MITCHELL, Anderson, a Representative from North Carolina; born on a farm near Milton, Caswell County, N.C., June 13, 1800; attended Bingham's School, Orange County, N.C., and was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1821; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Morganton, Burke County, N.C., in 1830; moved to Jefferson, Ashe County, N.C., in 1831; clerk of the superior court of Ashe County; moved to Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, N.C., in 1835, and resumed the practice of law; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lewis Williams and served from April 27, 1842, to March 3, 1843; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1842 to the Twenty-eighth Congress; member of the State house of commons 1852-1854; elected to the State senate in 1860; delegate to the State convention of May 20, 1861, that passed the ordinance of secession, and voted against secession; was appointed judge of the superior court by Provisional Governor Holden in September 1865, subsequently elected and reelected, and served until June 30, 1875, when he resigned; died in Statesville, N.C., December 24, 1876; interment in the Presbyterian Cemetery.
Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949; Biographies, p.2052
Anderson Mitchell was at one time a distinguished citizen of Wilkes. He was born in Caswell county in the year 1800; was educated at Bingham School and at the State University at Chapel Hill where he graduated in 1821. He read law under George Henderson and admitted to the bar in 1823.
Mitchell located in Jefferson, Ashe county, to practice his profession. In 1827, and 28 and 29 he represented Ashe county in the lower branch of the Legislature and in 1838 he was elected to the State Senate. In l840 he moved to Wilkesboro and the same year was elected to the State Senate from Wilkes. In l842 he was elected to Congress but resigned in l843 to devote his entire time to the practice of law.
In 1859 he removed to Statesville. In 1866, he was appointed Judge of Superoir Court, and in 1872 was elected, without opposition, to succeed himself as Judge and he served until his death in 1876 when Governor Brogden appointed D. M. Furches to succeed him.
On Dec. 24th, 1876, he died and was buried in the cemetery in Statesville.
Judge Mitchell's conduct during the Ku Klux era in North Carolina has won for him lasting fame. In his district there was no such thing as Ku Klux allowed; neither was there any necessity for such, for all the vio1ators of the law were punished without fear of favor. Our distinguished county man Anderson Mitchell Vannoy was named after him and was a close companion of the Judge until his death. Mitchell was an able lawyer, an excellent Judge, and a great and noble man.
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