Stephen Mix Mitchell (1743 - 1835)

Born 9 Dec 1743 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Grant) Mitchell — married 2 Aug 1769 in Newtown, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 30 Sep 1835 at age 91 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Tiff Bingham [send private message]

Biography

Stephen Mix Mitchell is Notable.

Preceded by Roger Sherman

Stephen Mix Mitchell US Senator (Class 3) from Connecticut 1793—1795

Succeeded by Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.

Stephen Mix Mitchell, who "married Hannah Grant and had eleven children, Donald Grant Mitchell, Stephen Mix Mitchell, Lewis Mitchell, Charles Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Alfred Mitchell, Walter Mitchell, Hannah Grant Mitchell, Harriet Mitchell, Elizabeth Mitchell Chester, and Julia Mitchell.^[1]

His mother, Rebecca, d. Stephen & Mary, b. Mar. 17, 1701/2. ^[2] She was baptized the 22 of the same month^[3]. Rebecca, m. James Mitchel, about Oct. 20, 1740^[2]. "Rebecca Mitchell, wife of James, died Oct 20 1747" in her 45th year.^[2].

Excerpted from the Mitchell-Tiffany Papers^[4] at the Yale Archives:

Stephen Mix Mitchell was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut on December 9, 1743, the only child of James Mitchell and his second wife Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Stephen and Mary (Stoddard) Mix. James Mitchell had emigrated from Paisley, Scotland, and settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Stephen Mix Mitchell's mother, who was a first cousin of Jonathan Edwards, died while he was an infant. After his graduation from Yale College in 1763, Stephen Mitchell received a Berkeley Scholarship and in September, 1766, began a three year term as tutor in the college. At the same time he pursued a law degree under the direction of the Hon. Jared Ingersoll. On August 2, 1769, he married Hannah Grant, daughter of Donald Grant, an emigrant from Inverness, Scotland, to Newtown, Connecticut.

Stephen Mix Mitchell was admitted to the Fairfield County bar in 1770, and settled in Newtown, but in 1772 moved to Wethersfield, where he continued in practice for about seven years. He began his public career as a Representative in the General Assembly of the State in October, 1778, and in the following May he accepted the oKce of Associate Judge of the Hartford County Court. He was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1783, 1785, and 1787 and lived to be the last surviving member of the Old Congress, with the exception of President James Madison. Mitchell continued as Representative in the General Assembly (serving one term as clerk) until his transfer to the upper house of the legislature in 1784. He was reelected to the House of Assistants for seven more years (1785, 1787, 1792) and was then chosen to fill the unexpired term of the late Honorable Roger Sherman as United States Senator, serving from December, 1793, to March, 1795. In May, 1790, he became Presiding Judge of the Hartford County Court, until his transfer to the Superior Court in October, 1795. Mitchell became Chief Justice of the State in May, 1807, retiring in 1814. He was a presidential elector in 1805, and in 1807 Yale College conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1788 Mitchell served as a member of the State Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States and in 1818 as a member of the State Constitutional Convention.

Stephen Mix Mitchell died in Wethersfield on September 30, 1835, at the age of 93. His wife, Hannah (Grant) Mitchell, died on February 14, 1830, at the age of 81. Their marriage produced eleven children.

Research

More research is needed before finalizing a profile for his father James Mitchell (no pre-existing profile matches his ~1705 birth and will need to find more records before adding). Records elsewhere show a James who was born in Scotland. So, the father James is likely a colonial settler.

Death

BURIAL: Wethersfield Village Cemetery Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA ^[5]

Inscription:

In Memory of Hon. Stephen Mix Mitchell, L.L.D. / Memb'r Cont'l Cong. 1883-5. U. S. Senator 1793-5. / Judge Sup'r Court 1795-1807. / Chief Justice State of Conn. 1807-14. / He Died Full of Years & of Horors Sept. 30, 1835. AE. 93. / His Beloved Wife Hannah daughter of Don'd Grant died / Feb. 11,1830. AE. 81. / Children of S. M . M. & H. G. M. / Don'd Grant, Capt U. S. Army. Died Aug. 1798. AE. 26. / Stephen Mix, Couns'lr-at-law. Died May 1820. AE. 55. / Lewis, Couns'lr-at-law. Died June 1826. AE. 39. / Charles, couns'lr-at-law. Died June 1831. AE. 46. / Rebecca, died Aug. 1831. AE. / Alfred, Rev. buried at Norwich. Died Dec. 1831. AE. / Walter, couns'lr-at-law. Died July 1849. AE. 72. / Hannah Grant, died Dec. 1866. AE. 87. / Harriet, Died July 1878. AE. 85. Burying Ground Map

Sources

1. ↑ Stephen Mix Mitchell on Wikipedia
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Connecticut Vital Records to 1870. Barbour Collection: Wethersfield. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928.
3. ↑ Stiles, Henry Reed. Families of Ancient Wethersfield Connecticut; Consisting of the History of Ancient Wethersfield, Comprising the Present Towns of Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington; and of Glastonbury Prior to Its Incorporation in 1693, from Date of Earliest Settlement Until the Present Time, with Extensive Genealogies and Genealogical Notes on Their Families. Vol II. 1904. (p 508)
4. ↑ From the Mitchell-Tiffany Papers Finding Aid; Archives at Yale accessed 3/26/24.
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #7157498

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• Savage, James. Geneaological Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (Originally published Boston 1860-62, reprinted April 1873 and 1884. Reproduced by Genealogical Publishing Company, Balitmore 1981.) Text - Mix or Meeks: : "Stephen, Wethersfield, youngest s. of Thomas the first, ord. 1694, m. 1 Dec. 1696, Mary, d. of Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, had Sarah, b. early in 1698; Mary, 1700; Rebecca, 1702; Esther, 1704; Elisha, 1706; and Christian, 1709; and he d. 28 Aug. 1738."

• Newtown, CT: Vital Records, 1704-1850 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, NEHGS, Boston, 2021) Vol. 1, Page 27.