Reverend James Mitchell (September 14, 1818 – March 2, 1903) was the United States Commissioner of Emigration f negroesin the

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 ...

administration, and a prominent religious leader in the Georgia Episcopal Methodist Conference after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Mitchell was born to Protestant parents in

Derry, Ireland Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern ...

in 1818, and migrated to America in the 1830s. He became a Methodist preacher in Indiana near where his family had settled and became an advocate of

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

and

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

. In 1848 Mitchell took the job of Secretary of the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and first met Abraham Lincoln in that capacity. Lincoln appointed Mitchell Commissioner of Emigration on August 4, 1862. In this capacity he was to oversee the establishment of one or more colonies abroad for freed slaves. Mitchell organized Lincoln's infamous August 14, 1862, address to a "Deputation of Negroes" at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, where Lincoln proclaimed "You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence." After the Civil War, Mitchell returned to the ministry in the Methodist church. He took his ministry to

Mount Zion, Georgia Mount Zion is a city in Carroll County, Georgia, Carroll County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 1,696 at the 2010 census. History The City of Mount Zion was established in 1852 by Reverend Thomas Hicks Martin (Mar ...

, in 1877 and founded the Mount Zion Seminary, the predecessor institution of the current Mount Zion High School. Mitchell served as director of the Seminary until his death in 1903. In his later years he was frequently visited by reporters and other guests because of his connection to Lincoln, at a time when most of Lincoln's other associates had already died.

Sources

"Obituary: James Mitchell, Private Secretary to President Lincoln." ''The Washington Post'' March 3, 1903

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Further reading