Nathaniel Mitchell

Background

Nathaniel Mitchell was born near Laurel, Sussex County, Delaware. He was the son of James and Margaret (Dagworthy) Mitchell.

Career

Mitchell's long and respectable record as an officer in the Revolutionary War commenced in 1775 when he was raised to the rank of captain and transferred to Col. Samuel Patterson's Delaware Battalion of the "Flying Camp. " The next year he was again transferred, this time to Col. William Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment, and on December 23 of the same year was raised to the rank of major. Mitchell remained in the Continental Line to the end of active fighting. His regiment was consolidated, April 1779, with Col. Nathaniel Gist's Additional Continental Regiment, and later in the year he was made brigade-major and inspector to Gen. Peter Muhlenberg, serving only part-time in this capacity, however. While campaigning under Lafayette in Virginia during the latter part of 1780, he was sent to Petersburg to obtain intelligence of the enemy and collect stores. During the campaign, he was captured and made a prisoner of war, being paroled on May 10, 1781. By resolution of Congress, his detachment had been disbanded January 1, but he did not know it, and his petition for pay from that date was unsuccessful. Mitchell then probably retired to his home at Laurel. From 1786 until the date of his death, he held offices in Delaware almost continuously, but without special distinction. His political career began with his election as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He presented his credentials on January 18, 1787, and appeared on February 1 of the following year with credentials of reelection. It was probably no descent from being a delegate to the enfeebled Congress to the position of the prothonotary of Sussex County, to which he was appointed in the fall of 1788; this office he held until 1805. On January 15 of that year, he became governor of Delaware, having been elected over Joseph Haslet in 1804 by a very small majority, and served until 1808. From 1808 to 1810, he was a member of the Delaware House of Representatives, and from January 2, 1810, to May 1812, of the state Senate. Mitchell died in Laurel and is buried at Christ Church.

Achievements

• A Continental Congressman from Delaware from 1786 to 1789, Mitchell served as Delaware's Governor from 1805 to 1808.

Membership

a member of the Delaware House of Representatives

Connections

Mitchell's wife was Hannah Morris Mitchell, daughter of Anthony C. Morris; they had one son, Theodore.

Father:

James Mitchell

Mother:

Margaret (Dagworthy) Mitchell

Wife:

Hannah Morris Mitchell

Son:

Theodore Mitchell