Elisha Mitchell

Elisha Mitchell was born in Washington, Connecticut on August 19^th, 1793.  His parents were Abner Mitchell and Phoebe Eliot, who were local farmers.  Mitchell attended a school in Bethlehem, Conn., run by Reverend Azel Backus.  He graduated from Yale in 1813, where he had studied under Professor Benjamin Silliman.  Mitchell then taught for a time at Union Hall Academy in Jamaica, Long Island, and spent a while as the principal of Union Academy in New London, Connecticut.  In 1816 he returned to Yale as a tutor.  In 1817 he spent about a year in Andover theological seminary and was licensed to preach by the Congregationalist Western Association of New Haven County, Conn.  In 1818 he then went to the University of North Carolina as the professor of mathematics and natural philosophy.  Mitchell had been recommended for the post by U.S. Senate Chaplain Sereno Dwight.

In 1819 Mitchell married Maria Sybil North, eventually having seven children, Mary, Ellen, Margaret, Matthew, Eliza, Charles, and Henry.  Both Matthew and Henry died as children.  Mitchell had his future wife while teaching at Union Academy, and after he had moved to North Carolina he returned to Connecticut for a short time to marry her.  After this he rarely visited the north, traveling there only for family reasons.  Mitchell and his wife owned a home near the University and owned a small family of slaves.  Mitchell had his daughters classically educated and supported the education of women.  In 1834 he pushed for a tax-supported public education system.  He believed that an educated society was a better society and that the system would provide jobs for women as teachers.  He also supported the temperance movement.  In 1846 Mitchell was appointed by Governor William A. Graham to survey a turnpike running from Raleigh to Buncombe County.  Mitchell supported the turnpike, believing that the increased trade and travel between the eastern and western portions of the state would help to materially improve the mountain area, which he believed was economically disadvantaged and in need of the influences of civilization.

He was ordained in Hillsborough, N.C., in the Presbyterian Church in the year of 1821.  After his ordination Mitchell frequently guided the university chapel and sometimes spoke at local churches as well.  Mitchell also conducted a long dispute through the Raleigh newspaper with John Stark Ravenscroft in 1825.  Ravenscroft was an Episcopal bishop who had more liberal views than the strict Mitchell.  The Bishop supported tradition as a source of Christian truth, while Mitchell argued that literal interpretations of the Bible were the only Christian truth.  In 1848 he grounded his defense of slavery on literal interpretations of the Bible and claimed in a pamphlet that the Bible did not refer to slavery as a sin.

 In 1825 he became the professor of chemistry, mineralory, and geology, a position he would hold until his death.  When Joseph Caldwell, the university’s president, died, Mitchell took the position of faculty president until a new president could be found.  Mitchell also was the University bursar, collecting tuition and making sure the University grounds and buildings were taken care of.  He had served at this post for some time before being officially chosen for it in 1837.  For many years he held the office of state surveyor and visited the mountains of North Carolina on his vacation time.  In 1838 Mitchell received a doctoral degree from the University of Alabama.  Throughout his life Mitchell published various articles, mostly about geology in the “American Journal of Science,” edited by Benjamin Silliman, a former teacher of Mitchell’s. 

Through the late 1820’s Mitchell completed a geological survey of North Carolina begun by Denison Olmsted, who had been a classmate at Yale.  When the state stopped giving the survey money he focused on the western part of the state, persuaded by John Caldwell Calhoun that the Appalachian Mountains were the highest in the eastern U.S.  Mitchell confirmed this idea in 1835 when he measured Black Mountain.  His claim that Black Mountain was the highest peak in the east of the Rocky Mts. was disputed by Thomas Clingman.  The two men kept up a public argument for some time, this eventually becoming the indirect cause of Mitchell’s death.  Believing that Black Dome was the highest point he re-measured it in 1835, 1838, 1844, and 1857.  The last time he went to measure the mountain he left his party to go and visit the man who had been his guide in 1835.  It started to storm while he was climbing and he fell down a waterfall, drowning in a pool at the bottom.

Mitchell was first buried in Asheville, but in 1858 due to the feelings of western North Carolinians he was re-entombed on the highest point of the mountain he had spent so much time on, Black Mt.  A large crowd was there to see him interred and Bishop Otey of Tennessee spoke at the ceremony.  Mitchell was proved to be right in 1882 when the U.S. Geological Survey determined that Black Mountain, which they renamed Mt. Mitchell, was the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains.   There is a memorial plaque and an observation tower to mark his grave and the area surrounding it is now a state park.  In 1883 the Elisha Mitchell scientific society was created at Chapel Hill in honor of his accomplishments.
 

Dr. Elisha Mitchell was born in Washington, Connecticut, on August 19, 1793. His family was of "early colonial parentage," and one of his great-grandfathers was John Eliot, the famous "Apostle to the Indians." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p. 384.)

Dr. Mitchell was a "precocious" boy. He studied under the tutelage of Rev. Azel Backus until he attended Yale College. He graduated in 1813 "being particularly distinguished for his knowledge of English literature." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p.385.)

After leaving Yale, Dr. Mitchell went to Jamaica, Long Island, where he taught at a boy's school. In 1815, he was placed in charge of a girl's school in New London. He was there for a year and then went back to Yale and served as a tutor at the college. Shortly after he accepted the position at Yale, however, Judge Gaston, who was an influential member of Congress, recommended Dr. Mitchell for the position of chair of mathematics at the University of North Carolina. In 1817, Dr. Mitchell accepted the position. (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p.385).

After accepting the position at North Carolina, Dr. Mitchell "spent a short time at the Theological Seminary at Andover, and received his license to preach the Gospel from an Orthodox Congregational Association in Connecticut." Dr. Mitchell used this training during his time at the university, for "Soon after his arrival Dr. Mitchell preached his first sermon in the college chapel, and three years later he was ordained as a full minister by the Presbytery of Orange, and he continued to preach at Chapel Hill during his entire life." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp.385, 386.)

Dr. Mitchell arrived at the University of North Carolina on January 31, 1818. He joined the other faculty members, consisting of Dr. Caldwell, the president, Dr. Olmsted, professor of chemistry, Dr. Hooper, professor of ancient languages, and two tutors, Governor Morehead and Priestly H. Magnum. There were 120 students attending the university. Dr. Mitchell was responsible for teaching mathematics and natural philosophy. "He was devoted to his profession as an instructor, and in discharge of his duties he exhibited an energy, an intelligence, a self denial and an attention to minute particulars seldom equalled [sic] and never surpassed....For seven years he continued to preside over his original department, but in 1825 when Dr. Olmsted accepted a position with Yale College, Dr. Mitchell was transferred to the vacated chair, and Dr. Phillips became professor of mathematics." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp. 385, 386.)

Part of Dr. Olmstead's responsibilities had been his commissioning by the state of North Carolina to make a geological survey of the entire state. Dr. Mitchell eagerly carried on this task, for it "had ever been particularly inviting" to him, since his "tastes led him to employ himself in such pursuits. Even while a professor of mathematics, he made many pedestrian excursions through the country studying botany, and when he began his instruction in mineralogy and geology he multiplied these excursions, and formed an intimate acquaintance with the botany and geology of the state." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp. 386, 387). 

Dr. Mitchell began to take trips around the state in order to collect information for his survey. "In June, 1830, he accompanied Governor Owen and the other members of the Board of Internal Improvements and Governor Swain on a trip from Haywood down the Cape Fear to Fayetteville, and availed himself of the opportunity of obtaining more particular knowledge of the geology of that interesting part of the country. When those distinguished naturalists, the Michaux, were in Western North Carolina, toward the close of the previous century, they had believed that the peaks of Black Mountain were the highest east of the Rocky Mountains, that conclusion being reached because the plants found there are not met with again until Canada is reached.  Vice President Calhoun had suggested in 1825 to Gov. Swain the same view, based on the water-courses, and Dr. Mitchell also entertained the same opinion." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p. 387.)

Dr. Mitchell set out in the summer of 1835 to test his and other people's opinions that the Black Mountains were the highest peaks east of the Mississippi River. He set out to do this by barometrical measurement." In doing so, he showed great patience, energy, and perserverance, for "To climb the Black Mountain and carry up the instruments to determine its height in 1835 required courage and scientific ardor to an unusual degree. The country, naturally savage, was at that time very little known.  It was much more inaccessible than it has since become by reason of the progress of settlements around its base; but Dr. Mitchell overcame all difficulties, and he found the height of one of the peaks to be 6476 feet, while Mount Washington in New Hampshire, long considered he highest point of the Alleghanies, is only 6428 feet high.  Dr. Mitchell's account of this exploration was published, and attracted wide attention.  It was the first authoritative announcement that Black Mountain was higher than the White Mountains [NH] and indeed, the highest in the United States east of the Rockies." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp.387, 388.)

In 1844, Dr. Mitchell returned to the Black Mountains, this time looking for the tallest peak of all. He succeeded, and "In recognition of his discovery, his name was attached to a peak of the mountain on the maps and geographies of that period." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p.388.)

There was controversy over this decision, however. Thomas Clingman asserted that Dr. Mitchell had measured the wrong mountain but that he himself had correctly measured the highest mountain in the Black Mountains. Some people then suggested that Mount Mitchell's name be changed to Mount Clingman. Dr. Mitchell "contended that he was the first to measure and ascertain its superior height, and that he was on that very peak and had measured it in 1844." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p.388.)

Dr. Mitchell then announced his intentions to return to the Black Mountains in order to re-measure the peak and prove that he had been on Mount Mitchell in 1844 by gathering statements from the men who had acted as his guides in that year. He went back in June 1857 with his son, Charles A. Mitchell. He worked for two weeks. On Sunday, June 27, he quit work at 2:30 in the afternoon, "proposing to cross the mountain to the settlement on Caney River for the purpose of seeing Mr. [Tom] Wilson and others who had guided him to the top on a former visit.  He promised to return on Monday at noon.  This was the last time he was ever seen alive." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p. 389.)

When Dr. Mitchell did not return from his visit by Thursday morning, one member of his party went to Mr. Wilson's house in an attempt to track Dr. Mitchell down. When it was discovered that Dr. Mitchell had never reached the Wilson home, a search party was organized. " The alarm was at once given, and before sundown on Friday evening companies of hardy mountaineers were on their way up the mountain. As the alarm spread, many citizens of Asheville and other parts of the country flocked to the mountains to assist in the search for one so universally beloved and respected. On the night of the following Tuesday his remains were found. Mr. Wilson surmised that Dr. Mitchell had attempted to follow the same route that he had taken in 1844, but had strayed from it. They traced him down the precipices of the mountain until they reached a stream, found his traces going down to it a hundred yards or so, when they came to a rushing cataract some forty feet high. Here they saw his footprints trying to climb around the edge of the yawning precipice, and then the moss torn up as he had grasped in vain. Descending hastily to the bottom of the roaring abyss, they found a basin fourteen feet deep filled with clear and crystal waters, and at the bottom, quietly reposing with outstretched arms, lay the mortal remains of Dr. Mitchell, the great, the good, the wise, the simple-minded, the pure of heart, instructor of youth, disciple of knowledge, and the preacher of Christianity." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, p. 389).

Dr. Mitchell's body was taken by fifty of the citizens of Yancey County, where Mount Mitchell is located, to Asheville, where he was buried. His bones did not remain there long, however, for "It having been determined that Dr. Mitchell's remains should finally rest on the highest peak of the Black Mountains, on the 14th of June 1858, they were exhumed and attended by a large concourse of citizens, by the venerable bishop of the diocese of Tennessee, the president of the University and members of his family, the body was borne to the summit of the mountain, and Bishop Otey read the impressive burial service of the Episcopal Church; and since that time a substantial monument has been erected over the spot; the altitude by more recent measurement being determined to be 6717 feet high. (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp. 389, 390.)

Dr. Mitchell's death was mourned by the whole state. "As a man, he was greatly esteemed, filling many functions most acceptably.  He was the college bursar; he was the justice of the peace, a farmer, a commissioner for the village of Chapel Hill, and at times its magistrate of police; and he was a regular preacher in the college chapel and in the village church. In the public he often gave evidence of the vast extent of his learning, while his blameless life, his humble faith, drew him near to the hearts of all. As a teacher, Dr. Mitchell took great pains in inculcating the first principles of science and unfolding those natural truths of which he was so fond. His acquirements extended into every field of learning, and so accurate and vast was his information that he was often referred to as the 'College Encyclopedia.' Under his training, such interest was awakened in natural science among the students that in this respect a great benefit was conferred upon the State. As a disciplinarian, he was vigilant, conscientious, long-suffering, firm and mild....In his home he was venerated as well  as beloved.  Besides his work in the college, and other duties of a public nature, he educated his own children, and especially were his daughters educated to a degree not often attempted....He left five children, four daughters and one son, Dr. Charles A Mitchell, who became a surgeon in the Confederate army, and surviving the war, died in 1868." (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp.390, 391.)

The following poem was written by General Zebulon Vance in tribute to Dr. Elisha Mitchell:

"On the highest peak of a mighty chain
Of hill and mountain fastness,
Where Nature doeth her primal rule maintain
Amid their solemn vastness,
There's a lonely grave that the mountains gave,
Which the sorrowing moonbeams gently lave.

The tremulous trills of the mother bird,
As she sings her songs so lowly,
Though a sweeter tone the ear never heard,
Touch not a rest so holy;
For God keeps him there in the upper air,
Sleeping and waiting for the morning fair.

But a morn shall come, O glorious morn!
When the trumpet's shrill sounding
Shall reach every soul that ever was born,
And life anew be bounding;
And God in his might from the mountain height,
Shall wake His servant to the wondrous sight."

             (1905. Ashe, Samuel. A Biographical History of North Carolina. Vol. I, pp.391, 392.)

More about the Clingman-Mitchell controversy and Dr. Mitchell's death:

"About this time Hon. Thomas L. Clingman, then a member of Congress, and a man of scientific tastes, began to make observations in different sections--the Balsams, Smokies, and Blacks.  In the latter group he subsequently published that he had found a higher peak than the one measured by Prof. Mitchell.  In the controversy which followed, the fact of General Clingman having measured the highest point of ground was undisputed.  The question was: Had Dr. Mitchell measured the same peak, or had he mistaken another for the highest, and ceased his investigations without going to the top of the true dome? (1883. Zeigler, Wilbur and Ben Grosscup. The Heart of the Alleghanies. p. 231.)

"Admitting the possibility of having been mistaken, the Professor in the summer vacation of 1857, embraced the first opportunity to review his measurements. Accompanied by his son, Charles..., he began at the railroad line to run a line of levels, that he might test the accuracy of his barometer.  They reached the Mountain house, half way up the Black at noon on Saturday, June 27th. Dismissing his son and assistant, the professor left, saying he intended to cross the range by the route he had gone in 1844, desiring to see the guide [Tom Wilson] who at that time accompanied him.  On Monday Charles Mitchell climbed to the place appointed to meet his father, but the day passed without his appearance....Messengers were sent across the range to the valleys below.  He had not reached the place for which he had started.  Friday evening the report of his disappearance reached Asheville.  From every direction came men of all grades and avocations in life.  Following them came their wives and sisters, anxious to help in the search for the lost man's body in that wilderness of more than 100,000 acres, whose funereal gloom conceals caverns and pitfalls into which the incautious traveler may disappear." (1883. Zeigler, Wilbur and Ben Grosscup.  The Heart of the Alleghanies. pp. 231, 231.) 

Statements relating to the Black Mountains:

"Photo by U.S. Forest Service: Big Tom Wilson, the bear hunter, who discovered the body of Prof. Elisha Mitchell where he perished near the summit of the Peak that afterward was named in his honor.  (1913. Kephardt, Horace. Our Southern Highlanders. frontis.)

"Still, the heights of the Carolina peaks have been taken (with but one exception, so far as I know) only by barometric measurements, and these, even though official, may vary as much as a hundred feet for the same mountain. Since the highest ten or a dozen of our Carolina peaks differ in altitude only one or two hundred feet, their actual rank has not yet been determined. (1913. Kephardt, Horace. Our Southern Highlanders. pp. 56, 57.)

"For a long time there was controversy as to whether Mount Mitchell or Clingman Dome was the crowning summit of Eastern America.  The Coast and Geodetic Survey gave the height of Mount Mitchell as 6,688 feet; but later figures of the U. S. Geological Survey are 6,711 and 6,712.  In 1859 Buckley claimed for Clingman Dome of the Smokies an altitude of 6,941 feet.  In recent government reports the Dome appears variously as 6,619 and 6,660.   In 1911 I was told by Mr. H. M. Ramseur that when he laid out the route of the railroad from Asheville to Murphy he ran a line of levels from a known datum on this road to the top of Clingman, and that the result was 'four sixes' (6,666 feet above sea-level).  It is probably that second place among the peaks of Appalachia may belong either to Clingman Dome or Guyot or LeConte, of the Smokies, or to Balsam Cone of the Black Mountains." (1913. Kephardt, Horace. Our Southern Highlanders. p. 57.)

Another perspective on the work and death of Dr. Mitchell:

"....The path is wet and muddy in places, and also steep, but at last you pass up out of the dark balsams into a sunny meadow where blue eyebrights look up from the grass, and from which a stony trail bordered with rose-bay leads through stunted firs to the open top, where a monument standing alone on the very summit of the mountain give a feeling of solemnity to the place.  It was erected here in 1888 to the memory, as the legend on the side reads, of the "Rev. Elisha Mitchell, D.D., who after being for thirty-nine years a professor in the University of North Carolina, lost his life in the scientific exploration of this mountain, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, June 27th, 1857." (1913. Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains. p. 309.)

"Dr. Mitchell, being greatly attached to the mountain, then called Black Dome, and convinced that it was the highest in the Appalachians, had often been to the top to make his observations and prove his theory.  One day he went up alone and did not return at the appointed time....The search, led by several old bear hunters, was finally given up when Dr. Mitchell's son, according to Big Tom, said to the men, "I give you a thousand thanks, but please hunt again tomorrow." (1913. Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains. pp. 309, 310.)

"The first trace was found eleven days after the disappearance, when Big Tom, sure of signs that no one less experienced in woodcraft could have seen, the mark of heel-tacks on a root, a stone displaced, weeds bent, a mark on a rotten log, went from point to point until he saw the missing man's hat on a log by a streamside.  Above was a deep pool at the foot of a waterfall--the hat had floated down from there...."I yelled and they answered me.  They came on. 'I've found his hat.' They all huddled up. And I walked on a log and saw him.  'Come around, boys, poor old feller, here he is."...and old Tom's voice breaks and the tears are streaming down his face. Dr. Mitchell, although so well acquainted with the mountain, was believed to have become lost in a fog and to have fallen over the precipice above the cataract whose icy water kept the body in perfect condition until it was found.  It was finally buried on the summit of the mountain so dear to him, and whose name was changed in his honor. (1913. Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains. p. 310.)

The work of Dr. Mitchell and the Monument honoring him:

"Mount Mitchell. In 1835 Prof. Elisha Mitchell made the first barometrical measurements of our mountains, and his report was the first authoritative announcement of the superior altitude of the highest southern summit to that of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. (1914. Arthur, John. Western North Carolina: A History. p.297.)

"The Monument. The monument to Prof. Elisha Mitchell on the crest of the highest peak east of the Rocky mountains, was completed August 18, 1888. It is bolted to the bed-rock itself, is of white bronze, an almost pure zinc, treated under the sandblast to impart a granular appearance, cause it to resemble granite, and prevent discoloration; and was made by the Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Conn.  It was erected by Mrs. E. N. Grant, a daughter, and other members of Prof. Mitchell's family.  Its dimensions are about two and one-half feet at the base and about twelve feet high. It is a hollow square and without any ornamentation.  Vandals have shot bullet holes in it and an ax blade has been driven into one of its sides.  Prof. W. B. Phillips, now the professor of Geology at the University of Texas, had charge of its erection.  It contains the following inscriptions: Upon the western side, in raised letters is the single word: MITCHELL.  On the side toward the grave is the following:  Erected in 1888. Here lies in hope of a blessed resurrection the body of Rev. Elisha Mitchell, D. D., who, after being for 39 years a professor in the University of North Carolina, lost his life in the scientific exploration of this mountain in the 64th year of his age, June 27th, 1857. (1914. Arthur, John. Western North Carolina: A History. p. 299.)

Bibliography

Who Was Who in America.  A component volume of “Who’s Who in American History.”  Historical Volume, 1607-1896.  Revised Edition.  Chicago:  Marquis Who’s Who, 1967. 

Arthur, John Preson.  Western North Carolina:  A History 1730-1913.  Raleigh, NC:  Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1914.

Ashe, Samuel, ed.  Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. 1.  Greensboro, NC:  Charles L.  Van Noppen, 1905.

Carnes, Mark C., and Garranty, John A., editors.  American National Biography, Volume 15.    New York:  Oxford University Press, 1999.

Fiske, John, and Wilson, James Grant, editors.  Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 4.  New York:  D. Appleton & Co., 1888-1889.  Reprint.  Detroit:  Gale Research, 1968.

Powell, William S., ed.  Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 4.  Chapel Hill, NC:  University of North Carolina Press, 1979.

Kephardt, Horace. Our Southern Highlanders. 1913.

Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains. 1913.

Zeigler, Wilbur, and Ben Grosscup. The Heart of the Alleghanies. 1883.