Veteran Bio
The Kemp Sketch
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MITCHELL, ALEXANDER S. -- Born in Illinois. He arrived at Velasco, January 28, 1836 on the schooner Pennsylvania, having been recruited in New Orleans for the Army of Texas by Captain Amasa Turner. His name appears on page ____ of the army rolls in the General Land Office as a member of Captain John Hart's company at muster, January 30, 1836. Captain Richard Roman succeeded Captain Hart in command of the company and Mr. Mitchell was Second Sergeant in Captain Roman's Company at San Jacinto.
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Mr. Mitchell was issued a Headright Certificate January 25, 1838 for one-third of a league of land by the Brazoria County Board. He was issued a Bounty Certificate for 1280 acres of land, November 30, 1837 for having served in the army for a period of a year or more. This he lost and a duplicate, No. 645, was issued to him. He was living in Mount Carroll, Carroll County, Illinois, July 28, 1876 when he sold the duplicate.
That Mr. Mitchell was a soldier in the army on September 23, 1836 is told in a Comptroller's Military Service Record which reads: "Sutherlands Navidad Texas Sept. 23d 1836: This is to certify that Alex S. Mitchell entered the Corps of C Couriers under my Direction on the 3d of July last and has served faithfully in said Corps up to 23d September 1836 - A.L. Harrison, C. Courier"
Mr. Mitchell was Second Sergeant in Captain J.H. Strain's Company on the Santa Fe Expedition in 1841.
In the file in the Land Office containing Bounty Certificate No. 645 there is an affidavit from Mrs. Ellen R. Edwards, his sister, signed at Mount Carroll, April 24, 1873. In it she said that Mr. Mitchell left his home in Illinois in 1830 for New Orleans and did not return until 1846. Since then he had lived at her home. She said that Mr. Mitchell told her that he had participated in the battle of San Jacinto and had accompanied the Santa Fe Expedition. He was imprisoned in Mexico, he told her, until released with the other prisoners.
If Mr. Mitchell died in Carroll County, Illinois, as he probably did, his estate was not probated in that county.
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Written by Louis W. Kemp, between 1930 and 1952. Please note that typographical and factual errors have not been corrected from the original sketches. The biographies have been scanned from the original typescripts, a process that sometimes allows for mistakes in the new text. Researchers should verify the accuracy of the texts' contents through other sources before quoting in publications. Additional information on the veteran may be available in the Herzstein Library.
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Battle Statistics
- Died in Battle: No
- Rank: Second Sergeant
- Company: Capt. Richard Roman
Personal Statistics
- Birthplace: Illinois
- Origin: Louisiana
- Came to Texas: 1836 Jan 28
- Burial Place: Illinois?
- Comments: Santa Fe Expedition
- Bounty Certificate: 645
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