John Mitchell and the Mexican War
Military records scare me.
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.