DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to give it the weight it deserves. Born in Tennessee, somewhere around 1836 or 1837, John Mitchell made his way to Texas in 1846. That's a young man arriving in a young state, and neither one of them was finished becoming what they'd be.
He spent the next couple decades putting down roots, and in 1870 he started purchasing land in this part of Burleson County — that same year, he married Viney Cox. Two big moves in one year. A man building something.
Now here's where the story gets its spine. Mitchell went on to serve in both the 12th and 14th Legislatures, and he used that floor to champion something a lot of people in power weren't too interested in championing — increased educational opportunities for African Americans. He didn't just show up.
He pushed. Then comes 1875, and John Mitchell is elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Picture the room.
The direction of Texas reconstruction hanging in the balance. Mitchell stood up and defended the policies of Governor Davis. And when the vote came on whether to adopt the new constitution — the one that would ultimately mark the end of reconstruction in Texas — Mitchell was one of only eleven members who voted against it.
Eleven, out of the whole convention. He knew what he was voting against, and he voted against it anyway. That's not a man who missed the stakes.
When it was over, John Mitchell came back to Burleson County. Back to the land. He worked as a farmer and rancher, and he donated land for a church and a school — and both of them bore his name.
He died in 1921 and was buried in a family graveyard. A man who fought for something larger than himself, came home, and left the land better than he found it. Eleven votes against.
His name on a schoolhouse. That's not a small life.
What the marker says
Born in Tennessee c. 1836-37, John Mitchell came to Texas in 1846. He began purchasing land in this area in 1870, the same year he married Viney Cox. As a member of both the 12th and 14th Legislatures, Mitchell championed increased educational opportunities for African Americans. Elected as a delegate to the 1875 Constitutional Convention, he defended the policies of Gov. Davis and was one of 11 members to vote against adoption of the new constitution, which ultimately marked the end of reconstruction in Texas. John Mitchell returned to Burleson County as a farmer and rancher, and donated land for a church and school that bore his name. Upon his death in 1921, he was buried in a family graveyard. (2002)