Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/383

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MITCHELL
MITCHELL

which is included in his late volume of miscel- lanies, " Bound Together " (1884). In 1855 he bought a farm of about 200 acres near New Haven, Conn., which he has since made well known to the public through a series of books on the practical and aesthetic aspects of rural life, which come mid- way between gossipy chronicles like Willis's '• Let- ters from under a Bridge " and more technical works, such as Downing's *' Landscape Garden- ing." These are " My Farm of Edgewood " (1863) ; " Wet Days at Edgewood " (1865) ; and " Rural Studies, with Hints for Country Places " (1867). Mr. Mitchell has been a member of the council of the Yale art-school since its establishment in 1865. He edited the "'Atlantic Almanac " for 1868-'9, and " Hearth and Home," a weekly paper published at New York, in 1869. He was one of the judges of industrial art at the Centennial exhibition of 1876 and U. S. commissioner at the Paris exposition of 1878. In the latter year he received the degree of LL. D. from Yale. He has been a contributor to the "Atlantic Monthly," "Harpers' Magazine," and other periodicals, and has given lectures and addresses at New Haven and elsewhere on subjects connected with literature and agriculture. Besides the books mentioned above he has published " The Seven Stories with Basement and Attic," a series of tales of travel (1864); one novel, "Dr. Johns, being a Narrative of Certain Events in the Life of a Congregational Minister of Connecticut" (New York, 1866) ; and a juvenile, " About Old Story- Tellers " (1877). He has also compiled from ma- terial collected by his brother, Louis Mitchell (b. 1826; d. 1881), an elaborate genealogy of his moth- er's family, " The Woodbridge Record " (New- Haven, 1883) ; and " Daniel Tyler, a Memorial Vol- ume " (1888). Many of his works have been writ- ten under the pen-name of " Ik Marvel." Mr. Mitchell's skill in landscape gardening has been called into play in the city park at East Rock, New Haven, and in the treatment of many private •estates and public grounds. He still resides at Edgewood. Descriptions and views of his farm are contained in " Pictures of Edgewood " (1869).


MITCHELL, William, clergyman, b. in Chester, Conn., 9 Dec, 1793; d. in Corpus Christi, Tex., 1 Aug., 1867. He was graduated at Yale in 1818, and at Andover theological seminary in 1821. Af- ter serving as home missionary and being or- dained on 20 Oct., 1824, he was pastor of churches in Newtown, Conn., Rutland, Vt., and Wallingford, Vt. In 1853-'8 he was successively secretary of the Vermont, New York, and New "Jersey colonization societies. In 1859 he removed to Texas and had charge of churches in Casa Blanca and Corpus €hristi. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him in 1833 by Middlebury college, of which he was one of the trustees. He contributed to periodicals, and, besides pamphlet discourses, published " A Doc- trinal Guide for Young Christians" (New York, 1833), and " Coleridge and the Moral Tendency of his Writings " (New Haven). — His brother, Joliii, clergyman, b. in Chester, Conn., 29 Dec, 1794; d. in Stratford, Conn., 28 April. 1870, was gradu- ated at Yale in 1821, and studied for a year at Andover theological seminary. He was licensed to preach in 1829, and in 1830 ordained pastor of the 1st Congregational church in Pair Haven, Conn., where he remained for six years. He was invited to the charge of the Edwards church in Northampton, Mass., in 1838, but resigned in 1842 on account of failing health. After travelling abroad he settled in Stratford, and, unable to re- sume the cares of pastoral work, devoted himself to literary pursuits, and in his later years was a member of the Connecticut legislature. During 1823-'8 he edited the " Christian Spectator," and, besides sermons and contributions to newspapers and periodicals, he published " A Guide to the Principles and Practices of the Congregational Churches of New England " (Northampton, Mass., 1838) ; " Letters to a Disbeliever in Revivals " (1841); "Notes from over the Sea, consisting of Observations made in Europe in 1843-'4 " (2 vols.. New York, 1845) ; " Reminiscences of Scenes and Characters in College" (New Haven, 1847): "My Mother, or Recollections of Maternal Influence" (New York, 1849) : and " Rachel Kell, or the Dis- owned " (1853). See " Derwent. or Recollections of Young Life in the Country " (New York, 1872).


MITCHELL, William, astronomer, b. in Nan- tucket, Mass., 20 Dec, 1791; d. in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 19 April, 1868. He was fitted for college, and it was intended to send him to Harvard, but the war of 1812 prevented. Subsequently he taught for several years and developed a fondness for astronomy, having only a rude telescope made by a clock-maker. He then became cashier of the Pacific bank in Nantucket, and, with a much bet- ter equipped observatory, made systematic deter- minations in connection with the U. S. coast sur- vey. Investigations in astronomy and mathematics were the pastimes of his busy life, and were con- tinued until his death. Mr. Mitchell received the degree of A. M. from Brown in 1848, and from Harvard in 1860, being also overseer of the latter university for some years, serving as chairman of the committee to visit the observatory in Cam- bridge. He was a member of scientific societies, and contributed astronomical articles to the " American Journal of Science " and other similar periodicals. — His daughter, Maria, astronomer, b, in Nantucket, Mass., 1 Aug., 1818; d. at Lyons, Mass., 28 June, 1889, early made such progress in her studies as to be able to assist her father in his investigations, meanwhile acquiring her education under his tuition. Later she studied under Charles Peirce, becoming his assistant in the school at Nantuck- et. She was ap- pointed librarian of the Nantucket athenaeum, an of- fice which she held for many years, and after she was seventeen years old she regularly earned a salary. Her interest in as- tronomy was not relaxed, and she made many care-

ful observations by

herself, and devoted considerable time to the examination of nebulae and the search for comets. Her efforts proved successful, and, besides finding small nebulae, on 1 Oct., 1847, she discovered a comet, for which she received a gold medal from the king of Denmark, and also a copper medal struck by the republic of San Marino, Italy. When the publication of the American nautical almanac was begim she was employed on that work, which she continued until after her appointment at Vassar. She went to Europe in 1858 and visited the principal observatories of Great Britain and the continent. Miss Mitchell was the guest of Sir John Herschel and Sir George B. Airy during her stay in England, and also visited Le