What's the origin story of how Mitchell was named?
Article content The first paragraph of Dean and Judy Robinsons book Mitchell: A Reflection, published in 1987, reads as follows: Known at one time, at least informally, as Big Thames, Mitchell is said to have received its official name from a black man who supposedly made his way up the Thames River from the Chatham area. Close to where Whirl Creek and the north branch of the Thames flow together the man, who called himself Mitchell, put up a log building and offered it as a resting place to weary travellers in the Huron Tract. That was in the 1830s. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser. If thats the case, it is quite likely the only town in the entire province to have that distinction. Jesse Britton, a member of West Perths Heritage and Culture Committee, has been doing extensive research into the man called Mitchell, and he said during their April committee meeting as well as during a recent interview theres a number of theories as to who he is and where he came from  its just a matter of filling in the blanks if indeed there are blanks to be filled. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Incomplete records make it difficult to find out definitively, but for Britton, its not for a lack of trying. Im pretty sure  the myth only being a myth is not true, I think there is definitely a historic person, he said. It all makes for a great story. There are various rabbit holes one might dive into when conducting some extensive research, Britton concedes, research that is currently hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic as provincial and national genealogical societies and archives are closed. But Britton is wondering if there are members of the public who may have answers to the mystery. Were kind of outside official documents now because there is so few documents existing around that time, he said, adding hes currently focused on the 10-15 year period starting when Tiger Dunlop, a frontiersman who whacked his way through the bush in the late 1820s. Thats kind of when the clock starts ticking for what we know. Most historians, when writing about Mitchell, have focused on moving forward from the time of settlement rather than going backwards into this story, he said. Were almost looking now for a family that moved here in the 1830s and 1840s that wrote somebody a letter that mentions the man named Mitchell, and explains his story . that would be the perfect one.  Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content He admits itll be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Britton put together a summary of facts of what is known about Mitchell, the man, and has been keeping colleagues on the committee updated on the status of his research. Through the internet, and ancestry.ca, Britton has managed to touch base with a family in the Hamilton area which could be connected to the man named Mitchell. Through marriage, they are related with one Black family that showed up in documentation just north of London in 1861. Britton hasnt found any living direct descendants of Mitchell so far. After connecting with the family, they have reached out to their family and connections in places like the Amherstburg Freedom Museum in the Windsor area. These connections to southern Ontario makes sense if indeed a Black man named Mitchell made his way from the United States decades before the Civil War to escape slavery, perhaps through the Underground Railroad or another abolitionist organization. If he made his way here and built a bark shanty on land that became Mitchell in the 1830s he could have lived here for years before Mitchells founder, John Hicks, arrived in 1837. Britton said its known that there was land for sale in Mitchell one year earlier in 1836 and if a man named Mitchell was here, perhaps the Canada Company ran him off because he didnt own land. If he was a man who didnt have a lot of money he could have moved on, too, Britton theorized. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content There was a man named Mitchell who worked on building roads in this area. This road builder may have been the Black man that Hicks knew. Britton thinks the other possibility is that the road builder named Mitchell moved on and then when a Black man came, either through error or on purpose since there likely was tension about harbouring slaves, perhaps he changed his name and just assumed the name Mitchell. So if the town was named Mitchell, and he was asked if he was Mitchell, he might have been happy to say yes I am, Britton said, adding that when Hicks arrived, the only Mitchell he knew may have been this Black man. Britton has reached out to Dean Robinson and Hugh Johnston as well as other historians and officials at the Stratford-Perth Archives, who all agree the pursuit is worth it to try and find answers. With so many people involved, including genealogical societies and groups from both sides of the border trying to rebuild their histories, especially Black history that began in the U.S., something may be out there to connect it all together. Its one of those things that when you say heres the story and heres what we know, people are like how do we not know about this? Britton said, and how can we help because its such a fascinating story. We know so many of the players  and now were left with this story of this guy who people knew who came and left and nobody knows what happened to him. Its a classic mystery. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content We have a whole bunch of puzzles and we havent been able to connect the pieces, he said. Britton admits hes always loved history and that was one of the reasons he signed up to be a member of the committee. He said earlier this year, with Heritage Week approaching, the committee wanted to do something to mark that week but their pace was snarled due to COVID and other factors. In any event, Britton volunteered to look up interesting facts about Mitchell and West Perth. He said when re-reading Robinsons book, one he remembers reading as a teenager, the first couple of sentences just hit me like I never thought of before. That is the beginning of the story, but when I looked at it thats the end of the story for Mitchell as in his connection here, but where did his story begin?, Britton said, joking hes been driving his family crazy after jumping in and out of so many rabbit holes and discussing it with them. Its such a fascinating story. Its like a time capsule that the Hicks family buried 150 years ago just waiting for somebody to dig it up and say wait a minute, hang on, who is this Mitchell? If anyone has any insight or further information that may prove helpful, please contact Jeff Marshall, chair of the West Perth Heritage & Culture Committee at jmarshall@westperth.com  Share this article in your social network        Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. News Near Mitchell