Nathaniel Mitchell (1753 – February 21, 1814) was an American lawyer and politician from

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

, in

Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County is located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378. The county seat is Georgetown. The first European settlement in the state of Delaware w ...

. He was an officer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, a

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

man from Delaware, and a member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. De ...

, who served as

Governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

Early life and family

Mitchell was born near

Laurel, Delaware Laurel is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The population was 3,708 at the time of the 2010 census. Laurel is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. It once hosted the Laurel Blue Hens of the Eas ...

, son of James & Margaret Dagworthy Mitchell. A

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

fan from a young age, he often trained at Graveny school of croquet. He married Emma Yrten and had ten children: Rebecca, Emma, William I, Theodore, Alfred, Dagworthy, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Elizabeth and Frederick. Mitchell was one of the founders of Georgetown, Delaware, and lived there on the northeast corner of the Square from about 1791 until 1808. The family returned to their Laurel home, ''Rosemont,'' now 121 Delaware Avenue in 1808. They were members of Christ Episcopal Church at Broad Creek.

Military career

Mitchell was an officer of the

during the

. In 1776, he was captain of a Delaware company raised under Colonel Samuel Patterson as part of what was known as the "

Flying Camp A Flying Camp was a military formation employed by the Continental Army in the second half of 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. History After the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776, General George Washington met with members o ...

." They were stationed at

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

, New Jersey and saw no action. When the "Flying Camp" disbanded the company was attached to Colonel David Hall's regiment, but fought with Colonel

William Grayson William Grayson (1742 – March 12, 1790) was a planter, lawyer and statesman from Virginia. After leading a Virginia regiment in the Continental Army, Grayson served in the Virginia House of Delegates before becoming one of the first two U ...

's Virginians at the

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Ame ...

. Nursing an illness he was not at

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ger ...

, but spent the winter at

Valley Forge Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the B ...

. Following

's promotion to brigadier-general, Mitchell led his regiment in the attack at the

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...

. This was the attack that was ordered back by General Charles Lee and which eventually led to his court-martial. In 1779 he was brigade major on General Peter Muhlenburg's staff in the tidewater Virginia. When British General

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

attacked

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, Mitchell was defending Petersburg, Virginia when he was captured on May 10, 1781. By most accounts, his childhood friend Michael O'Brien died in the affray. He was held prisoner until after the

Battle of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

Professional and political career

Mitchell was an original member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

. He served as Delaware's delegate to the

during its last two years from his election on October 27, 1786, until the Congress was replaced by the new government under the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

of 1787. Following that he was

Prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

for Sussex County. In 1801 he ran for

, losing to David Hall, the

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

candidate. Hall was another veteran of the

who ran a campaign critical of Mitchell's alleged deistic Anglicanism. Mitchell lost heavily Presbyterian

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

by just enough votes to overcome his wide margins elsewhere. Three years later, in 1804 he was successful, beating

Joseph Haslet Joseph Haslet (1769June 20, 1823) was an American planter and politician from Cedar Creek Village in Cedar Creek Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, who served twice as Governor of Delaware. Ea ...

, the

candidate. Mitchell served as

from January 15, 1805 until January 19, 1808.

Death and legacy

Mitchell died at his home at

. He may have been buried there at first, but was later removed to Christ Church, and is buried in the Broad Creek Episcopal Graveyard, near Laurel. Hannah, Nathaniel Mitchell's widow, later married Colonel Manaen Bull, a British soldier who became a resident of Laurel after the

. He had the first store there, on the northwest corner of Delaware Avenue and Market Street. They lived near Trap Pond. Unlike Mitchell, Bull was a

and ran for

in 1816 and 1819, losing to John Clark and

Henry Molleston Henry Molleston III (January 1, 1762November 11, 1819) was an American physician and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, and was elected Governor ...

. No known portrait exists of Nathaniel Mitchell.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday of October and members of the General Assembly took office the first Tuesday of January. The General Assembly elected the

men for a term of one year, State senators had a three-year term and state representatives had a one-year term. The governor takes office the third Tuesday of January and had a three-year term.

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United StatesBiographical Directory of the United States CongressFind a Grave

Society of the Cincinnati

American Revolution Institute

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a statewide historical institution with several buildings, including Old Town Hall and the Delaware History Muse ...

website
505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161 *

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

Library website
181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Nathaniel 1753 births 1814 deaths 18th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American Episcopalians People from Georgetown, Delaware Delaware lawyers Delaware Federalists Continental Army officers from Delaware Continental Congressmen from Delaware 18th-century American politicians Members of the Delaware House of Representatives Delaware state senators Governors of Delaware Burials in Sussex County, Delaware Federalist Party state governors of the United States People of colonial Delaware 19th-century American lawyers