Individual Details

Thomas married Jane Ann Smith who died 6 Apr 1895. They had three daughters, and six or seven sons. He owned a farm on the Ohio between Rayland and Martins Ferry. Later they moved to Auburn, Illinois. Thomas was the grandfather of Paul Rainey, African explorer.


This is likely the right Thomas Mitchell in 1850. Warren Twp, Jefferson Co, OH.
Thomas Mitchell, age 44, b. OH
Jane, 35, b. PA
Lavinia, 14. Algernon 12. Joseph 10. Ellen, age 8.

1860. Warren Twp, Jefferson Co OH, Hh 473
Thomas Mitchell, 52, b. OH
Jane A. 44, b. PA
James A. 22. Joseph E. 19. Ellen C. 17. Thomas J. 15. John S. 13. William 11. George B. 9.
Alvin 7. Mary A. 5. Leonora, age 9 months

I did find in 1870, Talkington, Sangamon Co, IL, Hh 53
Thomas Mitchel, age 62, b. OH, farmer
Jane A. R., age 56, b. PA
children all born in Ohio:
James A., 32, school teacher.
Thomas J. 26, school teacher
John , 24, farmer
George 19. Laborer
Alvin A. 17
Mary A. 15
Benjamin 8
Joseph E. Mitchel, age 30, next door with wife and child.

Death Certificate of son Thomas J. Mitchell, Kentucky #33307
Thomas J. Mitchell of Hellier, Pike Co, KY died 30 Dec 1928 of myocarditis. He was a widower. Born 6 Nov 1843 in Jefferson Co, Ohio. He had been a coal operator. Father, Thomas Mitchell; mother, Jane Ann Smith, born in PA. J. H. Robinson of Uniontown PA was the informant. Buried Uniontown, PA on Jan 2nd, 1929.

The Hamlin Family; a Genealogy of James Hamlin of Barnstable, Massachusetts, digitized on Ancestry.com, p. 884


Find A Grave Memorial# 99480986
Thomas J. Mitchell is buried Scotch Ridge Cemetery, Colerain, Belmont Co, Ohio
Inscription: Thou shalt be missed, because thy seat shall be empty
Note: The monument, shared with his wife Jane is a beautifully carved chair.
Jane Ann Smith was born 19 Jul 1814, died 6 Apr 1895.

The Chair monument is located at the Scotch Ridge Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Pease Township. Joe C. Ellis based his novel, The Healing Place, around this very famous monument. I recently read Ellis' novel, and although it isn't completely centered on The Chair, it does play an important role. Many death threatening stories about The Chair have changed through the years. According to the novel, if one sits in the chair at 11:55 pm, they will die within 24 hours. Other stories state that one will die within a year, etc. These threats, of course, have also been proven false. The epitaph reads as follows: Thou Shalt Be Missed Because Thy Seat Will Be Empty.
Note: A picture on an Ancestry FamilyTree taken in the snow shows that monument appears to have been broken.

1880 Census. Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co, OH, Hh 20
William J. Rainey, 44, deals in Coal & Coke, b. OH, father b. Ireland, mother b. OH
Eleanor B., age 37, wife, b. OH [Ellen Mitchell]
William T., son, age 15
Gracie M., dau age 12
Roy A., son age 6
Paul J., son age 2
Thomas J. Mitchell, 35, brother-in-law, Lawyer, b. OH
Charles Holtz, age 20, Coachman, b. OH, parents b. Prussia
Nellie Barry, 35, cook, b. Ireland as were her parents
Katie Shauhnesey, 45, servant, b. Canada, father b. England, mother b. France


I had to see if I could find out more about Paul Rainey:
http://prb.datalane.net/prbamaz.htm
The Amazing Paul J. Rainey by Danny Murry
In 1900, a legend which centered around an amazing multimillionaire adventurer, hunter, and playboy, developed in North Mississippi when Paul J. Rainey settled in Tippah County at the turn of the century.
Paul was born on September 18, 1877, the son of William J. and Eleanor Rainey. The Raineys came from the British Isles and settled in Belmont County, Ohio in 1796.
Here William, his father, founded the William J. Rainey Inc., which is still one of the leading coke and coal producers. He was a ruthless man who prided himself at being title "The Coke Baron" and "The Coal King." He also owned a ship line and several plantations throughout the country.
Rainey's mother was a strict Presbyterian, who was so frugal that she made her children's socks from the wool of sheep that grazed on their fabulous estate in Cleveland, Ohio. She made the socks black with white bottoms so that she could tell when they needed changing.
Although Paul's father left approximately forty million dollars, his family spoke of his as "Poor Paul" because he was not given as much as the other children because of his reckless habits. His kinsmen were conservative, and his brother Roy never owned an automobile. He went everywhere on a bicycle.
....
The first recorded deed to Mr. Rainey was from H. M. Ratliff dated January 11, 1904. On January 27, 1905, he bought from W. P. Wiseman a lot on which he located his large store that served the people around Cotton Plant.
He took the small Ratliff home and converted it into one of the most beautiful estates in the South. On one end of the house he built an indoor heated swimming pool at a time when other families in the area did not even have running water. At the other end of the house he added on a trophy room, which is actually a building in itself, for it is practically as large as a small house of today. The trophy room was filled with trophies collected on hunts throughout the world.
Between the pool and the trophy room were the nine bedrooms, kitchens, and enormous dining and living rooms. The surrounding estate consisted of a splendidly landscaped lawn, complete with a sunken garden and numerous fish ponds.
He had a private electric plant on the estate or "lodge", as it was known, that provided lights and electricity for the house. A water tower gave pressure for the system and kept the swimming pool filled with filtered water, and provided the water needed for the numerous tiled baths.
If he needed ice for his many parties, he merely sent to his own ice plant. If he wanted soft drinks he went to his bottling works in New Albany. The "lodge" boasted paved roads, steam heat, sidewalks, a blacksmith shop, dog food oven, and a perfectly round polo barn, which housed some fifty horses.
He also maintained his own private railroad siding, where his private railroad car would deposit him from his trips throughout the world, or where his party guests would arrive from across the nation-Chicago, New York, California, or Pennsylvania.
In addition to the lodge and his thirty-thousand acres of Tippah and Union County land, Mr. Rainey owned a large plantation in Africa, known as "Forest Glenn", Near Nairobi. He had a duck preserve in Vermilion, Louisiana, which after his death was given to the National Audubon Society. This consisted of twenty-three thousand acres. He owned a racing stable on Long Island, and his horses competed in major events in America and England.

Paul J. Rainey
From Wikipedia
Born September 18, 1877, to William J. and Eleanor Rainey, Paul J. Rainey was an American businessman, philanthropist, hunter, and photographer.
Scion of a wealthy family whose fortune came from coal and coke production, Rainey developed a reputation as a playboy. He invested in numerous personal projects, including luxurious homes, a hotel, prize horses, and private railroad cars.
Although he owned many residences, he favored Tippah Lodge, his sprawling estate in rural Mississippi.
Rainey was active with the American Geographical Society, American Museum of Natural History, the New York Zoological Society, and the Smithsonian Institution, among other organizations.
Rejected by the military for health reasons, Rainey purchased an ambulance and drove it on the Western Front during World War I.
After the war, Rainey hunted big game in Africa and shot some of the earliest film footage of African animals in the wild.
He died in 1923 of a cerebral hemorrhage on his forty-sixth birthday. The death occurred while Rainey was en route from England to South Africa, where he had planned to hunt. He was buried at sea.

Birth	28 May 1808	Belmont County, Ohio
Death	3 Feb 1876

Father	James Mitchell (1776 - 1849)
Mother	Elizabeth McCullough (1783 - 1849)
Sibling	Mary Mitchell (1807 - 1885)
Sibling	Catherine Mitchell (1809 - 1885)
Sibling	Rachel Scott Mitchell (1811 - 1889)
Sibling	John James Mitchell (1813 - 1903)
Sibling	Adaline Mitchell (1815 - 1844)
Sibling	William Hamilton Mitchell (1817 - 1910)
Sibling	Elizabeth M. Mitchell (1819 - 1827)
Sibling	Lucinda Mitchell (1821 - 1845)
Sibling	Permelia Mitchell (1823 - 1825)
Sibling	Leander Clark Mitchell (1826 - 1903)