Obituary of Col. James Mitchell, Pulaski Co, Ar

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Submitted by: Paul V. Isbell < >
 Date: 1 May 2011
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Obituary: Col. James Mitchell, Little Rock, Ark. Jun. 26 - Col. James Mitchell,
editor of the Arkansas Democrat died today. He was a native of Arkansas, seventy
two years of age, and was prominent in the affairs fo the State. He was formerly
a member of the faculty of the University of Arkansas. Washington Post, Jun. 27,
1902 - Buried Mt. Holly Cemetery, Little Rock, Ark. - Bio: James Mitchell was
president and editor - in - chief of the Arkansas Democrat from the time he
purchased the paper with W. D. Blocher in 1878 until shortly before his death in
1902. As editor, Mitchell made the paper a powerful statewide force
backingDemocratic policies and candidates. At the same time, he argued
forcefully, both in the paper and through frequent public speeches, for economic
diversification in the state, for educational improvement, for equal pay and
improved opportunities forwomen, and for other progressive measures. James
Mitchell was born on May 8, 1833, at Cane Hill (Washington County) to James
Mitchell, a farmer, and Mary Ann Webber. He was the third of ten children whose
parents had moved their family from Indiana to the Arkansas Territory about
1830. As a youth, Mitchell assisted his father on the family farm and attended
common schools during the winters. In 1846, Mitchell attended school in Fort
Smith (Sebastian County), and in 1850, he entered Cane Hill Collegiate
Institute, later renamed Cane Hill College. After a five - month term at the
institute, Mitchell taught in the Choctaw Nation for two years in order to
finance his return to Cane Hill Institute to study from 1854 to 1855. Mitchell’s
interests as a student were Latin, rhetoric, and history, subjects from which he
later drew heavily as a teacher, writer, and public speaker. Mitchell received
appointment as Deputy United States Surveyor for Kansas and Nebraska in 1855. A
journal Mitchell kept while he was surveying notes that he opposed the anti -
Catholic, anti - immigration positions of the Know - Nothing Party, and it
offers insight into his character and beliefs. A Protestant, Mitchell wrote in
the journal that “toleration in matters of faith is the grand distinguishing
feature in the Constitution of the United States… It makes us different from,
and exalts us above, every other nation under heaven. ” He went on to ask, “What
right have you or I to oppose foreign emigration when we remember that
foreigners battled for the liberties which we now enjoy?” By 1859, Mitchell had
returned to Arkansas and opened a school at Evansville (Washington County).
Mitchell married Sarah Elizabeth Latta January 31, 1860, at the Latta family
homestead at Vineyard (Washington County). The couple had eight children. In
1860, Mitchell was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives as a
Democrat. He chaired the House Education Committee and opposed the state’s 1861
secession from the Union without a popular vote. When Arkansas entered the
conflict, Mitchell enlisted in the Confederate army in May 1861 and mustered out
in June 1865. At the war’s end, Mitchell joined his family in Bonham, Texas,
where Sarah Elizabeth and their daughter had gone to be with relatives to escape
the hardships of the war. Mitchell taught school in Texas until the family
returned to Cane Hill in 1866, where Mitchell farmed, probably on the farm he
had purchased near Cane Hill soon after he married. Mitchell also taught at Cane
Hill College. In 1868, he was elected to a professorship at the reorganized Cane
Hill College, which had been burned during the Civil War. He remained on the
faculty for six years. During this period, college officials conferred a BA
degree on Mitchell. In 1874, Mitchell was elected professor and chair of history
and English literature at Arkansas Industrial University inFayetteville
(Washington County) (now the University of Arkansas (UA)). He taught there for
two years before he moved to Little Rock (Pulaski County) to become editor - in
- chief of the Arkansas Gazette. In 1878, Mitchell left the Gazette and
purchased theArkansas Democrat with William Durbin Blocher. When Blocher died in
1879, the paper experienced financial difficulties, since Blocher had been the
business manager, and his death left Mitchell with editorial as well as
managerial duties. Conditions improved when Mitchell added James R. Bettis as a
partner and business manager. An added factor that benefited the paper in its
early years was its support for David Walker’s candidacy for the United States
Senate against the rival Arkansas Gazette’s choice, Robert W. Johnson. Walker’s
win, credited to the Democrat, aided subscriptions and expanded advertising of
the newspaper. As a journalist, Mitchell believed his mission was to teach. The
paper remained loyal to conservative Democratic Party politics, and in his
initial editorial, Mitchell declared support for “Democratic agencies and
instrumentalities” but promised that the paper would maintain independence of
thought and action. As editor, he stressed the need for economic diversification
in order for the state to prosper. Through the paper and in his public
addresses, Mitchell also supported a strong system of public schools, improved
teacher pay, and effective college - level instruction, insisting that college
should nurture patriotism. The paper also supported an 1879 resolution
introduced in the state legislature to protect African Americans in all
political, legal, and property rights as fully as if they were white. Mitchell
also strongly advocated rights for women, including equality of opportunity, co
- education at all levels, access to the professions, civil rights, and legal
guarantees. In addressing inequities in teacher salaries, he argued that merit
rather than gender should determine compensation. Mitchell was heavily involved
in community work and in professional journalism societies. He received numerous
recognitions, including his appointment by Governor James Eagle to the Arkansas
commission to plan the state’s role in the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago,
as well as his election as president of the state commission. He helped secure
private and public funds for the commission’s project at the exposition.
Mitchell also served as a member of the Little Rock Public School Board, which
named one of its schools—James Mitchell School—in his honor. Mitchell remained
active in community affairs until shortly before his death on 26, 1902, at
Battle Creek Sanitarium in Little Rock after a brief illness. The funeral was
held at his home on Spring Street, and he was buried at Mount Holly Cemetery in
Little Rock. 

Extracted from: 
Washington Post via Ancestry.com