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John Henry Mitchell’s father was James Mitchell, who emigrated from Clackmannan, Scotland, in 1850 with his father, James Mitchell (b. 1817) and his mother, Janet Fife (b1822). James was born on February 4, 1841 in Clackmannan, Clackmannanshire, Scotland and died on September 1, 1918 in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho. The following pages document their voyage from Liverpool, England on the ship “North Atlantic” to New Orleans up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri and then to Council Bluffs, Iowa and then to Salt Lake City.
James Mitchell was age 33, his wife, Janet (Fife) was 29 and their sons James, age 10 and John, age 9.
They arrived in New Orleans in November 1850. They then traveled up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri, and Council Bluffs. They departed Council Bluffs, Pottawattomie, Iowa in 1851 in the David Wilkie Freight Train (Pioneer Company). They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on 21 September 1851. In Utah, the family settled first at Salt Lake City, and shortly after that moved to Provo, Utah, where they spent the winter of 1852-1853, which was very cold, the work scarce and the snow very deep. They then moved on to Cedar City, Utah. Then in the fall of 1853, they crossed the desert to San Bernardino County, California, losing one small child, all their cattle, and most of their possessions. They lived here for six years working hard to make a home for the family in this primitive section of the country, eventually returning to Utah; and in 1859, the family home was permanently located at Riverdale, Weber, Utah, where the father who had been a coal miner in Scotland engaged in agriculture, being dignified with the position of a Seventy in the LDS Church.
James and Janet’s (Fife) four children were: James, John, Andrew (died in Scotland), and Jeanette (died in Scotland).
On February 16, 1865, James was united in marriage to Miss Ann Hull, a native of Scotland, born on May 28, 1849. With a growing family, James Mitchell longed to settle where he could acquire more land.
In the Upper Snake River Valley, the virgin soil brought bounteous crops. This land could be had almost for the asking, so James took advantage of the pre-exemption rights of the Homestead Act and secured 360 acres of virgin soil just two miles north of Shelley, Idaho. So it was that in 1885, James came to Idaho.
James developed a beautiful home, outbuildings, and many acres of fruit trees and berry bushes that grew in that locality. He worked long and hard to secure irrigation rights and to build ditches and canals, becoming one of the builders of the Cedar Point Canal with much help from his sons, Richard, John (Jack), and Will. Like all old timers, life gave him a benevolent spirit. He quickly responded to any call for aid and encouraged those who tried. He was scrupulously honest and fair in his business dealings, always putting his family first and his church, of which he was a consistent member.
James passed away on September 1, 1918, at Shelley, Bingham, Idaho. His wife, Ann, died on 16 April 1923 at Preston, Franklin, Idaho. They are both buried in the Shelley Cemetery.
All that remains to remind his descendants of the Mitchell homestead is the “Mitchell” siding sign just north of Shelley. Where his original homestead used to be is a new Riverview Elementary School.
The children of James Mitchell and Anne Hull are as follows:
- Mary Ann 1 January 1866 (died as a child)
- James Andrew 3 January 1867
- Thomas 28 October 1868
- John Henry 1 February 1870
- William David 5 October 1871
- Joseph 24 May 1873 (died as a child)
- Jeanette 16 April 1874 (died as a child)
- Walter Scott 3 February 1876
- Richard Charles 16 December 1877
- Margaret May (twin) 6 October 1879
- Adam (twin) 6 October 1879 (died as a child)
- Helen Mar 21 May 1882
- Anne Catherine 11 March 1884
- Nettie Belle 22 December 1887 (died as a child)
