Jacob Curry Mitchell ( – December 21, 1744) was an American

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

who became prominent in what is now

Yarmouth, Maine Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, it was part of Massachusetts, and remained as such for 213 years. In 1849, ...

Early life

Mitchell was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to Jacob Mitchell I and Susannah Pope, both of whom died in 1675, when Jacob was around three years old, during the early stages of

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

. He was raised by his uncle, Edward.George Lincoln, et al., (published by the Town of Hingham, 1893) He married twice, to Deliverance Kingman (daughter of John Kingman and Elizabeth Edson), firstly, then in 1701 (after moving to

Kingston, Rhode Island Kingston is a village and a census-designated place within the New England town, town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, South Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, and the site of the main ...

) to Rebecca Cushman, with whom he had at least four children: Jacob III (born 1696), Rebekah (1704), Seth (1705) and Isaac (1715), the latter named for his father-in-law. In 1727, the couple moved north to North Yarmouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay, where Mitchell became a founder of the Meetinghouse under the Ledge, which stood between 1729 and 1836. The younger Mitchell also became a deacon there. Also in 1727, Mitchell and four other local men—Samuel Seabury, James Parker, Gershom Rice and Phineas Jones—were tasked with the management of the new town of

North Yarmouth, Maine North Yarmouth, officially the Town of North Yarmouth, is a town in Cumberland County, Maine. The population was 4,072 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. Their affairs included laying out the highways.''Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History'', William Hutchinson Rowe (1937) The Mitchell garrison home, built in 1729 (the same year as the meetinghouse), was located at the rear of today's Holy Cross Cemetery in Yarmouth. A

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...

used during the Indian wars, a tunnel was built from the home's cellar to the nearby Royal River. The dirt path that looks like it leads to the water is actually the original

stage road A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

. Mitchell's family lived in the house between around 1729 and 1799, when one of Mitchell's sons, David, owned it. It then became the home of the Whitcombs, whose name is preserved on a street off

Princes Point Road Princes Point Road is a prominent street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It runs for about from Lafayette Street ( State Route 88) in the north to Sunset Point Road in the south. It was one of the first streets laid out in the town''Anci ...

. It was demolished about 1900, and the farm land was purchased in 1916 to be replaced by the cemetery.''Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History'', William Hutchinson Rowe (1937)

Death

Mitchell died on December 21, 1744, aged 71 or 72. He was interred in the Pioneer Cemetery in today's

. His father is buried in Yarmouth's

Old Baptist Cemetery Old Baptist Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine, United States.''Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History'', William Hutchison Rowe (1937) Dating to the late 17th century, it stands on Hillside Street (former ...

, while other members of the family (including his son) are buried in the

Ledge Cemetery Ledge Cemetery, also known as the Cemetery under the Ledge,''Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society'', Maine Historical Society (1899), p. 76 is a historic cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine, Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Dating t ...

, adjacent to the Pioneer Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Jacob 1672 births 1744 deaths Deacons People from Bridgewater, Massachusetts People from North Yarmouth, Maine People from colonial Massachusetts Burials in Maine People from pre-statehood Maine