Descendants of Etheldred Mitchell (b 1775)

Descendants of Etheldred Mitchell

Generation 1

1. ETHELDRED1 MITCHELL was born about 1775 in Greene Co., NC. He died about 1834 in Greene

Co., NC. He married NANCY before 1807. She was born about 1785 in Greene Co., NC. She died in
Greene Co., NC.

Notes for Etheldred Mitchell: 1800 Greene County NC census (from Jean Teachey) Dred Mitchell 1 free white
male 16-26 1 free white female 10-16 1 free white female 26-43 1 slave

We found Etheldred Mitchell in the 1830 census for Greene Co., NC, Row 121, page 248. It did not list the
names but only gave tic marks for the age groups as follows: 2M age 5-10 1M age 10-15 1M age 15-20 (might
be Benjamin W. as he was born in 1812) 1M age 20-30 (may be son Etheldred, born in 1807) 1M age 50-60 (we
believe this is Etheldred) 1F age 40-50 (thought to be his wife) 4 slaves: 1 free colored male 10-21 2 free colored
females 10-21

1830 Greene Co. NC census Version #2 (from Jean Teachey) 2 free white males 5-9 1 free white male 10-14
1 free white male 15-19 1 free white male 20-29 1 free white male 50-59 1 free white male 90-99 1 free white
female 40-49 No slaves

Etheldred Mitchell is mentioned in the Goodspeed History of Southern Arkansas on page 230, as part of the
discussion on Barney E. Mitchell. The article said he was born in Greene County, NC where he spent all his life,
and death occurred about 1834. His occupation was givne as a farmer and lawyer. His wife was also a native of
the same county and there died; she was of Irish descent.

Etheldred Mitchell is listed on the 1816 Greene Co. Tax List. Etheldred Mitchell is listed in the NC census Index
as being in Duplin Co. in 1810.

Duplin Co. NC "Court of Pleas & Quarter Session Minutes" 1805-1809 Part 7. Wed. July 20 1808 Daniel L.
Kenan, Sheriff, rendered a list of Insolvents Poll Taxables for 1807 as follows: Etheldred Mitchell.

Wed. 19 July 1808 Daniel Kenan, Esq. rendered his list of Insolvents for 1808 which is allowed: Etheldred
Mitchell

From Jean Teachey: While searching at the Dept. Of Archives, Raleigh, NC, I found a land grant for Etheldred
Mitchell. This is for 36 acres in the Tyson's Marsh community of Greene Co. (Arba) We do not know what
became of this land at this time.

NC General Assembly Records for 1800 in Greene Co., NC Election for NC Senate--Etheldred Mitchell is
listed as not making a choice.

Walking to California

Barney Etheldred Mitchell, born on 20 May 1836, was the 2^nd child of Benjamin William Mitchell (BW) and Mary Elizabeth Stanley (ME). James Stanley Mitchell was the 4^th child of BW and ME, born on 27 June 1845. Family legend says that Barney and his brother James set out in 1870 from Snow Hill, NC to walk to California. Some family members said that they were going to the gold rush. Whether they actually thought they could walk to California or, they wound up in Lonoke, Arkansas. There is nothing to tell us why they stopped there, but they did and set down roots in Arkansas.

Barney Etheldred Mitchell

It’s hard to think about walking such a long distance. Barney had been shot in the thigh at Chancellorsville during the civil war and his femur bone had been broken. That wound gave him trouble all his life, so it seems it would have been difficult for him to walk so far. James’s civil war military records show that he had rheumatism, so it must have been difficult for him to walk such a distance, perhaps having to sleep on the ground in all kinds of weather.

Unfortunately, there are no records to tell us about their journey or why they left Greene County. We know that the 1870’s were difficult for everyone in the south after the war, so perhaps that is part of it. Maybe they felt there would be a better way to make a living further west. We know that James was unmarried, so he could have been having an adventure, and hoping to make his fortune in another place besides NC. Barney, however, had a wife and two children in Greene County. He had been teaching school there, and he could have thought that there would be more opportunity for his little family in a new area.

James Stanley Mitchell

What we do know is that James married by October 1872. He married Mary Delilah Hodges and settled in Pulaski County, Lonoke, Arkansas. Barney did return to NC to get his family. His oldest child, Allene, said that they made the trip to AR in a wagon taking their cow with them. She remembered that they would put cream in a covered bucket, tied it on the back of the wagon, and when they stopped at night they would have a nice pat of butter for their bread.

Whatever their reasons for leaving North Carolina, we have to admit they had a lot of courage to take on such a journey.


Maggie