James C. Mitchell (settler)
James C. Mitchell (1810-1860) was the founder of the town of Florence in the Nebraska Territory in 1854.
Biography
Born in Pangborn, Pennsylvania, Mitchell ran away from home at the age of fifteen to become a seaman. By age eighteen, he was captain of a ship which sailed between New York City and Liverpool, England. In 1836, Mitchell married the widow of a Royal Navy chaplain who was lost at sea.[citation needed]
Mitchell worked as an Indian Commissioner in Bellevue, Iowa in 1840. Leaving for California in 1850, the Mitchell family decided to stay in Council Bluffs where they opened a mercantile.[citation needed] Following the advice of Peter A. Sarpy, Mitchell bought the land where the abandoned Mormon settlement of Cutler's Park stood, platting and settling in the new village of Florence, work that he, his team, and his family accomplished between 1853 and 1855.[1] The name of the town is said to been in honor of Florence Kilbourn, a niece of Mrs. Mitchell's.[1]
Mitchell thought the town would be the Nebraska Territory's Capitol and in 1854 co-founded the Nebraska Winter Quarters Company, which became the Florence Land Company in 1855.[2][citation needed] Mitchell himself owned 277 lots in Florence and was very active in real estate in both Florence and Columbus, Nebraska. Mitchell joined the first board of the Bank of Florence in 1856.[3]
Mitchell died in Florence in 1860.[4][citation needed]
Claims
Mitchell owned several claims and ran numerous enterprises throughout the Territory. They included Elk Horn and Loup Fork Ferry and Bridge Company, the Winter Quarter Ferry, land once owned by the Council Buffs and Nebraska Ferry Company along the Missouri River, the Columbus Company, the steam ferry boat Nebraska No. 2, and the Florence Bridge Company.[5][citation needed]
Politics
James C. Mitchell served on a credentialing committee in the early territorial legislature of Nebraska.[1] Mitchell served in the First Territorial Council and cast the vote that gave the early capital to Omaha, despite his own town of Florence's being under consideration. Perhaps as a reward for his vote, he was appointed the sole commissioner for the new capitol building. He ultimately selected a site on High School Hill,[1] where Central High School now stands.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d History of the State of Nebraska. Chicago, IL: Andreas, 1882. Digital transcription. https://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/
- ^ "Florence, Douglas County, Nebraska", Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 4/17/08. No longer accessible.
- ^ (1856) Laws, Joint Resolutions, and Memorials Passed at the Regular Session of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature. p 177.
- ^ "James C. Mitchell", Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 4/17/08. No longer accessible.
- ^ "James C. Mitchell", Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 4/17/08. No longer accessible.