John MITCHELL, Congress, PA (1781-1849)

MITCHELL John , a Representative from Pennsylvania; born near Newport, Perry County, Pa., March 8, 1781; attended the common schools; moved to Bellefonte, Centre County, in 1800 and was employed as a clerk in the ironworks; elected sheriff of Centre County in 1818; engineer and surveyor; laid out the Centre and Kishacoquillas Turnpike in 1821; constructed many of the turnpikes in middle and northern Pennsylvania; member of the state house of representatives in 1822 and 1823; elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses (March 4, 1825-March 3, 1829); surveyed proposed canal routes between the Susquehanna and Potomac Rivers in 1826; engineer on the Erie extension in 1827; canal commissioner in 1829; moved to Bridgewater, Pa., in 1842; engaged in civil engineering and iron manufacturing; member of the canal survey commission from 1845 until his death in Bridgewater, Pa., August 3, 1849; interment in Old Beaver Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present