Dr. Paul Malone addresses the Richard Henry Lee Chapter of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He is standing in front of a photograph of the Mitchell Map.
The Richard Henry Lee (RHL) Chapter of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (VASSAR) met Tuesday, October 15, at Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club.
Guests included members of the Cobbs Hall, National Society Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution and VASSAR chaplain Rev. Dr. Gene Thomas, who gave the invocation for the meeting.
Dr. Paul Malone presented background on John Mitchell (1711-1768), a native of Lancaster County and maker of the famous Mitchell Map. He stressed that Dr. Mitchell was much more than a mapmaker, reported Don Smith.
Mitchell was born to a family of means with a large estate in the vicinity of Morattico Creek. His father, Robert Mitchell, was a successful planter-merchant. Dr. Mitchell was sent abroad for higher education.
At age 18 he had earned a master’s from Edinburgh University, Scotland. He stayed on to complete two of a three-year medical program.
Returning home in 1732 he settled across the Rappahannock River in Urbanna. In 1734, he set up a medical practice in Urbanna. From the beginning it was clear that Dr. Mitchell was interested in research in many fields.
Urbanna was a busy port city in the 1730s and each arriving ship would bring in new diseases. Treatment for these…
