*VICTIM OF THE 1857 MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE*

Joel Dyer Mitchell was the second son of William Chrisman Mitchell and Nancy Isabella Dunlap, born 7 December 1833 in Missouri. He was named for his paternal uncle, Joel Dyer Mitchell, the Dyer name coming from his paternal grandmother, Nancy Tabitha (Dyer) Mitchell. Together, Joel D. Mitchell and his older brother Charles Roark Mitchell (with his wife Sarah C. (Baker) Mitchell and their infant son John), comprised "The Mitchell Train" segment that departed from Sugar Loaf Township, Marion County, Arkansas in April 1857 in conjunction with "The Dunlap Train". The brothers planned to start a cattle ranch in California. Their father's 1860 deposition stated that the Mitchell brothers had between them $275 in cash, 13 yoke of oxen, a large ox wagon, log chains, 1 horse with saddle and bridle, wearing apparel, beds, and bedding, cooking utensils, guns, pistols and Bowie knives, and somewhere between 74 to 100 head of cattle. Three single young men, who may have acted as drovers, with the Mitchell Train were Lawson A. McEntire, and brothers John Prewit, and William Prewit. Joel Dyer Mitchell was 23, and single when he died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

His brother Charles Roark Mitchell, sister-in-law Sarah C. (Baker) Mitchell, and his nephew John Mitchell died in the Massacre. His maternal uncles, Jesse Dunlap, Sr. and Lorenzo Dow Dunlap, with "The Dunlap train" from Marion County, Arkansas, also died in the Massacre. Joel Dyer Mitchell's father, William C. Mitchell, had been a County Clerk, Postmaster and State Senator. In 1859, he was appointed as a Special Agent and traveled to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas to receive the surviving children of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, who were brought to Kansas by the Army, under the leadership of Capt. James Lynch. He returned the surviving children to the Carrollton Court House in Carrollton, Carroll County, Arkansas to be reunited with their families.

© 2008 A.C. Wallner for the Mountain Meadows Association. All rights reserved

*VICTIM OF THE 1857 MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE*

Joel Dyer Mitchell was the second son of William Chrisman Mitchell and Nancy Isabella Dunlap, born 7 December 1833 in Missouri. He was named for his paternal uncle, Joel Dyer Mitchell, the Dyer name coming from his paternal grandmother, Nancy Tabitha (Dyer) Mitchell. Together, Joel D. Mitchell and his older brother Charles Roark Mitchell (with his wife Sarah C. (Baker) Mitchell and their infant son John), comprised "The Mitchell Train" segment that departed from Sugar Loaf Township, Marion County, Arkansas in April 1857 in conjunction with "The Dunlap Train". The brothers planned to start a cattle ranch in California. Their father's 1860 deposition stated that the Mitchell brothers had between them $275 in cash, 13 yoke of oxen, a large ox wagon, log chains, 1 horse with saddle and bridle, wearing apparel, beds, and bedding, cooking utensils, guns, pistols and Bowie knives, and somewhere between 74 to 100 head of cattle. Three single young men, who may have acted as drovers, with the Mitchell Train were Lawson A. McEntire, and brothers John Prewit, and William Prewit. Joel Dyer Mitchell was 23, and single when he died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

His brother Charles Roark Mitchell, sister-in-law Sarah C. (Baker) Mitchell, and his nephew John Mitchell died in the Massacre. His maternal uncles, Jesse Dunlap, Sr. and Lorenzo Dow Dunlap, with "The Dunlap train" from Marion County, Arkansas, also died in the Massacre. Joel Dyer Mitchell's father, William C. Mitchell, had been a County Clerk, Postmaster and State Senator. In 1859, he was appointed as a Special Agent and traveled to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas to receive the surviving children of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, who were brought to Kansas by the Army, under the leadership of Capt. James Lynch. He returned the surviving children to the Carrollton Court House in Carrollton, Carroll County, Arkansas to be reunited with their families.

© 2008 A.C. Wallner for the Mountain Meadows Association. All rights reserved

Bio by: Mountain Meadows Association