WILLIAM HENRY MITCHELL
William Henry Mitchell, b July 4, 1846 in Franklin,
Robertson County, Texas, d March 6, 1917 at his in Blue Ridge, Falls
County, Texas and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery ‑ was a son of Memnon A. and
Martha (Harlan) Mitchell who came to Texas from Indiana with her parents, Dr.
Isaiah and Nancy (Henry) Harlan in the Fall of 1834. Dr. Harlan received his
land grant of a league of land (4,428 acres ‑all located in present‑day Falls
County) on February 20, 1835 from Mexico and the State of Coahuila, at
Viesca‑the seat of government of Sterling Clack Robertson's Colony. William
Henry's parents relocated on a 738‑acre tract of his grandfather's land in 1853.
By the time William Henry took the management of his mother's estate out of the
hands of his maternal uncles, her portion of the land in Falls County had
diminished to 540 acres.
On May 11, 1863, William Henry Mitchell enlisted in
the Confederate States Army ‑only nine months after his brother, John Newton
Mitchell, had died in service. William Henry (called "Doe") served in Company B,
Waller's Battalion, Greene's Cavalry, of the Trans‑Mississippi Army, and was not
discharged until the Civil War ended.
On September 9, 1869 at Blue Ridge, Falls County,
Texas, he married Margaret Lucinda Chamberlain, b June 23, 1854 in Yalobusha
County, Mississippi, d July 19, 1940 in Marlin, Texas and buried by her husband
in Blue Ridge Cemetery ‑ a daughter of Alexander Hunter and Temperance
Killingsworth (Aldridge) Chamberlain of South Carolina and Alabama,
respectively, who had lived in Mississippi until the Spring of 1855, when they
settled in Falls County, Texas. William Henry and Margaret Lucinda (Chamberlain)
Mitchell were the parents of fourteen children, but only twelve reached
maturity:
Guy Mitchell, b August 21, 1870, d September 10, 1929
in Victoria, Texas and buried there in Evergreen Cemetery‑married January 11,
1894 to Anna Egga daughter of Colonel Gideon and Emilie K. Egg of Edna, Texas.
Guy attended Sam Houston Normal Institute in Huntsville, Texas ‑ and then
studied law in the office of Abercrombie and Randolph Law Firm two of the most
famous of the early Texas lawyers being admitted to the Bar when only 19 years
old. He practiced law and was appointed County Judge of Wharton County in 1905 ‑
resigning in 1910 to accept the position of District Attorney of the 24th
Judicial District. Guy Mitchell was described as a man who loved the outdoors
and "God's handiwork" ‑enjoying gun, rod, and dog. He was a great reader, and
the possessor of many rare books. Next to his devotion to his family, his second
real devotion was to children "everybody's children, anywhere, and under any
circumstance." Guy and Anna Mitchell had two children: Guy Mitchell, Jr., b ca
1896, d 1902; and Melba Mitchell, b 1899, who never married and continued to
reside in her parents in Victoria.
Temperance Mitchell, b February 13, 1872, d April 9,
1962 at Clifton, Texas in the Lutheran Rest Home. She was called "Tempe" all her
life. On February 23, 1896 in Falls County, Texas, Tempe married Judson H.
Williams ‑ a son of James W. Williams and his first wife, Martha (Eden)
Williams. Judson and Tempe were the parents of two children: Margaret Williams
("Maggie"), b February 1897 who married Burl Sammis and had two children; and
Julian Williams, b October 1898, d March 10, 1929 in Temple, Bell County, Texas
and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin ‑owned an automobile garage ‑ served in
the U.S. Navy in the Atlantic, and later in France for a time during World War
I.
Frances Beatrice Mitchell, b October 18, 1873, d December 24, 1873, d December
24, 1873 ‑ a "crib death" and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery.
Dessie Alexander Mitchell, b December 22,1874, d May
29, 1941 in Los Angeles, California ‑ married July 2, 1902 in Falls County,
Texas to Annie L. Mc Bryde. Although educated for the profession of dentist,
Alex did not like his profession, and soon after his marriage, he moved to
California and settled on an Avocado Ranch near Los Angeles. Alex served in the
U.S. Army in the Spanish‑American War of 1899‑1900, and was stationed in "the
walled city of Old Manila." Alex and Annie Mitchell had only one child, David
Alexander Mitchell, b ca 1904, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Mary Cornelia Mitchell (called "Connie"), b November
20, 1876, d January 13, 1956 at the of a daughter in Houston, Harris
County, Texas ‑ married October 5, 1898 in Falls County to Alfred Marmaduke
Hobby Stark (called "Hobby"), b January 16, 1873, d May 9, 1955 ‑ a son of John
Thomas and Donna Jerusha (Smith) Stark of Orange, Texas. Hobby was president of
the Orange State Bank. "Connie" taught in the school in Golinda, Falls County,
Texas before her marriage. Hobby and Connie had seven children: A. M. H. Stark,
Jr., b 1900, d ca 1906 by drowning; Mary Etta Bess Stark, b 1902, d 1907 of
meningitis; Mozelle Stark, b 1904, d 1905 of cholera infantum; Margaret Stark, b
1906, d August 9, 1970 in Houston, Texas married Anson Feagin ‑ became an
interior decorator of fine reputation, and had no children; Constance Stark, b
February 25, 1908, d July 6, 1971 in Austin, Texas ‑ was the second wife of Dr.
Henry Louis Hilgartner, Jr., to whom she was married May 3, 1931and she reared
his two sons, Peter Louis and Fielding Phelps Hilgartner, along with the two
sons she and Henry had: Charles Andrew Hilgartner, b July 10, 1932 who married
Carol Howe; and Lee Mitchell Hilgartner, b September 5, 1934 who married Mary
Ann Campbell; Mildred Stark (called "Mim"), b 1910, d 1972, who married George
Humphreville and had David Humphreville; and Mitchell Stark (called "Much"), who
married Marsha (maiden name unknown) and had Shirley Ann Stark, and married
second to Margaret Thying and had Constance Stark and Craig Mitchell Stark.
William Edwin Mitchell (called "Ed"), b August 30,
1878, d November 27, 1948 ‑married November 30, 1899 to Donna Jerusha Stark, b
August 2, 1876, d October 11, 1958 ‑ a daughter of John Thomas and Donna Jerusha
(Smith) Stark, and had two children: Harold Smith Mitchell (called "Smith"), b
December 6, 1901 who married March 28, 1938 in New Iberia, Louisiana to Elsie
Bertrand and had no children; and Donna Marie Mitchell (called "Marie"), b May
25, 1904 who married Turner Morehead Buford, Jr., and had Turner Morehead
Buford, III and Bobby Joe Buford.
Myrtle Margaret Mitchell (called "Mertie"), b August
13, 1880, d in her January 21, 1955 and buried in Arlington, Texas ‑
married on August 11, 1899 in Falls County to Paul Joshua Norman, b November 1,
1876 in Falls County, d March 1960 in Marlin, Texas and buried in Arlington,
Texas ‑ a son of Hiram John and Eliza Jane (Saxon) Norman, and had six children:
Pauline Elizabeth Norman, b July 1, 1900, d 1986 in Arlington, who married first
to John Forrest Green and had John Forrest Green, Jr. and Paula Elizabeth Green,
and married second to William C. Brandt; William Henry Norman, b May 21, 1902 ‑
married Grace Lee May ‑ moved to Bryan, Texas where he died in 1932, and had
Norma Bess Norman who married Travis Bell Bryan, Jr., and Grace Ann Norman who
married a Mr. Carr; Douglas Norman, b 1905, d at age 15 months of "cholera
infantum"; Richard Norman, b 1907, d at age 2 days of "a leaking heart valve";
Paul Joshua Norman, Jr., b May 25, 1909, d 1928 in a car wreck and was not
married; and Jack Norman, b April 1923, d 1945 of a motorcycle accident
returning to Brooks General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas for surgery after
losing a foot in the Philippine Islands in the U.S. Army during World War II‑was
not married.
Harold Chamberlain Mitchell (called "Hal"), b May 1,
1882, d October 29, 1955 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas and buried in Calvary
Cemetery in Marlin ‑ married January 9, 1921 to May Sessions, b August 6, 1888
in Freestone County, Texas, d August 20, 1936 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery,
and had two children: Harold Chamberlain Mitchell, Jr., and Sarah Margaret
Mitchell.
Claude Franklin Mitchell, b May 22, 1884, d September
21, 1950 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin, Texas ‑ married February 7,
1904 in Falls County, Texas to Julia Williams, b September 26, 1884 in Falls
County, d August 10, 1968 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery ‑ a daughter of
James W. and Aramantha (Millerman) Williams.
Mozelle Mitchell, b April 26, 1886, d January 18,
1945 in Los Angeles, California and returned by train for burial in Blue Ridge
Cemetery in Falls County married Virgil B. Blakey and resided for a time in
Falls County, until their move to West Texas near Wichita Falls. They had three
children: Vivian Blakey, who married a Mr. Caraway and had a daughter, Patricia
Caraway; Jack Blakey who died, unmarried, in 1935 in West Texas of "dust
pneumonia"; and Robert Blakey, who served in the Merchant Marines during World
War II, and was not married when last heard from ‑ and living in California.
Bryan Earl Mitchell, b July 7, 1888, d February 26, 1971 and buried in Calvary
Cemetery in Marlin, Texas ‑ married October 14, 1915 in Mexia, Texas to Cleone
Clark, b August 23, 1890, d July 17, 1972 and buried in Calvary Cemetery ‑ a
daughter of Marcus Simeon and Emily (Wills) Clark.
Betsey Mitchell (called "Bess"), b August 11, 1891, d
September 4, 1956 in Austin, Travis County, Texas and buried in Calvary Cemetery
in Marlin, Texas married December 21, 1917 in New York to Benjamin Herbert Rice,
Jr., b December 12, 1889 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas, d March 14, 1964 in
Marlin and buried in Calvary Cemetery‑ a son of Benjamin Herbert and Mary Bowles
(Carter) Rice.
Martha Mitchell, b and d April 18, 1894 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery as
"Infant Daughter" was named for her paternal grandmother, Martha (Harlan)
Mitchell, and so recorded in her parents' Family Bible.
Agnes Estelle Mitchell (usually called "Tildy"), b
August 21, 1896, d October 6, 1974 in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas and
buried in Stranger Cemetery in Falls County, Texas‑married February 28, 1917 in
Blue Ridge, Texas to Sanford Quay Garrett, b January 22, 1897 at Stranger, d
February 19, 1962 in Lake Jackson, Brazoria County, Texas and buried in Stranger
Cemetery ‑ a son of James Odell and Elizabeth Ann (Jackson) Garrett.
William Henry Mitchell was described as one "ahead of
his time by at least thirty years, in the matter of seed selection, conservation
of the soil and rotation of crops." In his political opinions, he staunchly
supported the principles of independent thought and action ‑ was a man of firm
convictions. Margaret Lucinda (Chamberlain) Mitchell was very active in the Blue
Ridge Baptist Church ‑ having been a Sunday School Teacher; and wrote the
letters to solicit the funds for the present‑day church building. She remained
in her own two‑story at Blue Ridge until she could no longer drive her own
car ‑ and at different times, her son, Harold C. ("Hal"), and later her son,
Claude F. and his family, lived in the family with her. She subsequently
lived in Marlin with daughter, Bess' family in the winters ‑ spending May to
November in Stranger with daughter Agnes' family. Her snapping black eyes
inherited from her part‑Italian mother continued to "flash" with personality and
spirit throughout her life, and the six daughters she reared each had the same
feature.
Copyright Permission
granted to Theresa Carhart and her volunteers for printing the biographies of
these Falls County Families to this web page. “Families of Falls County”,
compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Department, pp. 313-315.
