Florida. Governor (1893-1897 : Mitchell)

Henry Laurens Mitchell was born in Jefferson County, Alabama on September 3, 1831. He was educated in the common schools of Alabama and moved to Tampa, Florida in 1846. Mitchell studied law under Judge James A. Gettis and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He entered the Confederate Army in 1861 and rose to the rank of Captain in the Fourth Florida Infantry.

After the Vicksburg campaign he resigned his commission to accept a seat in the State Legislature, where he was twice reelected. Interspersed with his service in the legislature, he was employed as editor of the Tampa Florida Peninsular newspaper. He served as Judge of the Sixth Circuit Court from 1877 to 1888, spent the next two and one-half years as a Justice of the State Supreme Court, and then returned to his former position. His reputation for strict honesty, as well as his support from conservative farmers who split from the Farmer's Alliance, enabled him to defeat in 1892 the Florida People's Party candidate, Alonzo P. Baskin.

...