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JAMES NATHANIEL MITCHEM
was born November 29, 1843
, in Morgan County ,
Georgia , and died July 24, 1919 in
El Reno ( Canadian County ), Oklahoma . He
served during the Civil War in Company E of Georgia�s 53rd
Infantry; was wounded; and discharged to the Invalid Corps in July of
1864. After the 1870 census of Morgan County
, James Nathaniel left Georgia
and went to Texas
. By 1880, however, he
had a wife, Eliza Jane, widow of William Levi Noble, who had died in
1870; a stepson, William Levi Noble, Jr.,
and three children of his own, living in Lampasas County , Texas
. This couple had been
married in Sabine County , Texas on September 12, 1872 , according to
sworn statements filed by Eliza Jane Mitchem on her 1931 application
for a Civil War Widow�s pension, filed from
Greenville in
Hunt County , Texas
. Eliza Jane�s application for pension was denied because, rather than
the widow of James Nathaniel, she was a divorcee. Under
Texas
law, a divorcee was not eligible to be awarded a widow�s pension.
We know that James Nathaniel Mitchem filed divorce
proceedings against Eliza Jane in May of 1888 in
Brown County , Texas , alleging adultery with
Joe W. Harris, a man he shot and killed. This
court case was bitterly fought on both sides and exactly one year after
the death of Joe W. Harris, James Nathaniel was granted a divorce from
Eliza Jane and was awarded custody of his daughters and Eliza Jane was
awarded custody of their son, James B. Mitchem.
The names of James Nathaniel Mitchem�s three
children were:
Vadda E, the eldest, born May 8, 1874 , who died,
unmarried, in a Dallas, Texas nursing
home, on July 29,
1958 , James B.
Mitchem, born a couple of years later was a bookkeeper and who died
somewhere in Texas in 1916, and
probably never married. Lula Mitchem, born 1880 and died in Los Angeles County, California in 1933, the wife of
Robert S. Tobin. This couple had no
children, so it is most probable that James Nathaniel Mitchem has no
direct descendants.
Eliza
Jane Burroughs Noble Mitchem who was born on 12-25-1851 Sabine Co TX
and died on 5-5-1933 and is buried in East Mount Cem in Greenville Hunt
co TX. She also has no marker.
We have come to learn that James Burroughs Mitchem born 10-9-1876 the
son of James Nathaniel Mitchem confederate veteran buried in Wynnewood
in Garvin Co OK did in fact marry a woman we only know her as Albertina
born abt 1868. A Swedish woman by birth and they had no children that
we can find so far. James Burroughs Mitchum was buried in
Multnomah Park Pioneer Cemetery Grave 5 Lot 16A Portland Multnomah Co
OR. He died on 4-13-1919 in Portland of TB. There is no marker
for him in the cemetery in Or. But his death cert states he is buried
there as does the cemetery inventory.
Vadda E. Mitchem is buried in East Lawn Cem in Dallas TX born 5-8-1874
died 7-29-1959. Lula Mitchem Tobin is buried iin Hollywood Forever
Cemetery in Los Angeles CA. born 2-1880 died 5-11-1933
WE have also learned that James Nathaniel Mitchem and Pauline Cox may
have married on 7-5-1891 in Eddy Co NM.
William Levi Noble JR the stepson he raised is buried in West Hill Cem
in Sherman Grayson Co TX his dates are b 11-1-1869 Sabine Co TX d
6-19-1947 at the home of his daughter in Oak Cliff Section Dallas,
Dallas Co TX
WE have also come to learn that James Nathaniel Mitchem first wife
Eliza was born Elisabeth/Elizabeth (one census names her as Elisabeth)
"Eliza" Jane Burroughs in Sabine Co TX. Her father was James M
Burroughs a Lawyer of Tuscaloosa Co AL who moved to Sabine co TX and
served in the TX Legislature her mother is unknown at this time.
All other records indicate her as Eliza or E. J. Mitchem.
Pauline Cox's brother moved to NM so I checked the marriage records in
NM
just in case and got lucky.
In the early 1890�s, James Nathaniel moved to what was then known as
the �Indian Territory� of Oklahoma
where he remained during the time Oklahoma came into Statehood
(1907).
By the year 1900, James Nathaniel was living at El Reno in Canadian County , Oklahoma
, and was a real estate broker by profession. His second wife, Pauline Cox Mitchem, worked
as a florist, according to city directory entries, for more than the
next decade. From 1913 to 1916, James
Nathaniel and Pauline Cox Mitchem, his second wife, homesteaded on 160
acres in Kiowa County , Oklahoma , before returning once more to El Reno .
In July of 1919, James
Nathaniel was crossing at an intersection in downtown El Reno, Oklahoma when a taxicab rounded the curve at
that intersection, �blew� a tire, and rolled over onto James
Nathaniel�s arm, almost severing it. After
a few days� hospitalization, during which time his arm was surgically
amputated, James Nathaniel died of tetanus infection, and was buried in
the Mitchem-Cox plot in Oaklawn Cemetery, at Wynnewood (Garvin County) Oklahoma, along with his
second wife, Pauline Cox Mitchem, who died in April of the next year
(1920). James Nathaniel and Pauline Cox
Mitchem had no children, it is believed.
AltaMDurden@aol.com
Additional Information furnished on 1 May 2011
James Nathaniel Mitchem shot and killed Joe W. Harris
February 27,
1888 , Lampasas,
TX
JAMES
NATHANIEL MITCHEM 1843-1919
JAMES NATHANIEL MITCHEM was born November 29, 1843, in Morgan County, Georgia, and
died July 24, 1919 in El Reno (Canadian County), Oklahoma. He
served during the Civil War in Company E of Georgia�s 53rd
Infantry; was wounded; and discharged to the Invalid Corps in July of
1864. After the 1870 census of Morgan County, James Nathaniel
left Georgia and went to Texas. By 1880, however, he had a
wife, Eliza Jane, widow of William Levi Noble, who had died in 1870;
a stepson, William Levi Noble, Jr., and three children of his
own, living in Lampasas County, Texas. This couple had been
married in Sabine County, Texas on September 12, 1872, according to
sworn statements filed by Eliza Jane Mitchem on her 1931 application
for a Civil War Widow�s pension, filed from Greenville in Hunt County,
Texas. Eliza Jane�s application for pension was denied because, rather
than the widow of James Nathaniel, she was a divorcee. Under
Texas law, a divorcee was not eligible to be awarded a widow�s pension. According to The
Dallas (Texas) Morning News of February 27, 1888, James
Nathaniel Mitchem shot and killed Joe W. Harris on the street in
Brownwood (Brown County, Texas) on the night of February 26,
1888. In a jailhouse interview of James Nathaniel Mitchem by
The Dallas Morning News, James Nathaniel Mitchem
relates that he � . . .became suspicious that Harris was too
familiar with my wife in Lampasas, where I then lived, and I had a
difficulty with him, in which he drew a pistol on me in my own
home. I would have killed him then had it not been for disgracing
my children. My wife promised me she would never speak to Harris
again and I wrote him that if he ever came about my wife again I would
kill him. Last November I learned that he had been seen with my wife
here, and I got a shotgun and loaded six cartridges to kill him, but he
left. Yesterday evening I learned that he had been buggy riding
the day before with my wife, and had gone out again with my wife and
daughter. I went out the road that they had gone, and met my wife
and daughter and saw Harris at a distance driving the buggy off.
I went home and got the same cartridges that I had loaded before and
went to a gunsmith�s and borrowed a shotgun. This was after
dark. I hid my gun and went to hunting for Harris. I saw
him go from the hotel around Allman�s corner toward the square. I
stood in the shade of Coggin�s bank until I saw him return. I
started to him. The moon was shining brightly. When about
half way across the street I called out: �� Is that you, Harris?�
� He said, �Yes,� and drew his pistol. I fired; he
ran and I fired again. Immediately after the shooting Mrs.
Mitchem came down and fell upon Harris� body, kissed him and
cried. �Mitchem is about 45 years old,
has a wife and three children, two girls and a boy, one girl about
grown. He is a hide buyer. Harris was 35 years old and was
a gambler. He had a certificate of deposit on a Dallas bank for
$1800. It is said that he lived at San Antonio.� [End of
newspaper article.] The names of James Nathaniel
Mitchem�s three children were: Vadda E, the eldest, born
May 8, 1874, who worked as a saleslady in millinery shops in several
towns and cities in Texas, and owned Mitchem�s Millinery Shop in
Greenville, Texas. Vadda died in a Dallas, Texas nursing home,
on July 29, 1958, unmarried, and is buried with some
descendants of her older half brother, William Levi Noble, Jr., in
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Dallas. James B. Mitchem, born in Texas,
October 9, 1876, was a bookkeeper for cotton brokers while in
Texas, but died as a Teamster in Portland, Oregon on April 3, 1916 at
only 39 years of age. His wife, Albertina, about twelve years
older than James, was a naturalized immigrant from Sweden. They
had no children.. Lula Mitchem, born 1880 and died in Los Angeles
County, California in 1933, the wife of Robert S. Tobin. This
couple had no children, so it is most probable that James Nathaniel
Mitchem has no direct descendants. We know that James
Nathaniel Mitchem was not prosecuted for having killed Joe W. Harris in
February of 1888 because three months later he filed divorce
proceedings against Eliza Jane in May of 1888 in Brown County,
Texas, alleging adultery. This court case was bitterly fought on
both sides and, ironically, exactly one year after the death of Joe W.
Harris, James Nathaniel was granted a divorce from Eliza Jane and was
awarded custody of his daughters and Eliza Jane was awarded custody of
their son, James B. Mitchem. Interestingly, evidence introduced
during the divorce trial reveals that the biological father of Eliza
Jane was one James M. Burroughs, born 1824 in Alabama, a
slaveowner-legislator-attorney influential in the early formation of
the State of Texas. Eliza Jane died at Terrell State Hospital in
Kaufman County, Texas in May of 1933, a few months after her September
1932 admission to that mental institution. Texas law, relative to
mental health records and privacy concerns, preclude our learning the
names of Eliza Jane�s parents (although permission is currently being
sought from the Attorney General of Texas for an exception to release
the true names of Eliza Jane�s parents for genealogical purposes.)
James Nathaniel Mitchem is recorded as having married
Pauline Cox, twenty years his junior, in Carlsbad, (Eddy County) New
Mexico in 1891, the daughter of another Confederate veteran who, like
James Nathaniel, was a hide buyer. In the early 1890�s, they
moved to what was then known as the �Indian Territory� of Oklahoma
where they remained during the time Oklahoma came into Statehood
(1907). As of the year 1900, James Nathaniel was living at
El Reno in Canadian County, Oklahoma, and was a real estate broker by
profession. His second wife, Pauline Cox Mitchem, worked as a
florist, according to city directory entries, for more than the next
decade. From 1913 to 1916, James Nathaniel and Pauline Cox
Mitchem homesteaded on 160 acres of land they bought in Kiowa County,
Oklahoma, before returning once more to El Reno where Lula Mitchem,
youngest child of James Nathaniel and Eliza Jane Mitchem, lived in a
boarding house as a single woman near her soon-to-be husband, Robert S.
Tobin. In July of 1919, James Nathaniel was crossing at an
intersection in downtown El Reno, Oklahoma when a taxicab rounded the
curve at that intersection, �blew� a tire, and rolled over onto James
Nathaniel�s arm, almost severing it. After a few days�
hospitalization, during which time his arm was surgically amputated,
James Nathaniel died of tetanus infection, and was buried in the
Mitchem-Cox plot in Oaklawn Cemetery, at Wynnewood (Garvin County)
Oklahoma, along with his second wife, Pauline Cox Mitchem, who died in
April of the next year (1920). James Nathaniel and Pauline Cox
Mitchem had no children, it is believed. Although both
James Nathaniel and his wife have monuments in the Cox-Mitchem plot of
Oaklawn Cemetery, the author has been instrumental in erecting a
Southern Cross of Honor Confederate Memorial Monument at that Garvin
County site. Sources: Morgan
County, Georgia, Tax Lists; Land Records, Census Records, Estate
Records and Cemetery Records; NARA; Similar Records from Alabama,
Oklahoma, Texas, and Nevada..
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