Deborah Margaret Sweet was a daughter of William Charles Sweet (1817-1898) and his wife Mary Ann McKenzie (d. 1873). Her paternal grandparents, Rev.
Gospero Sweet (1771-1856), a Methodist minister and planter, and his wife Ann Munnerlyn (1794-1841, a daughter of John Munnerlyn and his wife Sarah Keene), had moved from South Carolina to Georgia, then to Gadsden County, Florida in 1826.

Deborah met Russell Crawford Mitchell (1837-1905), a young Confederate soldier, while was recovering from severe wounds received at that Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam) in Thomasville, Georgia. Russell C. Mitchell was a son of Rev. Isaac Green Mitchell (1810-1881, son of William Mitchell and his wife Eleanor Thomasson) and his wife Mary Ann Dudley (1808-1856, daughter of George Dudley and his wife Elizabeth Raines). The family had moved to Atlanta shortly after its founding. Russell had attended Bowdon College (now West Georgia College) and had gone to practice law in Texas before the War. After his convalescence in Thomasville, R. C. Mitchell went back to the War, fighting to the end. Then he returned to Florida, where he and Deborah Margaret Sweet were married on 10 August 1865.

In the days immediately after the War, Russell Crawford Mitchell made a considerable fortune investing in cotton and selling it to the North, but he got into a fight with a carpetbagger, ran afoul of the yankee occupation government in Florida, and had to flee to his family in Atlanta. His wife soon joined him there. They debated whether to go to Texas or to stay in Atlanta, and Mrs. Mitchell suggested they remain. She commented that her husband "seemed to have the knack of making money." He began with a lumber mill, and branched out into real estate investments. Eventually, he became one of the wealthiest men in the city, and also served as mayor for a time.

Deborah Margaret Sweet and Russell Crawford Mitchell had eleven children, all born in Atlanta:

1. Eugene Muse Mitchell (13 Oct. 1866-17 June 1944) m. Mary Isabel "Maybelle" Stephens on 8 Nov. 1892. Three children: Russell, Stephens and Margaret.
2. Gospero Sweet Mitchell (25 Jan 1868-4 Oct 1888)
3. Edward Russell Mitchell (16 Jul 1869-4 Oct 1870)
4. Jessie Mitchell (28 Mar 1871-5 Apr 1918 in El Paso, Texas)
5. Gordon Forrest Mitchell (17 Nov 1872-2 Aug. 1956) m. Isabel Ormond Thomas on 8 Nov. 1892.
6. Mary Leila Mitchell (6 Nov 1874-31 Aug 1891)
7. Robert McKenzie Mitchell (19 Sep 1876-after 1905) m. Lottie Ball. Crawford Lily
8. Deborah Sue Mitchell (11 Jan 1878-11 Sep 1908)
9. Russell Crawford Mitchell, Jr. (23 Jun 1880-17 Oct 1916 in El Paso, Texas)
10. Aline Eliza Mitchell (15 Jun 1882-15 May 1956) m. Willis M. Timmons on 6 June 1906. Children: Willis, Jr., Russell M., Aline
11. Irene Caroline Mitchell (6 Oct 1885-21 Oct 1908)

Mrs. Mitchell developed consumption (tuberculosis) early in life, and eventually it killed her (as well as several of her children). She died just a few months after her 40th birthday.

Mrs. Mitchell's eldest son, Eugene Muse Mitchell, became a prominent lawyer and historian in Atlanta. He married Mary Isabel "Maybelle" Stephens (1872-1919) in 1892. They had three children: Russell Stephens Mitchell (1894-1894), Alexander Stephens Mitchell (1896-1983) and Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (1900-1949), named Margaret for his mother's middle name, and her Munnerlyn ancestry.

Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (first Mrs. B. K. Upshaw, later Mrs. John R. Marsh) wrote a rather famous book, greatly influenced by the stories of her family history that she heard as a child. That book was called "Gone with the Wind."