Henry L. Mitchell Explained

Henry Laurens Mitchell
Office:Treasurer of Hillsborough County
Term Start:January 1, 1903
Term End:October 14, 1903
Office1:Clerk of Court of Hillsborough County
Term Start1:January 1897
Term End1:January 1, 1891
Predecessor1:Charles Wright
Successor1:W.L. Hanks
Office2:16th Governor of Florida
Term Start2:January 3, 1893
Term End2:January 5, 1897
Predecessor2:Francis P. Fleming
Successor2:William D. Bloxham
Office3:Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida
Term Start3:1888
Term End3:1891
Predecessor3:Robert B. Van Valkenburgh
Successor3:R. Fenwick Taylor
Office4:Member of the
Florida House of Representatives
Birth Date:3 September 1831
Birth Place:near Birmingham, Alabama
Death Place:Tampa, Florida
Party:Democratic
Spouse:Mary Eugenia Spencer Mitchell
Signature:Signature of Henry Laurens Mitchell.png

Henry Laurens Mitchell (September 3, 1831 – October 14, 1903) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He served as the 16th Governor of Florida (1893–1897).

Biography

Mitchell was born near Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama. His family moved to Tampa when he was 15 years old. Mitchell studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1849 at the age of 18.

When the American Civil War began, Mitchell resigned from his post as State Attorney and enlisted in the Confederate States Army. Mitchell was such a strong supporter of Southern nationalism that he had two members of his Masonic lodge expelled for fighting in the Union Army. In July 1863, Mitchell left the Confederate Army to take a seat in the Florida House of Representatives, to which he had been elected while serving. He was reelected after the war, in 1873 and 1875. His brother Charles Mitchell later became the Florida Commissioner of Land and Immigration, the modern equivalent of the Commissioner of Agriculture.

In 1888, Mitchell was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court, serving as an associate justice until 1891, when he resigned to start campaigning for governor. He won the election. During his term as governor, Mitchell was paid $3500 per year.

After he left office, Mitchell returned to Hillsborough County, where he was elected as clerk of the circuit court and subsequently county treasurer there. He died in Tampa on October 14, 1903, and was buried at Oaklawn Cemetery.

In 1915, Henry Mitchell Elementary School opened and was named after him.

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