The Children of William and Lydia Coleman Mitchell
From time to time, I have mentioned, most if not all, of the children of William Mitchell and Lydia Coleman Mitchell. However, I have not listed them and their accomplishments all together. While brief, I thought this would be nice to help highlight Maria Mitchell’s siblings.
Andrew Mitchell (1814 – 1871) A sailor who ran off to sea at sixteen, served in the US Navy during the Civil War, became a farmer, and worked at one point with his youngest brother, Henry, in some of his U.S. Coast Survey work.
Sally Mitchell Barney (1816 – 1876) An excellent celestial navigator who assisted her father with his surveying of Nantucket that was printed as a map in 1838. Sally was also a teacher.
Maria Mitchell (1818 – 1889) America’s first woman astronomer, a founder of the Association for the Advancement of Woman, the first female professor of astronomy in the U.S. at Vassar College. First American awarded a gold medal from the King of Denmark for her discovery of a telescopic comet in 1847.
Anne Mitchell Macy (1820 – 1900) A teacher of languages at the Coffin School on Winter Street – she was called the “Mistress of Seven Foreign Tongues” – and a member of the Association for the Advancement of Woman.
Francis “Frank” Mitchell (1823 – 1891) Frank would move the farthest from Nantucket and his family. He and his wife, Ellen, settled in Chicago where they established a produce commission firm.
William Forster “Forster” Mitchell (1825 – 1892) An abolitionist and educator, Forster would serve as Haverford College Superintendent, supervisor and teacher in the Freedmen’s Aid Commission, and founding faculty member at Howard College (now University) where he taught tinsmithing in the Industrial Arts Department – a craft he learned from his uncle, Peleg Mitchell Jr.
Phebe Mitchell Kendall (1828 – 1907) An artist, Phebe opened a small art school on Nantucket, and travelled with her sister, Maria, to observe and paint two solar eclipses. Like her sisters, she was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Woman and she was the first woman to serve on the Cambridge, MA School Board.
Eliza Mitchell (1830 – 1833) The twin of Henry, she died at age 3.
Henry Mitchell (1830 – 1902) A US Coast Survey hydrographer, and a teacher at MIT, Henry was a founder of the National Geographic Society and participated in the design and construction of the Suez Canal.
Eliza Katherine “Kate” Mitchell Dame (1833 – 1907) The youngest and named after her deceased sister, Kate would move to Lynn, MA where many of the Mitchell family members would live or spend lengths of time – all gathered around their father, William, who had moved there with Maria in 1861. Kate’s home became the center of the Mitchell family constellation.
JNLF
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