All My Ancestors

I’ve been obsessessed with searching Mitchells these past few days–probably because I have a class I’m supposed to be getting ready to teach.  I call it “productive avoidance.”  I set out to try to find out more about my 3rd great grandparents, Ephraim Miles Mitchell and Rebecca Jones.  I found Ephraim’s father’s name was John and that he probably has a brother also named John.

I’ve been working in the “Eggleston-Ford Connections” database at RootsWeb’s WorldConnect.  There wasn’t much info on any John Mitchell that precisely matched the information I have on Ephraim’s father.  There are 3 John Mitchells in the database, one born in NC in 1760, one born in 1788 [place unknown], and one born about 1856 in Tennessee.  From Spurlin’s Mexican War index, I figured John’s birthdate at about 1791, so 1788 isn’t all that far off.  The database has the 1788 John Mitchell marrying Patsy McClain with no dates, no places and no offspring listed.

I spent a lot of time entering Mitchells into my database today and searching and reading about the people they married and the places they lived.  They appear to have moved from Orange County, North Carolina to Middle Tennessee–mostly Maury County, and then on to Mississippi–northern Mississippi when that area opened up–Yalobusha County and probably Marshall and maybe Grenada County.

Now, here’s the leap, and I’m still not sure I’m not looking at two different John Mitchells.  I decided I’d look for a Patsy Mitchell living in Mississippi.  I knew that John Mitchell’s wife was still alive in 1847 when he wrote a letter to his son Ephraim.  I’d searched for a likely person for Ephraim’s mother in Texas but didn’t find a good candidate.  I also knew that Patsy was a nickname for Martha so when I wasn’t successful with searching for Patsy, I looked for Martha.

The most likely candidate turned up in 1860 in the household of a man named R. L. Boyd age 59, b. MS), witha wife named Mary d (age 42, b. TN) in Marshall County, Mississippi.  There was a Martha MItchell, age 67, born in TN living in their household in both 1860 and 1850.  A definite possibility.

Then I went to find out more about R. L. Boyd.  Turns out he’s Robert Louis Boyd, son of William A. Boyd and brother to Mississippi senator John D. Boyd.  I could find nothing about Robert Louis, but I did find that his brother married in 1821 in Maury County, Tennessee.  Still no direct connection but this all looks interesting in that the same places are still in play.  I checked the land patent records for Marshall County, Mississippi and found one for a John Mitchell in August 1838 (as well as Robert L. Boyd).  Again, absolutely no idea if it’s “my” John Mitchell, but another piece to consider.  I also found several John Mitchells listed on the 1846 Marshall Co. MS tax list–at least 4, so who knows?  (I also found that at least one of John D. Boyd’s children ended up in Johnson County, Texas–where my line lived prior to the Civil War.)

Then I went back to RootsWeb to do a little more specific searching for a John Mitchell and Martha McClain.  I have found a likely candidate and have written him.

In fact, I’ve written several folks this weekend and can scarcely leave my computer, hoping for a return email.  Even if this isn’t “my” John Mitchell in Marshall County, Mississippi, I believe he’s bound to be related and that will help as well.  Here’s hoping–

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