the first district of New York, 1850-57 ; judge of the old high court of appeals 1857-58, and chief justice, 1858-60. He again practised law in New York city from 1860 until 1885, when he retired. He was vice-president of the New York Bar association two terms. He received the degree LL.D. from Columbia in 1863. He edited Black- stone's Commentaries, with reference to American cases. He died in Morristown, N.J., Oct. 6, 1886.

MITCHILL, Samuel Latham, senator, was born in North Hempstead, L.L, N.Y., Aug. 20, 1764. He studied medicine under his maternal uncle, Samuel Latham, and under Dr. John Bard of New York, and was graduated from the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, M.D. in 1786. He re- turned to New York city, where he prac- tised medicine and studied law with Rob- ert Yates. In 1788 he was U.S. com- missioner appointed to make a treaty with the Iroquois Indians, and was present at the council held at Fort Stanwix in 17- 88 that resulted in the purchase of the lands held by the

Five Nations in western New York. He was a member of the state assembly, 1790-92 and 1797- 99 ; professor of botanj- in Columbia college, 1792- 95, and of natural history, chemistry and agri- culture, 1792-1801, and a Democratic represen- tative in the 7th and 8th congresses, 1801-04 ; U.S. senator, as successor to John Armstrong, resigned, 1804-09, and representative in the 11th and 12th congresses, 1809-13. While at Columbia he aided in establishing the Society for the Pro- motion of Agriculture, Manufactures and Useful Arts, 1793-94, and also made a geological survey of the state. He was professor of natural history in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1808- 20, and professor of materia medica and botany there, 1820-26 ; vice-president of the medical department of Rutgers college, New Bruns-

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