The Portland daily press., 1876-07-28
Capt, Josiah A. Mitchell.

FREEPORT, July ~, 1916.
Mr. EDITORIALS your notice of Captain
Mitchell's death in yesterdays PRESS scarcely
does justice to the memory of one of our
wOrthiest citizens, L beg to ask you to publish
the following facts:
Capt. Mitchell was born in Freepor4, and was
| the Oldest son of Josiah w. Mitchell, Esq, well
known at the Cumberland Bar some forty
years ago as an eloquent advocate, and as The
| associate of Longfellow, Fessenden, Willis and
other lawyers Of eminence in their day. The
son, Josiah Angler, early took to the sea, and
followed it with short respites, (mostly spent
in his native village, to which he was strongly
attached), up, as it were, to the day of his
death.
Perhaps the most noteworthy event of his
| life was in connection with his command of the
Hornet" clipper ship which sailed from
| New York on the first week of January 1866,
bound for San Francisco, and which took fire
on the morning of May 81, in latitude 20 a.,
and longitude ITO IL W., under circumstances
that gave the captain and crew. with two pas
| sengers (the brothers Ferguson of New York
scarcely time to escape with their lives, barely
clothed and with very Inadequate supplies Of
water and provisions to last any length of
| time.
The officers, passengers and crew were d.
vided into three boat loads, numbering respect
lively IA, and s, the captain taking charge Of
the long boat containing the largest plumber.
On the morning of May 4th they left the
neighborhood of the burning ship. ard after an
| exposure of 43 days, under terribly trying cir.
1 ,,cfa ho pfa; in hnof +bo
| of June 18th, landed at Laupahochoc on the
island of Hawaii. The other two boats were
| never heard from, after parting from the cap
| tain.
Capt. Mitchells conduct in this emergency,
and the circumstances attending it, showed him
| to possess rare qualities of mind and heart as a
| commander of men, and if any one will take
| the trouble to read Mr.. Mark Twain's account
| of this terrible voyage, published in volume "a
| of Harper's Magazine for 1867, in which
he makes extracts from the passengers jour-
mails and the captains log, they will, We think,
agree with him that our fellow townsman pos
sessed elements of greatness in his character
of which we do we'll to be proud. 1t was this
exposure, or tie privations and sufferings at
tending it, (but one of the ii in Capt. Mitch
ellis boat survives him) that are supposed to
have developed the disease Of which he died,
| on his return home from his last sea voyage, in
New York, last Sunday.
The name and fame he won amidst dangers
suffering and death, may we'll make US proud
of him, as a brother townsman, but he needed
| no fame to make almost every one with whom
he came in contact love him as a friend.
Frank, modest. generous, unselfsh, (his whole
life was life of self-denial for those he loved
and with that indescribable air of the salt wave
about him which characterizes most seafarine
men, as above littleness of thought or action,
Capt. Mitchell was a man whose memory his
native village will do herself honor by honor
ing as one of her worthiest sons.
He was twice married. His first wife, by
whom he had four children, three of whom
survive him, was Susan Kelsey of Freeport
His second (widowed by his death) is Catherine
second daughter of Samuel Thing, Esq also O
Freeport. Ii.