Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Not The Last . . .

. . . of the Mitchell line!

When dancing with the ancestors it's easy to believe the family stories, such as . . .

. . . two of your great aunts were murdered in New Orleans

. . . your great grandfather was an only child

. . . or many other stories that are passed down through the generations and become fact when, in reality, their either total fiction, or part fact/fiction.

I did have a great aunt that was murdered in . . . Louisiana. Her sister died of natural causes eight years later. No murdered involved.

My Great Grandpa Charles A. Mitchell was one of eleven child so, in fact, he was not an only child, even though that's the story dad told us. 

There's a sense of comfort in knowing that my nephew is not the last of the Mitchell line and that the pressure for him to have three or four sons to carry on the Mitchell name is not so great. Ha! Still, to carry on our direct line, a son or two would be nice. But . . .

. . . there are other male Mitchells out there that can continue the line traced back to my three times Great Grandfather Allen Mitchell.

By his first marriage, he has one known son: William C. Mitchell (my 2 x Great Grandfather). According to Census Records, he had at least three other sons by his first, maybe a second wife, prior to marrying his second, or maybe third wife Sarah Wilson, by which he had seven children, five of them males. So, the line, through those children, and their children, and their children, and so on . . . continues.

The line might also continue through four of the five sons of William C. Mitchell - James, Henry, John, and William - since we know it continues through Great Grandpa Charlie, with added pressure on my nephew to produce Mitchell heirs. I haven't been able to trace James, Henry, or John. From what I've found on William, I don't think he had any children, but I could be wrong on that theory. 

There is the possibility, based on a photograph I have, that James, Henry, or John had at least one son who had two children: a girl and a boy. At this time, the people in the photograph are not identified, but the man is definitely a Mitchell. Hopefully, someone will identify the people in the photo and I can trace back further.

So, when dancing with the ancestors, take those family stories with a grain of salt. They may or may not be true and they may or may not have taken on a life of their own that altered the fact into fiction. 

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