Texas Legislators: Past & Present

John Mitchell

Full Name: John Mitchell
Birth date: April 1837
Death date: April 10, 1921

Terms of Service

House, 14th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ Legislature
1/13/1874 - 4/18/1876
Republican
House, 12th ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ Legislature
5/9/1870 - 1/14/1873

(1) District 16 comprised of Washington and Burleson counties, shall elect one Senator and three Representatives; District 17 comprised of Falls, Milam, and Bell counties, shall elect one Senator and three Representatives, p. 45, Acts 1873, 13th Legislature, ch. 35, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) 16th District, Republican, p. 5. Directory of the Members and Officers of the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Texas . . . 1874.
(3) 17th District, list of members elect in typescript journal. House Journal .
(4) 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - No record of Mitchell voting or taking the oath of office. 12th Legislature, 1st C.S. - Mitchell sworn on 5/9/1870, p. 83. House Journal .
(5) Party affiliation, Radical. Roster of members, 12th Legislature, 1870. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas .
(6) Party affiliation, Radical. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas .
(7) Radical Republican Association, established 6/4/1870, p. 26. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Resolutions and Journal entries

79th Legislature, R.S., HR 589, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates of 1868-1900. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
81st Legislature, R.S., HCR 81, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
85th Legislature, R.S., HR 452, celebrating Black History Month and honoring the leadership and vision of African American lawmakers. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary . SB 667 SCR 13
88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Legislative Policy . SB 667 SCR 13

Photographs

Photograph. John Mitchell, State Preservation Board
Photograph. J. Mitchell, Constitutional Convention of 1875 Composite Photo. From the collection of the Texas State Library and Archives Commisison.
Photograph. John Mitchell, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

Biographical information in Alwyn Barr, "Black Legislators of Reconstruction Texas," Volume 32, Number 4, December 1986, pp. 340-352. Civil War History .
One of six African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1875, Volume II, p. 732. East Texas: Its History and Its Makers 1940.
John Mitchell, born circa 1836-1837 in Tennessee, died 1921, burial in Mitchell Family Cemetery, Gus, Burleson County. Includes historical marker photo. Find a Grave .
Portrait and biographical sketch. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
Mentioned in footnote 5, p. 264, Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874: a Biography, by Lois Wood Burkhalter. "During the Reconstruction, Negroes found their military and political services in demand by the Texas Republican Party." Google Books .
MITCHELL, JOHN (1837-1921). Born April 1837 in Tennessee, died 4/10/1921 at his Burleson County farm. "He joined the Radical Republican Association, organized to uphold Governor Edmund J. Davis's vetoes of railroad-development bills during the Twelfth Legislature." Handbook of Texas Online .
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants 1970.
Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1875. Included in Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Texas: Begun and Held at the City of Austin Texas. Constitutional Convention (1875). Galveston : Printed for the Convention at the "News" Office, 1875, pp. 3-4. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2009.
Historical marker, John Mitchell, Caldwell, Burleson County Courthouse grounds, Burleson County. Texas Historic Sites Atlas (Texas Historical Commission) .
Biographical sketch, p. 21. One of six African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1875, pp. 51-52, Appendix A. Birth year 1837, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.