Samuel Augustus Mitchell

Background

Samuel Augustus Mitchell was the youngest son of William and Mary (Alton) Mitchell. He was born on March 20, 1792, at Bristol. His father came to America from Scotland when he was a lad of twelve.

Career

Possessing literary as well as business talent, Mitchell devoted his early life to teaching, but, becoming dissatisfied with the treatment of geography in the textbooks then in use, transferred his attention to writing and publishing geographical works. Forty years of his life, in Philadelphia, were given over to preparing textbooks, maps, and geographical manuals, the demand for which became so great that, at one time, more than 400, 000 copies were sold annually. More than 250 persons were employed in the manufacture of these books, and every effort was made to include in them the results of the latest geographical discoveries. In 1831, he published A New American Atlas and the same year issued separate maps of several sections of the United States, following these by maps of the settled portions of the various territories. In 1832, appeared Mitchell's Traveller's Guide through the United States; it contained the latest information on stage, canal, and steamboat routes, and was re-edited annually for more than twenty years. In 1834 a series of "Tourist's Pocket Maps" of the different states was begun, supplemented in 1836 by Reference and Distance Map of the United States. Keeping an eye on current events, Mitchell issued in 1846 a Map of Mexico and Mitchell's New Map of Texas, Oregon and California, and in 1847, Map of the Seat of War; while in 1849 there came from the press Description of Oregon and California with a Map, and in 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, a Map of the United States and Territories, on which the various fortifications then existing were displayed. He had early conceived the idea of a system of school geographies adapted to the progressively developing capacities of the student. Most of these works went through many successive editions, some of them, in revised form, being reissued after the beginning of the twentieth century. Many of Mitchell's earlier maps were engraved by J. H. Young, and compare favorably with the contemporary work of John Arrowsmith the younger, distinguished English map-maker. Mitchell entered the field of cartography at an opportune moment, when national expansion, following the expeditions of Lewis and Clark, Pike, and others, stimulated an interest in the newer parts of the country and created a market for travel maps and guidebooks.

Achievements

• Mitchell was an outstanding figure in the development of American geography; he placed his subject accurately and popularly before the students of his day, and met the demand for maps with all the resources at his command.

Works

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  • Mitchell's Ancient Atlas, Classical And Sacred: Containing Maps Illustrating The Geography Of The Ancient World, As Described By The Writers Of ... Places Distinguished By Remarkable Events ...

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Mitchell's Geographical Reader: A System of Modern Geography, Comprising a Description of the World

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Connections

In August 1815, Mitchell married Rhoda Ann Fuller.

Father:

William Mitchell

30 August 1748 - 12 March 1806

Mother:

Mary Alton Mitchell

28 April 1754 - 23 February 1823

Wife:

Rhoda Ann Fuller Mitchell

25 April 1796 - 30 March 1876

Daughter:

Caroline Mitchell Burroughs

1818 - 27 July 1892

Daughter:

Eleanor (Ellen) Douglas Mitchell Burroughs

Died in February 1853.

Son:

Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr

16 March 1826 - 25 April 1882

References

• Commemorative Biographical Record of Hartford County, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of ... the Early Settled Families (Classic Reprint)
• A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors Living and Deceased V2
• Genealogy of Some Descendants of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower (Classic Reprint)