Charles Roark Mitchell
was the oldest son of William Christman Mitchell and Nancy Isabella
Dunlap, born 29 February 1832 in Tennessee. He married
Sarah C. Baker, the daughter of
John Twitty Baker and Mary A. Ashby, abt. 1856. (His wife's father,
Captain John Twitty Baker, was the
leader of "The Baker Train" that departed from Milum Spring, also called
Caravan Spring, Carroll County, Arkansas around the same time in April of 1857.
He also died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.) Together, Charles R.
Mitchell, his wife Sarah, infant son John, and his brother, Joel Dyer
Mitchell, who comprised "The Mitchell Train" segment, departed in April
1857 in conjunction with "The Dunlap Train" from Sugar Loaf
Township, Marion County, Arkansas. The Mitchell
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, or hired hands, with the Mitchell Train were
Lawson A. McEntire, and brothers
John Prewit, and
William Prewit.
Charles Roark Mitchell, his
wife Sarah, his infant son John, and his brother, Joel
Dyer Mitchell, all died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. According to
the account of Dan MacFarland, Charles Roark Mitchell appears to have been
the man, reported as holding an infant, who was shot through the breast.
The same shot pierced his son's head. Charles Roark Mitchell was 25
years old when he died.
His maternal uncles,
Jesse Dunlap, Sr. and
Lorenzo Dow Dunlap, with "The Dunlap
Train" from Marion County, Arkansas, also died in the Massacre. Charles R.
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 seventeen 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
Inscription:
IN MEMORIAM
IN THE VALLEY BELOW BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 7 AND 11, 1857, A
COMPANY OF MORE THAN 120 ARKANSAS
EMIGRANTS LED BY CAPT. JOHN T. BAKER AND CAPT.
ALEXANDER FANCHER WAS ATTACKED WHILE EN ROUTE TO
CALIFORNIA. THIS EVENT IS KNOWN IN HISTORY AS THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS
MASSACRE
CHARLES R. MITCHELL, 25
*Please note
that the names of the victims of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre that
appear here are those who we have personally researched and verified as
actual victims. In some cases this list will differ from the names that
were inscribed on the 1990 Monument on Dan Sill Hill.
Leave
virtual flowers - MMA FIND A GRAVE
MEMORIAL
FOR
CHARLES ROARK MITCHELL
