Biography

03/08/1781 - 08/03/1849

MITCHELL, John, a Representative from Centre and Clearfield Counties; born, March 8, 1781 near Newport, Cumberland (now Perry) County, Pa.; Ironworks clerk (1800-1814); merchant (1814); elected, auditor, Centre County (1814); elected, engineer and surveyor, Centre County; elected, treasurer, Centre County (1817-1820); unsuccessful campaign, sheriff, Centre County (1815); elected, sheriff, Centre County (1818-1821); surveyor, Centre and Kiskacoquillas Turnpike (1821); elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House for Representatives for the 1822-1823 and 1823-1824 terms; not a candidate for reelection to the House for the 1824-1825 term; elected, delegate, State Democratic Convention (1824); elected, United States Congress (1825-1829); engineer, Erie Extension (1827); appointed, Pennsylvania canal commissioner (1829-1835); presidential appointee, agent, United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (declined) (1829); elected, presidential elector (1835); iron manufacturer, Hecla Furnace and Mill Hall Furnace (1836-1838); appointed, superintendent, Beaver Division, Pennsylvania Canal (1839-1849); died, August 3, 1849 in Bridgewater, Beaver County, Pennsylvania; interred, Old Beaver Cemetery, Beaver, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.