Mitchell, Stephen Mix, 1743-1835

Stephen Mix Mitchell (December 9, 1743 – September 30, 1835) was an American lawyer, jurist, and statesman from Wethersfield, Connecticut. He represented Connecticut in the Continental Congress and the U.S. Senate and was chief justice of the state's Supreme Court.

Born in Wethersfield in the Colony Connecticut, Mitchell pursued academic studies, ultimately graduating from Yale College in 1763. He went on to serve as a tutor at Yale from 1766 to 1769 while he studied law. Mitchell was admitted to the bar in 1770 and commenced practice in Newtown, Connecticut. Mitchell returned to Wethersfield in 1772, continuing the practice of law there. He was a member of Connecticut state house of representatives from 1778 to 1784, a delegate to the Continental Congress from Connecticut from 1783 to 1788, and a member of Connecticut council of assistants from 1784 to 1792 with the exception of 1786. Mitchell was also associate justice of the county court of Hartford County from 1779 to 1790, and presiding judge from 1790 to 1793. He was a member of the State convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1788.

After declining to serve in the United States House of Representatives following his 1792 election, Mitchell was appointed to the United States Senate following the death of Roger Sherman. He did not seek re-election in 1794, but returned home to accept a seat on the Connecticut Supreme Court beginning in 1795 until he was elevated to Chief Justice in 1807 and served there until his retirement to Wethersfield in 1814 when he became legally disqualified by age. Mitchell was a presidential elector on the Federalist ticket in 1800 and a delegate to Connecticut state constitutional convention in 1818.

Mitchell died in Wethersfield and is interred at Wethersfield Cemetery there.