Excerpt from History of Coles County, Illinois, William LeBaron & Company, Chicago, 1879, p. 524:

LUTHER C. MITCHELL, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O. Charleston; a son of James A. and Esther (Collom) Mitchell; was born in Washington Co., Tenn., June 2, 1830; in 1833, his father's family removed to Charleston; he was raised on the farm, and at age 19, started for himself; after farming two years, he made the trip to California, where he spent eight months in mining; going thence to Australia; there he remained seven years, and, returning in 1860, he resumed farming and dairying; he removed in 1871 to his present farm on Sec. 19, where he owns eighty acres of land. He was married March 5, 1861, to Miss H. A. Waddle, of Coles Co.; they have seven children living -- Kittie B., William A., Rhoda H., Ella, Alice, James and Emily E. Mr. Mitchell has served six years as School Director.

Submitted by Kenneth W. Parent , Unit 31550, APO AE 09828-1550.
May 28, 2003.

BIOGRAPHY:

Excerpt from The History of Coles County, Illinois, William LeBaron & Company, Chicago, 1879, p. 523-4:

JAMES A. MITCHELL (deceased); one of the early pioneers of Coles Co., was born in Washington Co., E. Tenn., Aug. 27, 1797; he was a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Allison) Mitchell; his father was a native of North Carolina and emigrated to Tennessee in an early day. He passed his early life on his father's farm near Jonesboro, Tenn., and after obtaining a thorough preparatory education entered Washington College, in his native State, but, after a time, left college and engaged in merchandising. He was married May 12, 1818, to Miss Esther Collom, of his native county; she was born Oct. 28, 1799. He came to Coles Co. in 1833, and entered a large quantity of Government land, and engaged in farming, dealing in stock, etc. For a number of years, he resided in Charleston, but afterward retired to a farm near town, on which he resided until his death. He was a prominent citizen and a prosperous business man. He was for several years School Commissioner of Coles Co. He died Oct. 14, 1843, while on a visit to his old home in Tennessee, leaving a wife and nine children -- Robert A., for twenty years Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Charleston, now of Kansas, Ill.; Jonathan C., now a farmer in Missouri; John D., a physician of Terre Haute, Ind.; Sarah E., wife of Thomas Cheeseman, of Missouri; Samuel, who died in 1873; Luther and James A., farmer in Coles Co., Alexander C. and Isaac B., merchants in Charleston. His widow, now Mrs. Lumbrick, still resides in Charleston.

Submitted by Kenneth W. Parent , Unit 31550, APO AE 09828-1550.
May 28, 2003.