John Mitchell (29 December 1794 – 28 April 1870) was an American minister and author.

Life

He was the son of John and Abigail (Waterhouse) Mitchell, and was born in

Chester, Connecticut Chester is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The name is a transfer from Chester, in Engla ...

, on 29 December, 1794. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1821. In the autumn of 1821, he entered

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

, but left after about nine months, in consequence of impaired health. In January 1824, he became the editor of the ''

Christian Spectator ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on hi ...

'', a religious and theological monthly published in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. He continued in this employment until 1829, in May of that year he was licensed, and soon after preached his first sermon in the pulpit of his brother (Rev. William Mitchell) in Newtown, Conn. In Dec, 1830, he was ordained as the first pastor of the First (Congregational) Church in Fair Haven, Conn. After remaining there six years, he was settled, 6 December, 1836, as pastor of the Edwards (Congregational) Church in Northampton, Mass. At the close of the year 1842, ill health compelled him to resign his charge there, and he spent the following year abroad in the hope of recovery. Though he was benefited, and his life doubtless prolonged by this change, he was never able to resume the labors of the ministry. Most of his remaining years were spent in Stratford, Conn, where he employed himself, as strength would allow, in literary work. While at Fair Haven, he had written a manual of the

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

polity, entitled ''The New England Churches''. After his return from Europe, he published ''Notes from Over Seas'' (2 vol.), in which he aimed to give, not merely his own experience as a traveler, but a collection of interesting facts relating to the political, religious, and social status of the countries which he had visited. He afterwards published ''Scenes and Characters in College'', ''My Mother, or Recollections of Maternal Influence'', and ''Rachel Kell''. He also published occasional sermons, and contributed to periodicals, and was editorially connected with different newspapers. At the time of his death he had nearly completed a book of sketches under the title of ''Derwent''. He was married, 13 October, 1825, to Mary A. Tomlinson, daughter of Charles Tomlinson, M.D., of Stratford. He had three sons, two of whom survived him. He died in Stratford, Connecticut, 28 April 1870, aged 75 years.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, John 1794 births 1870 deaths People from Chester, Connecticut Yale College alumni Andover Newton Theological School alumni American male writers American Congregationalist ministers People from Stratford, Connecticut 19th-century American clergy