I thought of that lesson Friday when a friend and I stopped in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley, Yalobusha County, Mississippi.  I was going to visit the grave of more Mitchell relatives.  I knew they were buried there because I’d found them on Find A Grave.  But somehow that didn’t keep me from wanting to visit them in person.  And having a fellow genealogist along egging me on meant we were destined to find this place.

Mississippi is new research ground for me.  We originally thought we’d go through Jackson and visit the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on Saturday morning.  However, after dropping my car keys down the elevator shaft from the fourth floor, waiting for them to be retrieved, racing to campus in a downpour and finishing a tough course for the week, I just didn’t have the strength to search for the family of my Adaliza Ellis (1824 LA – 1898 TX) in Jackson.  So we decided to visit some of my family’s graves that were close to our route back to Oklahoma City, and then visit the Memphis Central library on Saturday morning so my partner in crime could pull some Tennessee land grants for her family names, which included James Smith!!  (Is it any wonder she has a presentation on tracking people with common names?)

According to the gate, Oak Hill Cemetery was founded in 1816.

In my experience, this is an old cemetery.  And, as might be expected for a cemetery of this age, there were lots of burials. We had a little trouble finding the graves. But using my iPhone to pull up the Find A Grave images, we located them based on the roofs and telephone poles in the background of the images on Find A Grave.

Oak Hill also a very hilly cemetery, with retaining walls and steps to get to some of the family plots.

Here is the step up into the Boyd plot, the target of my search.  I think there’s a worn image on the first, lower step but the name has been re-tooled on the top step.

And, seeing the grave of Mary E. Mitchell Boyd (1818-1893), wife of Robert Louis Boyd (1800-1868, buried in Byhalia, Marshall County), I have questions.

What are the side pieces?  Are they decorative only?  I took a couple of closeups, though not good ones,  and they have designs on them:

There were other graves that had similar “surrounds” and then there were the ones that were ovals–of various sizes–the small ones were very sobering.

Can anyone enlighten me about these types of cemetery markers?  Some of them, particularly the ones for children, had the names and dates incorporated into the ovals:

By consulting Texas school census records and comparing them to the federal census, I found her father’s name –Ephraim M. Mitchell.

This helped me make contact with others who were researching Ephraim and his wife Rebecca R. Jones, and their 13 children!

There is family lore about Rebecca being the daughter of Sam Jones and Itee– Sam, aka Arpeika, the fierce Seminole leader and Itee, 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Choctaw.

But what about the Mitchells?  No one in my family knew anything about them.  Mary Mitchell’s husband was killed in the Civil War and she died shortly thereafter, leaving my great-grandfather George C. Cooper and his sister Rebecca Ann.  The children were reared by their father’s family and very little was known about their mother Mary, much less her family.

But this year, with the help of some other Mitchell researchers, we have connected the dots, as one of them so aptly put it.  With all the apparent relationships so obvious after the fact.

Ephraim’s father has been identified, as have some of his uncles–indentifying the uncles is part of how we got to Ephraim’s father John Mitchell.  And, we found his mother, identified in Lightfoot’s “Let the Drums Roll” about Maury County Tennessee Revolutionary War veterans, only as “Patsy McClain.”   Just this week we not only found her name to be McLean, but we likely found her father and mother and more.

Of course the path was not straight.  John Mitchell apparently died in 1847 in Mexico as the result of illness contracted during his service in the Mexican War.  The probate file for settlement of his estate is missing from the Shelby County, Texas, courthouse.  (of course it is!)  There is another younger John Mitchell enlisted in the same unit–but he cannot be found after the war in 1850–at least not yet.  And is he even the son of John Sr. or is he a nephew?

Gratefully, someone saved some family letters and shared them with the rest of us.  It’s only the transcription of a letter John Mitchell wrote in 1847 from Austin Texas where he’s awaiting deployment to Mexico.  He talks about having stopped by Corsicana to visit his brother D.R., he mentions his horse Charley, and he admonishes his son Ephraim to take care of his mother.  D.R. turns out to be John’s brother David Reed Mitchell, living and working in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, and early correspondent from Maury County Tennessee with President Andrew Jackson regarding his deceased brother James’ estate.  Charley the horse is mentioned later in another preserved letter written to Ephraim by an attorney on behalf of his cousin “H. R. Mitchell”–H.R. had evidently traded the sorrel horse Charley for 100 acres of John Mitchell’s head right land  in Rusk County.  H. R. turns out to be Hiram Reed Mitchell, probably the son of David Reed Mitchell.  Researching his family takes us back to Mississippi where there are indications that the Mitchells were between the time they were in Tennessee and Texas.

When a Patsy or Martha Mitchell who would be a good candidate for John’s wife cannot be found in the 1850 Texas census, I go looking in Mississippi.  Sure enough, there’s a good possibility living in an R. L. Boyd’s home, listed as “mother-in-law” and R. L.’s wife’s name is Mary E.  The longer I examine this family, the more convinced I am that this is John Mitchell’s “Patsy McClain” and Ephraim M. Mitchell’s mother.  The name Boyd keeps appearing, too, as a middle name for Mitchells–both Hiram and Ephraim have children with Boyd middle names.  Robert Louis Boyd dies too early for them to be named for him, so where did this name come from?  My search for more info on R. L. Boyd ends up in a dead end, but I believe the Mitchell search has yielded some more clues.

I am grateful that Martha “Patsy” McLean and John Mitchell broke out of the Mitchell’s inclination to name sons John, James, Andrew or David, and named my ancestor for his maternal grandfather, Ephraim McLean, Jr.  And Ephraim McLean, Jr. is married to Mary “Polly” Boyd.  The McLean line is well-documented–there’s even an DAR chapter named for Ephraim McLean, Sr., a Revolutionary War vet who lived to be +90, living in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.

So it’s been a very good year for Mitchell research.  Of course, I still have questions–and this is still a challenging search because all of the Mitchell families apparently named their multitudinous sons for their relatives–John and Andrew and James with an occasional David thrown in.  But it feels like a brickwall has come down, and much of it since the 4-days-ago Mad Monday post about the Mitchells.

It’s a great way to end one year and start another.

Still digging.

This is a tough search because it’s a common name, the given names are also common (John, James, Mary, Martha), the family was apparently quite mobile, and most of what I want to know occurred before 1850 so the luxury of the every-name census records are not available.   Add that this family was often in territory before statehood (e.g., probably Mississippi) and in a state I have not extensively researched, and the result is a family that drives me a little mad.

Plus, I also have to question the sanity of a man 56 years of age (according to his service record) who joins up to fight in the Mexican War.

So while I’ve written quite a bit recently about this family, it still fits the Monday Madness meme for Geneabloggers–both because they drive me mad and I do think John Mitchell, Sr. might have been a little off his rocker. 

Here is the latest information I’ve received on a person named John Mitchell, Jr.  I’m still not certain that he is the brother of my 4th great-grandfather, Ephraim Miles Mitchell, son of John Mitchell and probably Martha “Patsy” McClain.  I’ve mentioned before that I have a copy of a letter written by John Mitchell from Austin, Texas, as he is awaiting deployment to Mexico.  He mentions his brother “D. R.,” and his horse Charley, but no mention of a son in the same unit.

He does enlist on the same day in the same place as John Mitchell, Sr–20 May 1847 in Rusk County, Texas.

He enlists in the same unit–1st Texas Mounted Volunteers, Co. I.

Unlike John Sr., he apparently survives the war and he one muster roll card indicates he was mustered out 1 May 1848 by Captain Washington near Vera Cruz, Mexico.

His service record gives no other clues that I can see.  Do you?

I posted most of this info in my 20 Dec post, but by writing about it again, I guess I think I’m emphasizing how frustrated I am with these guys.

Through the years I have found pieces of information on this family that all started from my trying to search for info on my mysterious great-great grandmother, Ephraim’s daughter Mary.  I knew nothing about her family when I started, so with some perspective, I have learned quite a bit about this mysterious bunch–I knew her grandchildren but they knew practically nothing about her.  John B. and Mary are a bit of the “lost generation” in my family since both Mary and her husband John B. Cooper died young–he in the Civil War and she shortly thereafter.

Here’s hoping . . .

]]> http://allmyancestors.com/blog/2009/12/28/madness-monday-mitchell-family/feed/ 0 http://allmyancestors.com/blog/2009/12/20/john-mitchell-jr-in-the-mexican-war/ http://allmyancestors.com/blog/2009/12/20/john-mitchell-jr-in-the-mexican-war/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:16:39 +0000 allmyanc http://allmyancestors.com/blog/?p=1162 I know, I know.  We’re supposed to be blogging about Christmas.

But I received the second Mexican War service record I’ve ordered.  Ever.  And I’ve written before about my lack of confidence in dealing with military records–mostly because of my ignorance of them, particularly any record other than ones from the Civil War.

This one is for a man named John Mitchell, Jr.  He enlisted in Rusk County, Texas on 20 May 1847.  He is 30 years of age and he enlists in what becomes Co. I, 1st Regiment Texas Mounted Volunteers.  The commander for this unit is the colorful Capt. John “Jack” Coffee Hays.

In this same unit, also as previously posted, is John Mitchell, Sr.  Because of a copy of a letter passed down through the family, I am relatively certain John Mitchell Sr. is my ancestor.

But who is John Mitchell, Jr.  Can I safely assume he is the son of John, Sr.?  They enlist on the same day in the same place into the same unit and for the same length of time.  John Sr.’s horse was evidently of better quality as it is valued at $130.  Jr.’s is valued at $75, goes up to $100 by November and then at the time of mustering out, May 1848, is valued at $50.  Wonder what the process is of valuing the horses?

I looked for a John Mitchell, born about 1817, in Rusk County, Texas in the 1850 census.  I did not find anyone who fit this description.  So I went back to  Mississippi looking for such a person.  There is J. B. Mitchell who is the right age in DeSoto County in both 1850 and 1860.  The Mitchells are variously in DeSoto and Marshall Counties in northern Mississippi–I suspect they came into Mississippi from neighboring Tennessee.  I am stymied by the initials the census taker used for this family–John Mitchell is way too common a name to depend on initials.  I was hoping for a wife’s name that might help me track this John Mitchell.  It appears that J.B.’s wife’s name was Susan–in 1860, the oldest child in the household is Martha.  Wife Susan is not in the household by 1860.  Martha is the name of John Mitchell Sr’s wife.

And here’s another big question–what were the Mitchell men doing in Texas, signing up for the Army, when their homes and families were in Mississippi? Granted, one of John Sr.’s sons, Ephraim Miles Mitchell, had come to Texas by this date, but why were his father and perhaps his brother there as well?  This family seemed to move as land opened up in various places–but unlike Ephraim, these two men do not appear to have brought their families with them.  At least John Sr. did not–his wife Martha/Patsy is found back in Mississippi living in the household of her daughter Mary E. Boyd, wife of Robert Louis Boyd.

I still don’t have enough information to unravel the Mitchells.  But I’ll keep working.  I’ve put off working on this family–a common surname, common given names and much movement prior to 1850.  I keep trying to collect bits to fill in the puzzle, but so far, I don’t even have enough to build the outside edges.

I believe I have found more information on a daughter of John Mitchell (and Martha “Patsy” McLain) that strengthens the connections.  As yet, I have very little actual documentation that these are the people I seek, but circumstantial evidence is mounting.

This started with wanting to know more about John Mitchell, b. about 1790, perhaps in Orange County, North Carolina.  This family seems to keep moving south and west as land opens up, and I believe he marries Martha “Patsy” McClain in Tennessee about 1810.  One of his brothers, James, dies about 1825 while working as a merchant in Alabama (I believe James may have been living in Charleston, SC).  Another brother, David Reed Mitchell evidently has guardianship of James’ children and attempts to recover some monies from a Creek Indian chief named Opothohola, according to two of his letters found in Andrew Jackson’s papers.  I believe this is the same David Reed Mitchell who is documented as one of the founders of Corsicana, Texas, though I have found nothing (online) in this documentation that mentions David R. Mitchell’s “previous life.”

One of the next, and last times, we hear from John Mitchell is his aforementioned letter penned from Austin, Texas in 1847 as he awaits deployment to Mexico.  (I just checked when I wrote about this letter and it was the first day of this year–guess this is an appropriate way to end the year–still chasing John Mitchell.)  He is addressing his son Ephraim M. Mitchell and tells him to take care of his mother. He also mentions having stopped by Corsicana to see his brother “D.R.”

This makes me wonder where “mother” is located.  She does not appear in Ephraim’s household in Texas, but I believe I found her in a daughter Mary E.’s home back in Mississippi.  Again, I wrote about this daughter being married to Robert Louis Boyd, son of Mississippi state senator John D. Boyd.  I’ve been in contact with some Boyd researchers, and evidently, there are as many brick walls in Boyd research in Mississippi as there are in the Mitchells.

This evening, however, I found some additional information on Mary E. Mitchell Boyd.  Much of the Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley, Yalobusha County, Mississippi is online at www.findagrave.com.  Mary and Robert are in Marshall County, Mississippi in the 1850 and 1860 censuses.  Robert dies in 1869 and is buried in the Byhalia Cemetery in Marshall County.  Then in 1870 and 1880, Mary is listed as living in Water Valley, Yalobusha County.  In Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley, I found Mary E. Boyd, “wife of R. L. Boyd” buried, along with 3 of her children and some of her grandchildren.  One child, Rachel Lula Boyd Cunningham, died in 1883.  When I started looking for her to find a husband’s name (there were no Cunninghams in Oak Hill), I found a possibility in the 1880 Camp County, Texas census. I remembered that an older brother James and sister Rowena were in Camp County in 1870–James was working as a photographer and Rowena was a teacher.  This 1880 census had H. D. Cunningham and his wife Lula with two sons, listed with only initials–M.B. age 1, born in Mississippi, and H. E., aged 4 mos., born in Texas.  I thought these were good candidates for Mary E. Mitchell Boyd’s daughter and grandsons.

Sure enough, some more sleuthing showed a 1937 Texas death certificate for Howard E. Cunningham, whose parents were listed as Howard D. Cunningham, born Tennessee, and Lula Boyd, born Mississippi.  Howard E. is buried in Waco, McLennan County, Texas.

So, like John and his son Ephraim, it appears that his daughter Mary E.’s children also came to Texas.  I had previously located Rowena and James and Lilly and now here’s Lula, as she was apparently called.

All this began because I wanted to know more about the Mitchells–Ephraim’s daughter, also named Mary E., died shortly after the Civil War, leaving two children.  One of those children was my great-grandfather George C. Cooper.

The circle keeps widening, but I keep learning more.  I have also ordered John Mitchell, Jr.’s Mexican War service record.  We’ll see what it brings.

There.  I said it.

I am finally somewhat comfortable with Civil War service records–more comfortable with Confederate ones than Union, probably because of the number of Rebels I have in my own family than Feds.  I’ve worked more with Civil War records–many of them are now available on Footnote.com and I ordered many of them from NARA before that kind of access was available.

But then comes John Mitchell, born about 1790, probably in Orange County, North Carolina.  His family moves to Tennessee, and I believe to Mississippi, and in May 1847, at the age of 56, John Mitchell joins the army in Rusk County Texas to fight in the Mexican War.  One of my fellow Mitchell researchers shared a letter written by John from Austin, Texas, while he was awaiting deployment.  He mentions his horse Charley and assures his son Ephraim that both he and Charley are getting plenty of food.

I found John Mitchell, Sr. indexed in Charles D. Spurlin‘s Texas Veterans in the Mexican War:  Muster Rolls of Texas Military Units.  The first time I ordered his record from NARA, I got a reply that the record was not found.  (The good news is that I did not get charged for the search and it was all done electronically, so the pain was quickly over.)  I took the opportunity to pick Craig Scott‘s brain a little after his presentation on the Mexican War and its records at FGS in Little Rock.   This conversation convinced me that the record was probably indeed held at NARA, but it also planted the seed of wondering if it might be held in Austin.  So I wrote the Texas State Archives and received a wonderfully educational and thorough response.  The author of the letter notes all the inconsistencies in Spurlin’s abstracts of John Mitchell’s records–not because of Spurlin’s work, but, I suspect, because of the common name AND, perhaps, the enlistment of a Mitchell son also named John.  At any rate, the record was indeed at NARA, and a second attempt with a note that it was the second effect, I finally got the file.

It is slim.  Only 4 muster cards–for June to August,  September and October , and November and December for 1847.  The final card is for January and February 1848.    Spurlin notes that Mitchell died in Carmargo in Mexico.  The muster roll cards confirm that he was left sick in Camargo as of 4 Sep 1847.  None of the cards confirm his death using that actual term.

So what other records might exist for this man?  And what about those other John Mitchells who could also be relatives? or not relatives but from the same general area of Texas?

I’m considering hiring a researcher in DC to look into this.  I think I need someone who can look at all the records at one time and make some decisions.  On the other hand, if I had access to them, I could do it myself.  Dallas Public has good military holdings.  Maybe I’ll try them first–

The search goes on.  A pension record would be so helpful, but as far as I can determine, no one applied for a pension based on John Mitchell’s service.  I believe his wife was in Marshall County, Mississippi, living with daughter Mary E. Mitchell Boyd.  John admonishes son Ephraim to “take care of your mother” in the letter,” but so far, I cannot get beyond this point.

This is the burial site of one of Oklahoma’s first two senators,  Thomas P. Gore, grandfather of Gore Vidal.  He was blind as the result of two separate childhood accidents.

Thomas Pryor Gore

1870 MS – 1949 DC

Fairlawn Cemetery

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I love Oklahoma. I love every blade of her grass. I love every grain of her sands. I am proud of her past and I am confident of her future. The virtues that made us great in the past can keep us great in the future. We must march, and not merely mark time.”

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–

There is another interesting twist in the letter, however.  The letter mentions that the transaction in question was the trade of 100 acres of John’s headright land in Texas for H. R.’s sorrel horse named Charley.  There was a title to the land given over to H. R., according to the letter, but the title had been lost in a fire.  The letter states that John MItchell went to Mississippi “many years before before the War.”  My assumption is that this reference is to the Civil War, but since the letter is authored in Texas, might it not also have referred to the Texas Revolution (1835-36) or perhaps the Mexican War (1846-1848)?  The trade did take place, however, before the Mexican War because another letter exists that mentions Charley the sorrel horse.

In a letter dated 14 July 1847, John Mitchell writes his son Ephraim in Shelby County from Travis County.  John is in Austin awaiting deployment to Mexico.  He refers to Captains Ferguson, Johnson and Rap and Lieutenant Wills.  These names match the leaders of the units where John Mitchell is indexed in Spurlin’s index.  And then he mentions Charley–”Charley is fat we get plenty for ourselves and horses . . “  So there’s another confirmation of the connections between John and Ephraim and Hiram R. Mitchell.

This letter also contains the only mention I’ve seen anywhere to his wife.  John tells Ephraim that if any of his pay gets sent to Ephraim’s, he should “send it to your mother”.  I had made the assumption that John was a widower given that he was in the Mexican War at a fairly advanced age–he is listed as both aged 45 and 56 in the Spurlin book.  I believe the 56 is more accurate–it matches more of the info I’ve found on John.  But evidently he was not a widower and the other clue that this letter provides is that he mentions a brother “D.R.”  (assuming his meaning of brother is the same as our meaning of brother)    So is this David, Hiram’s father?  and could the R stand for Reed in both Hiram and David’s names? And what does he mean by “I have not seen him he sent me word he was so engaged he could not leave his office”?  What type of office did D. R. have?  and where?*

The version of the 1847 letter I have is a typescript–I’d love to see the original as much of the letter is marked “illegible” or “missing words.”  I’d like to have a shot at translating what is illegible.

So back to the search–who is the John’s wife and who is his brother D. R.?  This family is a challenge because the name is common and I have no idea where to find original records.  But I’ll keep working and narrowing the focus–I’m grateful to have copies of these letters as places to begin.  I don’t have much experience researching in Mississippi records, but this is the third family I’ve discovered as having spent some time there on their way to Texas, so it will be another “learning opportunity.”  And I also see a trip to East Texas in my future.  Any advice?

*update:  I found a David Reed Mitchell, born about 1797 in North Carolina, in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas.  There’s a historical marker for him–says he was married to Mary Ann Higgins and that they had 5 children.  This David Reed Mitchell was a surveyor and a land speculator, which might account for his having an office. Other resources say consistently that Hiram Reed Mitchell’s parents were David Reed MItchell and Mary Susannah Buchannan.  Was there more than one David Reed Mitchell born in this time period?  Was there only one and he had more than one wife?  (I’ve also seen his wife listed as Lucy Higgins)  AND, is this the same David R. Mitchell writing Andrew Jackson in 1829 from Alabama, talking about needing to get home to Tennessee?

This is part of the documentation establishing that Ephraim’s father’s name was John–do you have any idea how many John Mitchells were in Texas and Mississippi and Tennessee during this time period?  (Those are the places we know this Mitchell family lived.)  So I am glad to have one piece of confirmation that Ephraim’s father’s name was John, but tracking the right John is a task.  And if H. R. is a nephew, then his father must be a brother to John, right?  (Assuming that H. R.’s mother did not marry a man named Mitchell, which one of Ephraim’s daughters did.)

So I took this as an opportunity to try to expand my knowledge of the Mitchell family.   First I tried to locate H. R. Mitchell on the census.  Since he and Ephraim would be cousins, and Ephraim was born about 1814, I decided to look for a person with this name who was born about 1820.  The letter was written from Texas so I started there.  No luck in 1860, 1870 or 1880.  Then I decided I’d better confirm that there actually were attorneys in Gainesville named Weaver and Potter.  W.T.G. Weaver and C.C. Potter were written in  very small print above the main logo on the paper.  I was able to find attorneys by these names in Gainesville in both 1870 and 1880.

Back to H. R. Mitchell.  Since he didn’t show up in Texas, I decided to look in Mississippi.  In 1860, there is an H. R. Mitchell, age 37, born in Tennessee, living in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, who appears to be a good candidate.  Also in the household, supposedly his wife and sons–Mary A., James R., Samuel E., Theodore G., and George.  Going back another 10 years to 1850, I found H. R. Mitchell, age 29, living “North of the Yallobusha River” in Yallobusha County, Mississippi.  He is in a household with a William Miles, age 49 and Ann Miles, age 48.  Also in the household are Ferdinand Mills, age 11 and James B. Mills, age 2.  These finds helped immensely as I had no idea where in Mississippi the Mitchells were and this gave me a place to begin.  At his point, I wasn’t positive this was the same H. R., but I had not found anyone else with these initials or even who’s name started with H. that was about the right age.

Next I went to the message boards for Yalobusha County, where I did find some information about these families.  H.R. evidently stands for Hiram Reed, and Mary A. Mills was his wife.  [Note to self:  Ephraim's middle name is provided as Miles, but could it in reality be Mills?]  Looking through the message boards as well as the online family trees at Ancestry, H. R. is probably Hiram Reed Mitchell, son of David Mitchell and Mary Susannah Buchanan.  David Mitchell was born in Shelby County, Tennessee in 1796.  All this information matches what I have found about Ephraim and his father John.

I am treating all this so far as a working hypothesis.  I was not able to find any information that links John to David.  Yet.  They are about the same age and they both have Tennessee and Mississippi connections.  But so far, nothing definitive that ties them together as brothers.

I know that “relationship language” was not used in the same way we used it today.  But what could “nephew” from 1875  mean?  So far, the siblings I have found for John Mitchell include George, Andrew, James, Jane, Nancy, Susan, Margaret and Mary (who married Ephraim McCracken–is this the source for Ephraim Mitchell’s name?)  Again, this information has not been proven or researched in original records by me–just a working hypothesis.

More later as I continue to try to track down Ephraim’s origins.  I’ve never seen any mention of a mother’s name.  His father John died in Mexico, during the Mexican War, though Spurlin’s index (Texas veterans in the Mexican War : muster rolls of Texas military units) does not indicate he died of wounds.  Also listed is a younger John Mitchell in the same unit–is this a son, a brother to Ephraim?  or perhaps another “nephew?”