David Earl Mitchell
Dublin Core
Title
David Earl Mitchell
Subject
David Mitchell
Cumberland University
Description
A portrait of David Earl Mitchell, 5th University President, undated and unknown artist.
David Earl Mitchell was born on February 7, 1876 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Following the premature deaths of two brothers, Charles and Paul (8 and 6, respectively, at the time of their deaths in 1875), and his father in 1888, he swore to be the head of his household for his surviving mother and sister. Soon afterward, Mitchell began attending Southwestern State Normal School in California, PA at the age of 14, graduating with honors in 1893. He would later serve as the principal of Roscoe Public School, an editor of The People's Tribune, and as an iron and coal broker. He would earn his fortune in the latter business and was worth around $200,000 by 24.
Mitchell married Elizabeth Smith Mitchell on August 15, 1900, and the couple soon began their journey to Lebanon, Tennessee. Mitchell longed to attend Cumberland University's School of Theology but ultimately graduated from their College of Arts & Sciences instead. He proved a popular, charismatic, and charitable character on campus. By 1901, he donated thousands of dollars and his substantial book collection to start The Mitchell Library on campus. This namesake remained on campus until 1989 when The Vise Library was constructed. During his senior year in 1902, Mitchell was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the Married Men's Club, Senior Literacy Class President, and the business manager of The 1902 Phoenix yearbook. His wife was a member of the school's Ladies Bible Club. In addition, he taught men's Bible study at Lebanon Presbyterian Church.
Moments after he received his A.B. degree in June 1902, Mitchell was offered the position of 5th University President. He accepted, becoming one, if not the nation's youngest university president at the time, at just twenty-six. It was estimated that Mitchell gave the campus over $50,000 in donations to various university needs, such as a heating unit in Memorial Hall, finished the interior of the College Chapel (now Baird Chapel), donated for building the Men's Dormitory, sent missionaries to Japan and China, and fully paid multiple salaries of faculty and staff members on the campus. He is also credited with opening up Cumberland's School of Music. A supporter of the Prohibition Movement, he was also responsible for shutting down at least nine taverns and bars in Lebanon. Starting in 1906, he began constructing the Mitchell House, which was considered one of the largest and finest houses in Lebanon at the time. His wife and only daughter, also named Elizabeth, moved into the home in 1910.
During his presidency at Cumberland, the Preparatory School building was sold. Deeply saddened by this loss, Mitchell, along with Isaac W. P. Buchanan (A.B. 1885, Ph.D. 1892--Cumberland University. Head of Mathematics at Cumberland 1893-1902. Son of Andrew H. Buchanan, Professor of Engineering (1854-1862); Head of Mathematics at Cumberland University (1869-1911) and graduate of CU (1853)) established nearby Castle Heights School to prepare anyone from 12 to 25 for college--specifically Cumberland University. It would serve as such until Laban Lacy Rice became the sole owner in 1913 and changed the school into a male-only military academy.
In 1906, Mitchell grew too busy with his business ventures and resigned as University President at the year's start. He continued to support Cumberland for the next few years as President of the Alumni Association from 1914 to 1922. He also helped start the Cumberland Alumnus publication. His only son, David Mitchell Jr., was born in 1916.
Tragedy struck the family in 1919 when his two children contracted typhoid fever. His wife, Elizabeth, tended to the children and nursed them back to health; however, she ended up contracting the bacteria herself and passed away only days later in the couple's bedroom on September 13 at the age of 42.
It was said David never entered their bedroom again and refused to sleep in the beloved family home after the event. It remained frozen in time for years following. Longing to give Elizabeth the burial she deserved, he ordered a 27-ton granite headstone to be the grandest grave in Cedar Grove Cemetery. It still remains the largest headstone in the graveyard today. The house was abandoned shortly afterward when Mitchell and his two children moved in with his in-laws a few miles away on Coles Ferry Pike. Mitchell would file for bankruptcy and flee Lebanon for California by 1923, leaving his children with his in-laws. He would gain fortune once more in Glendale, California, marrying Ellen Jones Mitchell and taking back the custody of his children. It is rumored that he paid off his dues in Lebanon. Living with his daughter and son-in-law, he would fall into debt again before contracting pneumonia in 1945. His death certificate cites respiratory failure and tuberculous as the leading causes of death after being under a doctor's care for almost three weeks. His body returned to Lebanon, where he is buried beside his first wife under their shared tombstone.
The Mitchell House was given to Castle Heights Military Academy in 1936 and was in use until the school's closure in 1986. Since then, it has been used as Cracker Barrell office space (fully restored by the restaurant's founder and Castle Heights alum Danny Evins) and Sigma Pi Fraternity. Today, the home is owned and used by the City of Lebanon and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
David Earl Mitchell was born on February 7, 1876 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Following the premature deaths of two brothers, Charles and Paul (8 and 6, respectively, at the time of their deaths in 1875), and his father in 1888, he swore to be the head of his household for his surviving mother and sister. Soon afterward, Mitchell began attending Southwestern State Normal School in California, PA at the age of 14, graduating with honors in 1893. He would later serve as the principal of Roscoe Public School, an editor of The People's Tribune, and as an iron and coal broker. He would earn his fortune in the latter business and was worth around $200,000 by 24.
Mitchell married Elizabeth Smith Mitchell on August 15, 1900, and the couple soon began their journey to Lebanon, Tennessee. Mitchell longed to attend Cumberland University's School of Theology but ultimately graduated from their College of Arts & Sciences instead. He proved a popular, charismatic, and charitable character on campus. By 1901, he donated thousands of dollars and his substantial book collection to start The Mitchell Library on campus. This namesake remained on campus until 1989 when The Vise Library was constructed. During his senior year in 1902, Mitchell was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the Married Men's Club, Senior Literacy Class President, and the business manager of The 1902 Phoenix yearbook. His wife was a member of the school's Ladies Bible Club. In addition, he taught men's Bible study at Lebanon Presbyterian Church.
Moments after he received his A.B. degree in June 1902, Mitchell was offered the position of 5th University President. He accepted, becoming one, if not the nation's youngest university president at the time, at just twenty-six. It was estimated that Mitchell gave the campus over $50,000 in donations to various university needs, such as a heating unit in Memorial Hall, finished the interior of the College Chapel (now Baird Chapel), donated for building the Men's Dormitory, sent missionaries to Japan and China, and fully paid multiple salaries of faculty and staff members on the campus. He is also credited with opening up Cumberland's School of Music. A supporter of the Prohibition Movement, he was also responsible for shutting down at least nine taverns and bars in Lebanon. Starting in 1906, he began constructing the Mitchell House, which was considered one of the largest and finest houses in Lebanon at the time. His wife and only daughter, also named Elizabeth, moved into the home in 1910.
During his presidency at Cumberland, the Preparatory School building was sold. Deeply saddened by this loss, Mitchell, along with Isaac W. P. Buchanan (A.B. 1885, Ph.D. 1892--Cumberland University. Head of Mathematics at Cumberland 1893-1902. Son of Andrew H. Buchanan, Professor of Engineering (1854-1862); Head of Mathematics at Cumberland University (1869-1911) and graduate of CU (1853)) established nearby Castle Heights School to prepare anyone from 12 to 25 for college--specifically Cumberland University. It would serve as such until Laban Lacy Rice became the sole owner in 1913 and changed the school into a male-only military academy.
In 1906, Mitchell grew too busy with his business ventures and resigned as University President at the year's start. He continued to support Cumberland for the next few years as President of the Alumni Association from 1914 to 1922. He also helped start the Cumberland Alumnus publication. His only son, David Mitchell Jr., was born in 1916.
Tragedy struck the family in 1919 when his two children contracted typhoid fever. His wife, Elizabeth, tended to the children and nursed them back to health; however, she ended up contracting the bacteria herself and passed away only days later in the couple's bedroom on September 13 at the age of 42.
It was said David never entered their bedroom again and refused to sleep in the beloved family home after the event. It remained frozen in time for years following. Longing to give Elizabeth the burial she deserved, he ordered a 27-ton granite headstone to be the grandest grave in Cedar Grove Cemetery. It still remains the largest headstone in the graveyard today. The house was abandoned shortly afterward when Mitchell and his two children moved in with his in-laws a few miles away on Coles Ferry Pike. Mitchell would file for bankruptcy and flee Lebanon for California by 1923, leaving his children with his in-laws. He would gain fortune once more in Glendale, California, marrying Ellen Jones Mitchell and taking back the custody of his children. It is rumored that he paid off his dues in Lebanon. Living with his daughter and son-in-law, he would fall into debt again before contracting pneumonia in 1945. His death certificate cites respiratory failure and tuberculous as the leading causes of death after being under a doctor's care for almost three weeks. His body returned to Lebanon, where he is buried beside his first wife under their shared tombstone.
The Mitchell House was given to Castle Heights Military Academy in 1936 and was in use until the school's closure in 1986. Since then, it has been used as Cracker Barrell office space (fully restored by the restaurant's founder and Castle Heights alum Danny Evins) and Sigma Pi Fraternity. Today, the home is owned and used by the City of Lebanon and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Date
early 1900s
Rights
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Format
.jpeg / portrait
Language
eng
Identifier
SA #2025-0269
RG: 200.05
Location: OS Artwork Shelf
RG: 200.05
Location: OS Artwork Shelf
Coverage
Lebanon, (Tenn.)
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
portrait
Citation
“David Earl Mitchell,” Stockton Archives Digital Collections, accessed July 9, 2025, https://cumberland.omeka.net/items/show/306.