Charles Franklin Mitchell (February 18, 1806 – September 27, 1865) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from New York in the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses.

Biography

Charles F. Mitchell was born in

Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania Middletown Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 46,040 at the 2020 census. Many sections of Levittown are located in the southern end of the township. The municipality surrounds the boroughs o ...

on February 18, 1806. A

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, he attended the public schools in Pennsylvania and became a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

miller. He settled in

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the Lockport (town), New York, town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, Niagara County, New York (state), New York. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census ...

in 1828 or 1829, operated a successful grain milling business, and was appointed to the volunteer fire department in 1829. He was also active in other business ventures, including the Batavia and Lockport Railroad and the Niagara Suspension Bridge Bank. On December 2, 1829 he married Elizabeth F. Ellis in

Henrietta, New York Henrietta is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States and a suburb of Rochester. The population of Henrietta is 47,096, according to the 2020 United States Census. Henrietta is home to the Rochester Institute of Technology and to one of t ...

. She was born in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

on October 23, 1809 and died in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

on February 24, 1898. Active as a Whig, he was an early protege and business partner of

Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was a printer, New York newspaper publisher, and Whig and Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor to prominent New York politician William H. Seward and was ins ...

. In 1836 he was elected to the U.S. House as the Representative of New York's 33rd District. He was reelected in 1838 and served from March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1841. During his second term he was accused of not devoting his full attention to the business of Congress, and of not spending time in his district. He was convicted of forgery later in 1841, and sentenced to one year in prison and a fine, but paroled for ill health, and later pardoned. He later lived in Cincinnati and northern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. By the time of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Mitchell had established himself in

Flemingsburg, Kentucky Flemingsburg is a home rule-class city in Fleming County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 2,658 at the 2010 census, down from 3,010 at the 2000 census. It is the seat of Fleming County. Geography Flemingsburg is located no ...

. By now a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, in 1860 and 1861 he sent letters to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and others in Lincoln's administration, in which he described the Kentucky political situation and the prospects for success at keeping the state in the Union. Later in the war Mitchell was part of a delegation that lobbied Secretary of State

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senate, United States Senat ...

for the release of individuals from the Flemingsburg area who were being held prisoner for suspected

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

sympathies, with Mitchell taking part because he was personally acquainted with Seward from their time as Whig politicians in New York. He died in

on September 27, 1865 and was buried at

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

in Cincinnati.Charles Franklin Mitchell
a

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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Charles F. 1806 births 1865 deaths 19th-century American politicians Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Forgers People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from Flemingsburg, Kentucky Politicians from Cincinnati Politicians from Lockport, New York Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)