Joseph A. S. Mitchell (December 21, 1837 – December 12, 1890) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

, and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

who served as a justice of the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...

from January 6, 1885 to December 12, 1890. Mitchell also served in the

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

as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the 2nd Indiana Cavalry Regiment.Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt,
Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices
, ''

Indiana Law Review Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (IU McKinney) is the law school of Indiana University Indianapolis, a public research university in Indianapolis, Indiana. The school has been based in Lawrence W. Inlow Hall in Indianapolis ...

'', Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced i
Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page

Biography

Mitchell was born in 1837 near Mercersburg,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

to Andrew Mitchell (of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent) and Sarah Mitchell (née Lecron, of French origin). He grew up on the family farm near Mercersburg until he was seventeen, when he moved to Blandinsville,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in 1854 to become a student at Blandinsville Academy. After a short education in Blandinsville, Mitchell became a school teacher. Returning to Pennsylvania in 1856 at age nineteen, he began to study law at the office of Riley & Sharp in Chambersburg. In 1859, Mitchell was admitted to the

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

bar. After travelling for several months in the South, Mitchell moved to his lifelong home of Goshen, Indiana in 1860. He opened up a private law practice, but following the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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 policies.J ...

, he left Goshen to serve in the Union Army. Mitchell served in the war for two years, joining the 2nd Indiana Cavalry Regiment and attaining the rank of

. He also served as inspector general on the staff of General Alexander McDowell McCook. Mitchell served in many notable battles fought in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

: Shiloh, Chickamauga,

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-century "La ...

, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, and Kennesaw Mountain. Mitchell also participated in Stoneman's 1863 raid in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Mitchell returned to practice law in Goshen following his service in the war. In 1865, he founded the legal firm of Baker & Mitchell with his cousin, John H. Baker, who would later serve as a judge of the

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for the District of Indiana and as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from Indiana. Other lawyers at the firm included Francis E. Baker (John H. Baker's son, a

United States Circuit Court The United States circuit courts were the intermediate level courts of the United States federal court system from 1789 until 1912. They were established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, and had trial court jurisdiction over civil suits of diversit ...

judge) and Charles W. Miller (

Indiana Attorney General The Indiana Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state, State of Indiana in the United States. Attorneys General are chosen by a statewide general election to serve for a four-year term. The forty-fourth and Attorney General is ...

and U.S. Attorney for the District of Indiana). Baker & Mitchell would become one of the most prominent law firms of

Northern Indiana Northern Indiana is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern third of the U.S. state of Indiana and borders the states of Illinois to the west, Michigan to the north, and Ohio to the east. Spanning the state's northe ...

. Mitchell served as Goshen's first city attorney and helped to draft the city ordinances following incorporation. From 1872 to 1874, Mitchell served as the third mayor of Goshen. In 1879, the Indiana State Bar Association chose Mitchell to be one of their delegates to a legal convention in Saratoga,

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. Another member of this three-person delegation was future U.S. President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

. Additionally, Mitchell served as legal counsel for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company and as a member of the

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

. In 1865, Mitchell married Mary E. Defrees of the prominent Defrees political family of Indiana. Mitchell's father in law was

from Indiana, Joseph H. Defrees, and his uncle-in-law was John D. Defrees, a

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publishing magnate and Superintendent of the

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under

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Mitchell's marriage also made him a relative of James S. Frazer, a former Indiana Supreme Court Justice who also married into the Defrees family. As mentioned, Mitchell was a cousin of John H. Baker, and is thereby related to his son, Francis E. Baker, another Indiana Supreme Court justice. Joseph and Mary Mitchell had two children. Mitchell was raised in a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

family, but was active in Goshen's First

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church. In 1880, Mitchell was the Democratic candidate for a seat on the

. He was defeated that year, but ran again in 1884 and won, succeeding Justice

Edwin Hammond Edwin Pollock Hammond (November 26, 1835 – January 27, 1920) was a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from May 14, 1883, to January 6, 1885. Born in Brookville, Indiana to Nathaniel and Hannah H. (Sering) Hammond, he was educated in the common ...

to the bench. While serving on the bench, Mitchell helped resolve a legal dispute between the owners of a dam on the St. Joseph River in

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. He was re-elected to his seat on the bench in 1890, but died weeks after his re-election, at the age of 52. Justice Robert McBride was appointed to Mitchell's now vacant seat. Mitchell was eulogized by fellow Indiana Supreme Court Justice Byron Elliott at his funeral in Goshen. In 2009, Goshen mayor Allan Kauffman announced that the city would purchase Mitchell's historic Queen Anne style (built circa 1870) house to renovate and preserve it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Joseph 1837 births 1890 deaths People from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania Union army officers U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court American judges Indiana Democrats American people of Scottish descent American people of French descent