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Key local figure

Elisha Mitchell

Elisha Mitchell (1793–1857) came to Chapel Hill in January 1818 as the university's professor of mathematics and natural philosophy and from 1825 taught chemistry, geology and mineralogy. He acquired enslaved people after arriving and in 1848 preached a sermon defending slavery as property held under God's law. He died in 1857 while measuring the Black Mountains.

Source: Documenting the American South: Elisha Mitchell, 19 Aug. 1793-27 June 1857

1793–1857 as the Library of Congress records it · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

20 indexed works are connected with this person, and the index includes 2 works by Elisha Mitchell. 2 held at OCPL →

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Elisha Mitchell
Elisha Mitchell

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By Elisha Mitchell

Arguments for temperance: a sermon addressed to the students of the University of North-Carolina, March 13th, 1831, and published by their request

Mitchell, Elisha · 2004 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Elisha Mitchell's sermon on temperance, preached to the students of the University of North Carolina on March 13, 1831 and printed at their request. Mitchell, the professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, addresses alcohol and the temperance societies then forming. This is the 2004 electronic edition transcribed for Documenting the American South, within the University Library's collection on the first century of the state university.

NC Cardinal UNC

A lecture on the subject of common schools : delivered before the North Carolina Institute of Education, at Chapel Hill, June 26, 1834

Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857; Patridge, Isaac C. · 1834 · Printed by Isaac C. Patridge

Elisha Mitchell's lecture on common schools, delivered before the North Carolina Institute of Education at Chapel Hill on June 26, 1834 and printed there by Isaac C. Patridge. Mitchell taught at the University of North Carolina, and the pamphlet deals with education and with the addresses connected to the university. A Chapel Hill imprint of 1834.

UNC

About Elisha Mitchell

Putting Down Roots

Burk, William R. · 2023

William R. Burk's history of botany at the University of North Carolina, from its early natural scientists such as Denison Olmsted and Elisha Mitchell through later figures including George Francis Atkinson, Joseph Austin Holmes and Henry Van Peters Wilson, closing with a chapter on the Department of Botany itself. Published in Fort Worth in 2023.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 580.9 BURK UNC

Chapel Hill and Elisha Mitchell the Botanist

McVaugh, Rogers; McVaugh, Michael R.; Ayers, Mary · 1996

Elisha Mitchell, the University of North Carolina professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, as botanist and as observer of early Chapel Hill, in a study by Rogers McVaugh, Michael R. McVaugh and Mary Ayers. It covers Mitchell's botanical knowledge, the plants of Chapel Hill and the town's historical geography. Published by the Botanical Garden Foundation in Chapel Hill in 1996, 122 pages with illustrations and maps.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 580.92 MCV NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Durham Davidson CH Historical Society Library of Congress

Elisha Mitchell centennial : UNC-Chapel Hill, April 8-9, 1983

1983

Program for the meeting that convened in Chapel Hill on April 8 and 9, 1983, marking the centennial of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, the state scientific society named for the university professor who died surveying the mountain that now carries his name.

Why this is here: Its title names this person.

UNC

A funeral oration at the re-interment of the remains of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell, D.D. : late professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology in the University of North Carolina : on Mount Mitchell, June 15, 1858

Otey, James Hervey, 1800-1863 · 1858 · J.M. Henderson

James Hervey Otey's funeral oration delivered on Mount Mitchell on June 15, 1858, at the reinterment of Elisha Mitchell, the University of North Carolina professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology who died in 1857. J. M. Henderson printed it at Chapel Hill, and it is a primary document of the reburial.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC

A memoir of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell ... : together with the tributes of respect to his memory, by various public meetings and literary associations, and the addresses delivered at the re-interment of his remains

1858 · J. M. Henderson

Printed at Chapel Hill in 1858 by J. M. Henderson, this memorial volume for Elisha Mitchell, the university professor who died in 1857, gathers tributes paid by public meetings and literary associations together with the addresses given when his remains were reinterred. A memoir by Professor Charles Phillips opens the book at pages 5 to 12. Eighty eight pages with a portrait plate.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Methodist record: Mitchell, Elisha.

UNC Duke Methodist

A vindication of the propriety of giving the name "Mt. Mitchell" to the highest peak of "Black Mountain" : an address delivered 16th June, 1858

Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868 · 1858 · J.M. Henderson

David L. Swain, then president of the University of North Carolina, argues for naming the highest peak of the Black Mountain after Elisha Mitchell, in an address delivered on June 16, 1858, the day after the reinterment. J. M. Henderson printed it at Chapel Hill, covering both Mitchell and the history of the mountain that took his name.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC
Show 6 more about Elisha Mitchell

Catalogue of books and instruments belonging to Dr. E. Mitchell : late professor in the University of North Carolina, for sale at his late residence

1857 · Printed at the "Gazette" Office

A sale catalogue of the books and scientific instruments left by Elisha Mitchell, the university professor who died in 1857, offered at his late residence in Chapel Hill and printed at the Gazette office there. It lists a working scientific library of the period, including science textbooks, and it is a source for teaching and collecting at the university.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC

Titles from Elisha Mitchell library as identified by Michael McVaugh.

2014 · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, North Carolina Collection

A list of 61 unnumbered leaves, issued in 2014 by the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, naming titles from the personal library of Elisha Mitchell (1793-1857) as identified by Michael McVaugh.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC

Elisha Mitchell and the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, North Carolina Academy of Science, and Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society

William David Webster · 2002

William David Webster's history of Elisha Mitchell, the UNC professor, and of the scientific society, academy and journal that carry his name, written for the North Carolina Academy of Science's centennial meeting.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the OpenAlex record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

OpenAlex

Pinckney Cotesworth Harrington papers, 1829-1893, Franklin County, Mississippi.

Harrington, Pinckney Cotesworth · 1991

A microfilm edition, issued at Bethesda, Maryland in 1991 with a printed reel guide, of the Pinckney Cotesworth Harrington papers of 1829 to 1893 from Franklin County, Mississippi. The papers cover plantations and social conditions, enslaved people, the Confederate army and the Civil War. Elisha Mitchell of the University of North Carolina is represented. In Davis Library at UNC.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC

Elisha Mitchell's books and the University of North Carolina Library

McVaugh, M. R. (Michael Rogers), 1938- · 1990

M. R. McVaugh on the books of Elisha Mitchell, the University of North Carolina professor who lived from 1793 to 1857, and on what became of them in the university library. Published in 1990 for the Friends of the Library and issued together with pieces by William D. Ilgen, Fred Chappell, Michael McFee and H. G. Jones.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC

Life story of Elisha Mitchell, D.D., 1793-1857 : professor in the University of North Carolina from 1818 until his death in 1857

Chamberlain, Hope Summerell · 1990 · University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hope Summerell Chamberlain's life of her grandfather Elisha Mitchell, 1793 to 1857, who taught at the University of North Carolina from 1818 until his death. Written for the family, as the typescript says, and reproduced on microfilm by the university library in 1990. Topics include Mitchell as a botanist in Chapel Hill and the university's early faculty and history.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.

UNC

Search all 20 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 580.9 BURK Putting Down Roots: Foundations of Botany at Carolina : With A Concluding Chapter on the History of the Department of Botany Burk, William R. · 2023

    William R. Burk's history of botany at the University of North Carolina, from its early natural scientists such as Denison Olmsted and Elisha Mitchell through later figures including George Francis Atkinson, Joseph Austin Holmes and Henry Van Peters Wilson, closing with a chapter on the Department of Botany itself. Published in Fort Worth in 2023.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 580.92 MCV Chapel Hill and Elisha Mitchell, the Botanist McVaugh, Rogers · 1996

    Elisha Mitchell, the University of North Carolina professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, as botanist and as observer of early Chapel Hill, in a study by Rogers McVaugh, Michael R. McVaugh and Mary Ayers. It covers Mitchell's botanical knowledge, the plants of Chapel Hill and the town's historical geography. Published by the Botanical Garden Foundation in Chapel Hill in 1996, 122 pages with illustrations and maps.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 54 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Elisha Mitchell arrives in Chapel Hill as professor of mathematics Elisha Mitchell, a Yale graduate from Connecticut, arrived at the University of North Carolina in January 1818 as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. He taught at Chapel Hill until his death in 1857, moving to chemistry, geology and mineralogy in 1825.In the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Documenting the American South: Elisha Mitchell, 19 Aug. 1793-27 June 1857
  2. Denison Olmsted begins teaching chemistry at Chapel Hill Appointed in November 1817 to the university's new professorship of chemistry, Olmsted spent a year studying with Benjamin Silliman at Yale and began teaching at Chapel Hill in the fall of 1819. He stayed until the end of 1825, when Elisha Mitchell succeeded him. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · NCpedia: Olmsted, Denison
  3. Trustees vote to raise Old East a story and build Old West At Caldwell's urging, and against the faculty's plea to spend on books and apparatus, the board voted to enlarge Old East, build Old West to match and start a new chapel, borrowing from banks against Tennessee land sales. Architect William Nichols ran the work, and the South Building's Prayer Hall became a chemistry laboratory. People: Joseph Caldwell, Elisha Mitchell, William NicholsSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 280
  4. Elisha Mitchell is ordained by the Presbytery of Orange at Hillsborough In 1821 the Presbytery of Orange, meeting in Hillsborough, ordained Professor Elisha Mitchell, who had been licensed to preach by the Congregational Church.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Elisha Mitchell, 19 Aug. 1793-27 June 1857 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, September 19, 1821, p. 3
  5. Bethlehem Presbyterian Church is organized Elisha Mitchell, Elijah Graves and Samuel Child led the organization of Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, which built its first church the next year. People: Elisha Mitchell, John Knox Witherspoon, Elijah GravesSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 295
  6. The synod forms the Education Society of North Carolina at Hillsborough During its session at Hillsborough the Synod of North Carolina formed the Education Society of North Carolina to help poor and pious young men study for the ministry, and adopted its constitution. Joseph Caldwell was chosen president, Frederick Nash a vice president, Dr. James Webb treasurer and Shepard K. Kollock secretary, with Elisha Mitchell among the managers. People: Joseph Caldwell, Frederick Nash, James Webb, Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 9, 1822, p. 3
  7. Professor Denison Olmsted is hired to make the state's geological survey The Board of Agriculture, created in 1822, was allowed in 1823 to employ someone to survey the state's geology and minerals at $250 a year. It chose Olmsted, whose published report Battle thought probably the first of any state, and Elisha Mitchell later carried on the work. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 289
  8. Faculty and Orange County trustees expel two students who attacked professors Two students, drunk from the village grog shop and armed with a club and a pistol, went out after members of the faculty and assaulted two of them. The trustees living in Orange County were called to sit with the faculty, and the two were expelled. People: Elisha Mitchell, Duncan Cameron, Thomas Ruffin, James Webb, Francis L. HawksSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 298
  9. Elisha Mitchell publishes his study of the beetle that girdles hickory twigs Professor Elisha Mitchell of the university published a natural-history account of the insect he called Lamia amputator, which saws off hickory and persimmon twigs to lay its eggs. He described watching the beetle at work and finding the ground under the hickories by the university covered with the cut limbs each fall.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 26, 1824, p. 3
  10. Trustees adopt by-laws creating a resident superintendent and a student uniform On Bartlett Yancey's motion the trustees created a superintendent of university property living at Chapel Hill, who was to receive and pay out all student money, and they prescribed a plain uniform dress and forbade boots. Chapel Hill merchant Thomas H. Taylor was appointed; in January 1829 the office passed to the faculty, who chose Elisha Mitchell. People: Elisha Mitchell, Thomas H. TaylorSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 302
  11. Fever outbreak kills three university students A serious sickness, which Battle identifies as typhoid fever, struck the university in August and September 1825 and three students died, among them William H. Beard and Zenas Johnston. The acting president urged the trustees to engage a resident physician. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 301
  12. Elisha Mitchell moves from mathematics to the chair of chemistry, mineralogy and geology When Denison Olmsted resigned in December 1825 to teach at Yale, Mitchell moved from mathematics and natural philosophy to Olmsted's chair of chemistry, mineralogy and geology, and James Phillips took over mathematics. The memoir says the new post widened Mitchell's field trips across the state. People: Denison Olmsted, James PhillipsSearch the index · A Memoir of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell (1858), scan p. 14 · Also: Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I
Show all 54 dated events
  1. Students organize a temperance society Some students formed a Temperance Society in the summer of 1829, and Battle credits it with reducing drinking of spirits at the college. At its request Elisha Mitchell gave an address on intemperance in 1831 that was printed. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 340
  2. Friends of education organize the North Carolina Institute of Education at Chapel Hill During commencement week a meeting adopted a constitution on Benjamin M. Smith's motion, elected Simmons J. Baker president and made professors Elisha Mitchell, William Hooper and James Phillips its executive committee. The Institute met at the next few commencements and enrolled about 130 members before it lapsed. People: Elisha Mitchell, James Phillips, Walter A. Norwood, William James BinghamSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 339
  3. James Phillips is licensed to preach and later serves New Hope Presbyterian Church Mathematics professor James Phillips joined the Presbyterian church in 1832 and was licensed to preach by Orange Presbytery in 1833. He was later ordained and installed as minister of New Hope Presbyterian Church, about seven miles outside Chapel Hill, and shared the university chapel work with Elisha Mitchell. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Phillips, James
  4. George E. Badger gives the commencement address to the literary societies At the 1833 commencement, held without the ailing President Caldwell, George E. Badger, chosen by the Dialectic Society, delivered the annual address before the two literary societies at Chapel Hill. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 353 · Also: The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), September 24, 1833, p. 3
  5. Isaac C. Partridge publishes The Harbinger Isaac C. Partridge's weekly The Harbinger, one of the county's first literary periodicals, began at Chapel Hill on August 27, 1833, after a prospectus that January, and ran for about a year. It covered the sciences and arts and leaned on professors Elisha Mitchell and William Hooper for its contents. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · DigitalNC: The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), August 27, 1833, first number · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
  6. Trustees make the senior professor Caldwell's deputy and add an adjunct professor When Caldwell's illness first forced him to ask for help, the trustees gave the professor of longest standing, Elisha Mitchell, power to act in the president's place and created an adjunct professorship of natural philosophy and astronomy, filled by Walker Anderson. Mitchell served as acting president until Swain arrived. People: Elisha Mitchell, Walker AndersonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 357
  7. Dr. Walter A. Norwood closes his medicine shop and moves to Hillsborough Norwood gave up his Franklin Street shop and left for Hillsborough. Elisha Mitchell owned the land and building by the end of the year and soon sold them on credit to Isaac Partridge for a hotel. People: Walter A. Norwood, Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 69
  8. Chapel Hill elects its town commissioners for Village voters chose five commissioners: Professor Elisha Mitchell, a doctor, T. H. Taylor, William McCauley and John Hutchins. People: Elisha Mitchell, Thomas H. Taylor, William McCauleySearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), February 13, 1834, p. 3
  9. Elisha Mitchell speaks to the North Carolina Institute of Education on common schools During commencement week the North Carolina Institute of Education met on Wednesday morning, and that afternoon Professor Elisha Mitchell addressed its members and the public on common schools, with the governor and a number of trustees present for the week.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 9, 1834, p. 3
  10. Elisha Mitchell becomes acting president of the university after Caldwell's death Senior professor Elisha Mitchell was appointed president of the University of North Carolina pro tem after Joseph Caldwell's death, so that classes went on without a break. People: Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 6, 1835, p. 3
  11. Trustees put off electing a university president and keep Elisha Mitchell in charge The university trustees, meeting in Raleigh to choose a successor to Joseph Caldwell, postponed the election until December, left Professor Elisha Mitchell as acting president, raised the president's salary to 2,000 dollars and appointed William H. Owen of Caswell tutor of languages. People: Elisha Mitchell, Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 3, 1835, p. 3
  12. Trustees ask Elisha Mitchell and William McPheeters to compare the university with leading colleges The board named Professor Elisha Mitchell and the Rev. Dr. William McPheeters to study the courses of the leading American colleges and report what the university should change to match them. They found little difference in the terms of admission, and no change was made. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 428
  13. Isaac C. Partridge leaves Chapel Hill and his struggling University Hotel Partridge, whose newspaper The Harbinger had already failed, ran off to New York and left the hotel, still unpaid for, in the hands of Elisha Mitchell. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 69
  14. Elisha Mitchell builds stone walls around the campus To keep out the cattle that ran at large, Mitchell, who had charge of the grounds, began in 1838 to quarry stone on university land and build rock walls around the campus buildings. By about the end of 1843 he had put up 212 rods of wall, and the trustees settled his account in 1844. Professors and villagers copied the walls around their own lots.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 444 · Also: Elisha Mitchell to David L. Swain, December 3, 1844
  15. Matthew McCauley Jr. sells Elisha Mitchell a lot on West Franklin Street Professor Elisha Mitchell bought a West Franklin Street lot from Matthew McCauley in 1838 and sold it in 1847 to Patterson H. McDade. People: Elisha Mitchell, Patterson H. McDadeSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 81
  16. Elisha Mitchell preaches the university's first baccalaureate sermon At the 1839 commencement Mitchell, chosen by the faculty, preached the first of the baccalaureate sermons to the graduating class. The choice of preacher was later given to the senior class.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 456
  17. Fresh Treat riot and a textbook rebellion bring dismissals In the fall of 1840 a drinking feast paid for by new students turned into a riot in which tutors' windows were broken, faculty were stoned, classrooms were wrecked and professors' horses were ridden, and soon after all the blackboards were burned. Several students were dismissed, three more for defying James Phillips's rule against books in recitation, and the trustees approved a faculty resolution to prosecute serious outrages in the courts. People: James Phillips, David L. Swain, Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 464
  18. Elisha Mitchell shows his chemistry class an electromagnet On October 6, 1841, Ruffin W. Tomlinson wrote, Professor Elisha Mitchell showed the senior class experiments with an electromagnet he had just received from Philadelphia, the first shown to any class at the university. The village ladies attended.Search the index · Internet Archive: Ruffin Wirt Tomlinson, Journal (1841-1842), ed. John L. Sanders, North Carolina Historical Review 30 (1953), p. 108
  19. University buys the Vienna cabinet of minerals Through John Randolph Clay, the American secretary of legation at Vienna, the university bought for about $1,500 a mineral collection that the curator of the emperor's cabinet valued at over 3,000 florins; Mitchell reported the invoice and insurance in November 1841. The trustees gave Clay an honorary master's degree in 1845. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 442
  20. Mitchell demonstrates electromagnetic motion at commencement When the 1842 society orator could not come, Elisha Mitchell showed the audience electromagnetic apparatus the university had just bought in Boston and produced rapid motion by magnetism alone. He judged that the cost of copper and zinc would keep it from competing with steam.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 475
  21. Students kill two of Professor Mitchell's hogs and leave them in the chapel On the night of January 29, 1842, students killed two hogs belonging to Elisha Mitchell and left them in the chapel, with a dead dog in the tutors' pen, for morning prayers. A few days later the culprits mailed Mitchell a polite letter with ten dollars, and he sent six back through his servant Dave. On May 2 the faculty dismissed a freshman, J. P. Barnes, for killing the hogs and carrying them into the old chapel, Person Hall.Search the index · Internet Archive: Ruffin Wirt Tomlinson, Journal (1841-1842), ed. John L. Sanders, North Carolina Historical Review 30 (1953), p. 242
  22. The university's Vienna mineral cabinet arrives at Chapel Hill The cabinet of minerals bought in Vienna through John Randolph Clay arrived on February 10, 1842, Ruffin W. Tomlinson wrote, at a cost of twelve to fifteen hundred dollars, and Elisha Mitchell opened the boxes at once to show specimens. The same day college duties were suspended so students could skate, though the ice proved too thin. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Internet Archive: Ruffin Wirt Tomlinson, Journal (1841-1842), ed. John L. Sanders, North Carolina Historical Review 30 (1953), p. 245
  23. Students celebrate Washington's birthday, and the faculty punishes the drinking With college duties suspended at the seniors' request, students formed a procession at the South Building door on February 22, 1842 and marched to the chapel for an oration by Thomas J. Morisey of Sampson County, with John L. Meares as marshal. Faculty members dined at the boarding houses to keep order, but the diarist James L. Dusenberry wrote that more than a third of the college was drunk. After students in a West Building room cursed and threatened Elisha Mitchell that afternoon, the faculty on February 24 and 25 dismissed two students and suspended others for three weeks. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Internet Archive: Ruffin Wirt Tomlinson, Journal (1841-1842), ed. John L. Sanders, North Carolina Historical Review 30 (1953), p. 247
  24. Measles spreads through Chapel Hill households Measles went through the village in February 1845. Charles Phillips was laid up with it, and at the Mitchell house ten people were waiting to come down with it. People: Charles Phillips, Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 74
  25. Helen Caldwell dies and is buried with her husband at his monument Helen Hogg Caldwell, widow of President Caldwell and a leader of village society, died at Chapel Hill on October 30, 1846 while visiting John DeBerniere Hooper. Caldwell's remains were taken up on October 31 and laid beside hers at the base of his monument, with the president and faculty as pallbearers. People: John DeBerniere Hooper, Elisha Mitchell, Helen Hogg CaldwellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 502
  26. President James K. Polk returns to Chapel Hill for the university commencement Polk came from Raleigh by carriage with Sarah Polk and a large party, lodged at the hotel where Nancy Hilliard had built an annex for his stay, was greeted by Elisha Mitchell, the only professor left from his own student days, visited the college room he had lived in, and stayed through commencement on June 3. People: Elisha Mitchell, Nancy HilliardSearch the index · Internet Archive: Milo Milton Quaife, ed., The Diary of James K. Polk during His Presidency, 1845 to 1849, vol. 3 (1910), pp. 44-48 · Also: Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I; NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975; Open Orange: James K. Polk
  27. The Presbyterian church on Franklin Street is finished and dedicated Built with money and effort from James and Charles Phillips, Elisha Mitchell and President Swain, the small Presbyterian church on the old Grand Avenue ground was completed and formally dedicated. People: James Phillips, Charles Phillips, Elisha Mitchell, David L. SwainSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 91
  28. Elisha Mitchell builds the stone wall around the Presbyterian churchyard Elisha Mitchell gave the stone wall around the churchyard and Cornelia Phillips its stone pillars and gates, among the gifts that fitted out the new church in the year or so after its dedication. People: Cornelia Phillips SpencerSearch the index · Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill (1897), scan p. 11
  29. The General Assembly passes an act incorporating Chapel Hill under five commissioners Chapter 330 of the 1850-51 session laws, ratified January 29, 1851, made Manuel Fetter, Jesse Hargrave, Patterson H. McDade, Elisha Mitchell and Jones Watson the commissioners of Chapel Hill, with five commissioners to be elected each February after. They were to choose a magistrate of police, treasurer, constable and clerk and fix the town's bounds. People: Elisha Mitchell, Jones Watson, Manuel Fetter, Jesse Hargrave, Patterson H. McDadeSearch the index · Laws of the State of North Carolina, session of 1850-51 (1851), chapter 330, pp. 730-731 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
  30. Copper ore is found on two farms southwest of Chapel Hill Fine specimens of copper ore were found on the lands of Mr. Williams and Mr. Atwater about four miles southwest of Chapel Hill, a specimen from the Williams land was tested by Professor Mitchell of the university, and a company was expected to form to open the find. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, April 13, 1853, p. 2
  31. The faculty vote 12 to 1 to disown Hedrick's published views Called together by President Swain, the faculty resolved that Hedrick's letter broke the university's custom of keeping out of party politics and that no other member shared his opinions, while expressing personal regard for him. Instructor H. Herrisse cast the only vote against, saying no one suspected the faculty of Republicanism. People: David L. Swain, Elisha Mitchell, James Phillips, Charles Phillips, Fordyce M. HubbardSearch the index · J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1910), scan p. 19
  32. Trustees buy Elisha Mitchell's books and minerals after his death Elisha Mitchell, senior professor, died on June 27, 1857, in a fall while surveying the Black Mountains. The trustees paid his salary to the year's end, let his family keep their house rent-free for six months, and bought his books for $3,500 and his apparatus and mineral cabinet for $1,000.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 683
  33. E. J. Mallett serves as intendant of Chapel Hill over five commissioners Chapel Hill's town government in April 1857 was led by Intendant E. J. Mallett, with commissioners P. H. McDade, Calvin Scott, Elisha Mitchell, John H. Watson and a fifth whose name the print garbles. J. Watson was town constable. People: Patterson H. McDade, Elisha Mitchell, John H. WatsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, April 18, 1857, p. 2
  34. Professor Elisha Mitchell is killed in a fall on the Black Mountains Elisha Mitchell, for nearly forty years a professor at the university in Chapel Hill, fell to his death from a cliff into a pool on a branch of the Caney River while crossing the Black Mountains alone on June 27. Searchers found his body on July 7, and he was buried at Asheville on July 10.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 15, 1857, p. 2
  35. Chapel Hill's commissioners enter resolutions on the death of their fellow commissioner Elisha Mitchell The village board recorded its loss of Mitchell, who sat with them as a commissioner, and ordered the resolutions entered in the village journals. Copies went to his family and the Chapel Hill Gazette. People: Patterson H. McDade, Hugh B. Guthrie, John H. WatsonSearch the index · A Memoir of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell (1858), scan p. 47
  36. Chapel Hill citizens hold a town meeting in the University Chapel to mourn Elisha Mitchell Once word came that Mitchell had died on Black Mountain, the townspeople met in the University Chapel, adopted resolutions on his forty years as a resident and agreed to wear mourning for thirty days. They then walked in procession to his house to give the resolutions to his family, and the town's stores closed for the meeting. People: Jones Watson, Francis L. Hawks, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, David L. SwainSearch the index · A Memoir of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell (1858), scan p. 34
  37. University trustees elect William J. Martin to Elisha Mitchell's chair Meeting in Raleigh with eleven members present, the university trustees elected Prof. W. J. Martin of Washington College, Pennsylvania, a native of Richmond, to succeed Elisha Mitchell as professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology. He was chosen over several other candidates. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, January 13, 1858, p. 2
  38. Professor William J. Martin buys the Franklin and Boundary corner and builds a house Martin, who replaced Elisha Mitchell on the faculty and later served as a Confederate colonel, bought the northeast corner of Franklin and Boundary streets from Charles Phillips and built his home there soon after. He resigned his chair in the fall of 1867 and moved to Tennessee. People: William Joseph Martin, Elisha Mitchell, Charles PhillipsSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 107
  39. A marble monument is set over the Mitchell family graves in the old Mitchell garden A marble monument was placed over the graves of Elisha Mitchell's family members buried in the garden of his former home, then lived in by Alexander McIver's family. Mrs. McIver and Spencer agreed the dead belonged in the village graveyard. People: Alexander McIverSearch the index · Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 203
  40. Venable co-founds the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society Venable was a co-founder and the first president of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, a society of university scientists named for the geologist Elisha Mitchell. People: Elisha MitchellSearch the index · UNC Libraries: F.P. Venable Papers, 1838-1946
  41. Trustees pay for Memorial Hall tablets to Caldwell, Swain, Mitchell and Phillips Besides the subscribed tablets, the trustees put up tablets at their own cost to presidents Joseph Caldwell and David L. Swain and professors Elisha Mitchell and James Phillips, in tribute to the long-serving officers. Governor Scales told the dedication crowd that the hall, first meant as Swain's memorial alone, had been redesigned so these names stood beside his. People: David L. Swain, Elisha Mitchell, James PhillipsSearch the index · University of North Carolina, Memorial Hall Inaugural Proceedings, Wednesday, June 3, 1885 (1885), scan p. 10
  42. UNC moves the Mitchell family graves from the campus to the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Four graves of Elisha Mitchell's infant sons and grandsons, in the old Mitchell garden near the center of campus, were exhumed under archaeologist Joffre Coe to make room for the expansion of the university's television and communications work. They were reburied in the Horace Williams plot in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery with the Rev. Vance Barron officiating.Search the index · DigitalNC: Chapel Hill Weekly, February 9, 1961, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, February 9, 1961, p. 3

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