The Mitchell Families of Lyon County, Minnesota

JAMES MITCHELL (1869), ex-county commissioner of Lyon county and one of the earliest settlers, owns 280 acres of land and operates one of the finest improved farms in Amiret township. He has been a continuous resident of Amiret township forty-three years. Mr. Mitchell served twelve years as county commissioner when there were but three commissioners in what is now Lyon and Lincoln counties and when the county seat was at Lynd. It was also during his term of service as commissioner that the various townships of Lyon county were created and organized.

Our subject was born in Jefferson county. Wisconsin, September 16, 1848. His parents were James and Margaret (Barclay) Mitchell, now deceased. His mother died when James was a child and his father was married a second time to Martha Lane, a native of Maine. James Mitchell. Sr., was born in Scotland, came to America in 1838. and settled in Wisconsin in 1842, where he made his home until 1866. That year he moved to Plainview, Minnesota, and farmer in the vicinity three years. In the spring of 1869 he and his son, the subject of this biography, came to Lyon county and each took a quarter section of land on section 30, Amiret township, as homesteads. The father resided on his Amiret farm until his death on September 14, 1901, at the age of eighty-one years.

James Mitchell, Jr., was reared in Wisconsin and attended school until fourteen years of age. He then worked at farm labor one year, after which he moved to Plainview, Minnesota, with his parents, and worked there two years. After the family moved to Lyon county James made his home with his parents until he married in 1884, after which he moved to his present place, the southeast quarter of section 5, Amiret township.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOSEPH M. MITCHELL (1880) is the owner of a fine eighty-acre farm and comfortable home in Amiret township, and he is today a prosperous farmer after more than thirty years' residence in the county. Mr. Mitchell's introduction to Lyon county was perhaps not one to lend enthusiasm to the mind of a new settler, inasmuch as his first winter in the county was the one of deep snows, blizzards and blockades. Our subject, however, is one of many who regrets not that he has made his home in Lyon county.

Mr. Mitchell took an active part in the Civil War. He enlisted January 5, 1864, as a private in Company A, Thirty-fifth New Jersey Infantry, and was mustered out

July 2 0, 18 65. During that time he took part in General Sherman's campaign in Georgia and in the famous "March to the Sea." Mr. Mitchell is a member of D. F. Markham Post No. 7, G. A. R., of Marshall, and has held at different times the office of post commander, senior vice and junior vice.

Joseph Mitchell was born in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, December 13, 1847, and is a son of George and Lydia (Narcross) Mitchell, both deceased. His parents located in Illinois in 1871 and resided there until their deaths. Joseph received a common school education in New Jersey and during the later years of his residence in that state worked out at farm labor. He came to Illinois with his parents and worked out in Ogle county two years. He then married and rented land in Winnebago county, where he farmer eight years.

In March, 1880, our subject came to Lyon county and purchased the land he now owns on section 23 from the Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company. It is one of the nicest farms in the township, and thirty-two years ago Mr. Mitchell paid for it the small sum of $6 per acre.

In various capacities Mr. Mitchell has been called upon to serve in an official capacity. He was a member of the Township Board two years ago and served one year as chairman. For three years he was clerk of the township, and for the past ten terms he has been the assessor. He was road overseer several years and was for eighteen years the clerk of school district No. 23. In 1895 and 1905 he was census enumerator.

Our subject's marriage to Sarah Seal occurred at Elida, Illinois, August 12, 1871. She was born August 18, 1847, in New Jersey, and is a daughter of John and Jane (Bellis) Seal, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are the parents of the following children: Elizabeth (Mrs. George Purves), of Tracy; Eleanor (Mrs. Eleanor Gary), of Marshall; Lydia (Mrs. M. D. Bair), of Amiret township; Agnes (Mis. C. J. Armstrong), of St. Paul; and Belle, who lives at home. The Mitchells are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Mitchell was for a number of years a trustee.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

OSMUND N. MITCHELL (1900), of Shelburne township, owns and farms 360 acres of the precinct's fertile soil. He is not a pioneer resident of Lyon county but he has prospered and is rated as one of the substantial farmers. His home place is the northwest quarter of section 33, on the southern boundary of the county.

The gentleman whose name heads this sketch was born near Stavanger, Norway, April 26, 1866. His father, Nels Mikkelson, died in 1887; his mother, Ingeborg (Osmundson) Mikkelson, two years later. Until he was sixteen years of age young Mitchell attended the schools of his native land. Then he spent four years working as a farm laborer, three years for an uncle and one year on the home place.

In 1887 Mr. Mitchell came to America. The first two years in the New World were spent working on the railroad in Livingston county, Illinois; then he worked at farm labor in Lasalle county two years. He was married in 1891 and moved to Kossuth county, Iowa, where he bought land and engaged in farming until 1900.

In the spring of that year Mr. Mitchell came to Lyon county and purchased 200 acres of land on the west half of section 33, Shelburne township, upon which he has ever since resided. In the fall of 1910 he purchased the southeast quarter of section 32, making him a farm of 3 60 acres. Mr. Mitchell raises considerable stock, including Hereford cattle, Duroc-Jersey hogs and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens.

Mr. Mitchell is interested in several other enterprises. He has stock in the State Bank of Florence, the Farmers Elevator Company of Ruthton, and the Independent Harvester Company of Piano, Illinois. He has been treasurer of school district No. 57 for the past ten years.

The marriage of Mr. Mitchell to Lena Olson occurred in Streator, Illinois, December 26, 1890. Mrs. Mitchell was born in Norway April 30, 1875, the daughter of Andrew and Martha (Severson) Olson. The head of the family came to America in 1886 and the rest of the family in 1890. They lived in Lasalle county, Illinois, and Kossuth county, Iowa, and in 1903 moved to Cottonwood county, Minnesota, where they now reside. Mrs. Mitchell has two brothers, Severt Olson, of Cot-

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.