James Mitchell

As printed in 1912

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.

James Mitchell's marriage to Trena Rude occurred in Amiret township May 31. 1884. His wife is a native of Butler county, Iowa, and is a daughter of Michael and Olena Rude. The family were pioneer settlers of Brown county, Minnesota, locating there in 1869 and making it their home until thendeaths. Mrs. Mitchell was born April 9, 1858. She and her husband are the parents of three children, as follows: Margaret (Mrs. Neil Currie) of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Jeanette, a school teacher of Austin, Minnesota; and Jay (deceased).

Mr. Mitchell was for a number of years a member of the Amiret Township Board of Supervisors and was chairman of the township's first board. He was one of the organizers of school district No. 64 and has served continuously as clerk of the board since its organization. Our subject is a member of the.Masonic lodge.

As printed in An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota (1912). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.