Jane "Jenny" Mitchel ( – 31 December 1899) was an Irish

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

who joined her husband,

John Mitchel John Mitchel ( ga, Seán Mistéal; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalist activist, author, and political journalist. In the Famine years of the 1840s he was a leading writer for ''The Nation'' newspaper produced by the ...

, in exile in the United States where, with their sons, they sided on a pro-slavery platform with the secessionist South in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

Early life and family

Jane Mitchel was born Jane Verner around 1820 near Newry, County Down. At the time she, her brother and her mother Mary Ward were living with Captain James Verner (1777–1847). James Verner was from a prominent

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

family, and was involved in the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots people, Ulster Sco ...

, going on to become Orange deputy grandmaster of Ireland in 1824. Although James Verner raised Mitchel, she is not believed to be his child. Mitchel attended Miss Bryden's School for Young Ladies in Newry. Mitchel met her husband,

, when she was 15. The couple eloped in November 1836, but did not marry as James Verner pursued them to Chester and brought her home to Ireland. They eloped again in 1837, and were married at Drumcree Church, County Armagh on 3 February. At this point Mitchel was disowned by James Verner, and went to live with her in-laws at Dromalane, County Down. They then moved to Banbridge in 1839 where her husband practised law. The couple went on to have six children, three daughters and three sons. The couple moved to Dublin in October 1845 when John Mitchel became the assistant editor of ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

''. They lived at 8 Ontario Terrace,

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

, where there were Young Irelanders met. She was a full supporter of her husband's nationalism. She aided in his work with ''The Nation'', reading other newspapers, keeping and filing reference clippings, going on to become and editor and anonymous contributor to the '' United Irishman'' from February 1848. John Mitchel was convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

for inciting insurrection in May 1848, and was sentenced to fourteen years' transportation. Mitchel urged his fellow Young Irelanders to fight his removal, and denounced them when they failed to come out in support of him.

Exile

Due to her standing in the nationalist community, £1,450 was raised to support her and her family. For three years, Mitchel lived in Newry and Dublin, before she joined her husband

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

(Tasmania) in June 1851, where they settled in the village of Bothwell. Their youngest child, Isabel, was born there in 1853. The Mitchels travelled around the island with her husband, visiting fellow Irish exiles, becoming fond of William Smith O'Brien in particular. When John Mitchel escaped in July 1853, Mitchel travelled with her children to join him in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, from where they sailed to

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They lived for a time in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York from 1853 to 1855, rekindling friendships with old friends who were fellow Young Ireland exiles. In May 1855, the family moved to a remote farm at Tucaleechee Cove in the Allegheny Mountains, Tennessee. Mitchel feared that the isolation and life in a primitive log cabin would be detrimental to their children's education, and at her behest the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in September 1856. From here John Mitchel ran a pro-

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

newspaper, the ''Southern Citizen''. The family moved again in December 1858 to Washington, D.C. Mitchel supported her husband in the Southern cause, albeit with some reservation. Nothing, she said, would induce her "to become the mistress of a slave household". Her objection to slavery was "the injury it does to the white masters". Mitchel accompanied her husband to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in September 1860, and in opposition to some of the family, she supported her daughter Henrietta's conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and entrance into a convent. She remained in Paris and Ireland with her daughters, while her husband and sons assisted

the Confederacy The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confede ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. Without letting her husband know, Mitchel resolved to return to America when she heard of her youngest son, William's, death at Gettysburg in July 1863. She sailed with her daughters, Mary and Isabel, as Henrietta had died earlier the same year. Whilst their ship ran a blockade by the Union, the ship was shelled, ran aground, and caught fire near the coast of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. Mitchel and her daughters were unhurt, but lost all of their possessions. By December 1863, Mitchel had joined her husband in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, remaining their for the rest of the Civil War. Their eldest son, John, was killed in action in July 1864.

Later life

The family returned to New York after the war, and John Mitchel set up another paper, the Irish Citizen (1867–72). Due to lack of funding for the Irish-American press and her husband's ill health resulted in the family falling into poverty. This was alleviated by a testimonial raised by William and John Dillon in 1873. Mitchel was widowed in March 1875, going on to receive $30,000 from nationalist sympathisers. She invested this money in a photolithographic firm she and her son, James, ran. Mitchel died at home in Bedford Park, New York on 31 December 1899. She is buried in Woodlawn cemetery, New York, with her plot marked with a large Celtic cross. She was survived by two of her children, James (1840–1908) and Mary (1846–1910).

Early life and family

Exile

Later life

References

Further reading