Cemetery Spotlight: Henry Mitchell and Family

"Bibles and Bullets" could have been another title for this exploration into one of the older gravestones in Cuba City's Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The monument sits near the cemetery's southern-most entrance and belongs to Henry Mitchell; his wife, Elizabeth; and son, William. Fortunately for the Mitchells, there were more Bibles than bullets in their lives, but their story still took some surprising twists and turns.

 

Henry and Elizabeth Mitchell hailed from West Cornwall and arrived in Grant County, Wisconsin, by 1850. Like many of his fellow countrymen, Henry initially took up mining but soon turned to agriculture, settling southwest of Cuba City, in Hazel Green Township. The location of the Mitchell home can be seen in the 1868 map of Grant County below, just above the "GR" in "GREEN". For a better sense of the Mitchell farm location, the present Highway 80 runs along the east side of this map. The community of Fairview, northeast of Henry Mitchell's property, was located between Cuba City and Hazel Green, near the intersection of Highway 80 and Highway 11.

 New Map of Grant County, Wisconsin, Gray & Pattengill, 1868. (Digitized by the Library of Congress.)

The Methodist faith played a central role in the lives of the Mitchells, so it was likely no coincidence that a Methodist Episcopal church, known as Wesley Chapel, stood on their property. The Rev. Henry Mitchell, as he was sometimes called, was one of several "local preachers," or esteemed lay people who preached at religious services. In 1871, Henry advanced even further in the Methodist Church and was ordained a deacon.

This list of missionary contributions from Wesley Chapel names four members of the Mitchell family: Henry, Elizabeth, and their daughters, Agnes and Sibyl. From the Minutes of the Fifteenth Session of the West Wisconsin Annual Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1869.

Naturally, Henry Mitchell preached at the Wesley Chapel near his home, but he also officiated at neighboring Methodist churches, such as Mount Pleasant, which was located on the southern edge of Cuba City, where Mount Pleasant Cemetery is today. The article below describes a New Year's gathering there and offers a lively picture of the area's social life.

Published in the Galena Daily Gazette (January 5, 1872).

There is no question that Henry enjoyed speaking publicly on a variety of topics and was called upon to do so often. He could be found recruiting volunteers to enlist during the Civil War, warning against the evils of strong drink, or participating in the Cuba City Literary Society, which met regularly for debates and recitations.

Henry also harbored a passion for politics. In the 1860s, he served on the Grant County Board of Supervisors and in the role of Hazel Green Township assessor. He also unsuccessfully sought a State Assembly seat in 1867 and served as a delegate at Grant County's Republican Convention in 1874.

It is easy to get wrapped up in Henry Mitchell's extracurricular activities, but he was also an established farmer and owned a substantial amount of property. In addition to the farm in Hazel Green Township, he owned land southeast of Dickeyville and, in the late 1870s, he purchased the John Huntington farm, located southeast of Georgetown, which would become the Mitchells' new home. Both properties are visible on the maps below. 

 Atlas of Grant County, Wisconsin, Warner & Foote, 1877. (Digitized by the Wisconsin Historical Society.)

Just a few years after moving, Henry Mitchell, aged 56, died of asthma in the fall of 1880. Knowing of his role in the Methodist Church makes the Bible on his grave especially suitable. He is likely buried just steps away from where he preached at Mount Pleasant on many occasions.

 

 

The following obituary and description of a memorial service in Henry's honor leave no doubt as to how highly respected he was in the area. Large turnouts were on hand for both events, and some of the area's most prosperous farmers and businessmen were attendees.

Published in the Galena Daily Gazette (November 5, 1880).

Published in the Galena Daily Gazette (February 16, 1881).

Unfortunately for the family, and despite his esteemed position in the community, the settling of Henry Mitchell's estate was a messy business, drawn out over the course of seven years, and often publicly. It involved mortgages, foreclosures, and other debts that required mountains of paperwork and numerous court appearances.  Among the missives filed in Henry Mitchell's probate record, his wife Elizabeth wrote that, despite her husband owning 230 acres in Smelser and 234 in Paris Township, "she was left a widow without a single dollar in the house or without anyway of getting means for her support except by the help of her children." (Grant County, Wisconsin, probate records. Box 104, File 15.)

Elizabeth Mitchell did survive those difficult years and though many of her twelve children moved west to Iowa and beyond, she initially remained in southwestern Wisconsin, relocating to Montfort. By the time of her death in 1901, however, she had joined her oldest daughter, Agnes, and her family in Carroll, Iowa.

Published in the Carroll Herald (July 24, 1901).

And what of the third Mitchell sharing the monument with Henry and Elizabeth? The couple's son, William, ultimately succumbed to the siren call of the West, making his home in Oklahoma and occupying himself in the book publishing business. If you were to believe the date carved on his grave, William died on February 5, 1892, at the age of 29. The obituary that follows, however, was published at the time of his actual death--ten years later, in 1902!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published in The Montfort Mail (February 13, 1902).

 

While the Montfort obituary was published with the correct death date, it was still missing some key details in William Mitchell's demise. Whether the actual cause of his death had not reached Wisconsin or it was discreetly overlooked, Oklahoma newspapers reported that William had been married for less than a year when he was shot on New Year's Day over a cattle dispute. He was not killed from the attack, but was paralyzed from the waist down and died just over a month later as a result of his injuries.

Published in the Grant County Vidette (January 16, 1902).

 

Though he appears on his parents' monument, William was buried in Oklahoma. Perhaps his name was added by the family several years later, which may account for the mix-up in death dates.

 

Who would have thought that this unassuming headstone held so many stories?

 

***If you happen to visit the Mitchell monument in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, you may notice markers like the one below, marking off the Mitchell family plot. In addition to William, two more of Henry and Elizabeth Mitchell's twelve children are buried beside them with separate headstones.

 

 

Just six months after Henry's death in 1880, the Mitchell family suffered another blow when 12-year-old Edith passed away. Edith's death may not have been entirely unexpected as, according to Henry's probate record, the girl had been "in feeble health and required a great deal of care and attention."

 

Next to Edith is the grave of her brother. Thomas R. Mitchell, who initially lived in LeMars, Iowa, with his wife and children. When Thomas's wife divorced him in 1903, he returned to Wisconsin, finding work in Platteville-area mines before his death in 1924.