Although one of the more recent additions to the Miami bar, Charles B. Mitchell has already demonstrated his ability to cope with the intricacies of the law and is building up a good practice.
He is also well known as a writer of ability and has contributed many interesting articles to leading magazines. He was born at Brunswick, Maine, on the 9th of October, 1870, his parents being George E. and Agnes E. Mitchell, also natives of the Pine Tree state, the former born at Brunswick, August 3, 1850, while the birth of the latter occurred at Oldtown in 1854. The father was employed in various shoe factories in Maine and is now living at Lewiston; that state, but the mother passed away in 1890.
C. B. Mitchell was accorded limited educational opportunities, attending the public schools of his native city to the age of eighteen years, and working part time in a shoe factory from the age of twelve years.
For a time after leaving school he was a reporter on the Lewiston (Me.) Gazette and then read law in the office of Hon. J. W. Mitchell at Auburn, that state, being admitted to practice in 1892. Three years later he became private secretary to James F. McElroy, of Albany, New York, a construction engineer with a national reputation in 1899 he entered Princeton (N. J.) Theological Seminary to prepare for the Presbyterian ministry, being ordained in 1900.
During the next ten years he filled pastorates in New York and New Jersey, working during three years of that time in the east side missions of New York city, and his labors were productive of much good in the communities in which he labored. He contributed many articles on religious subjects to leading periodicals and in 1910 retired from the ministry.
While conducting his ministerial work he also operated a tourists’ agency, taking travelers on European tours, although he was not acquainted with any foreign languages. In 1910 Mr. Mitchell arrived in Vinita, Oklahoma, and re-entered the field of journalism, becoming editor of the Vinita Leader, a democratic paper, but subsequently he took up the practice of law. He continued to practice in Vinita until 1915 and then went to Oswego, Kansas, as general counsel for the Deming Investment Company, one of the largest farm mortgage corporations in the southwest. In 1917 he came to Miami, becoming a member of the law firm of Riddle, Bennett, Wilson & Mitchell, with which he was identified until 1919, since which time he has conducted an independent law business, engaging in general practice. While advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, he has made rapid progress, rapidly mastering the intricacies of the law and preparing his cases with great thoroughness, precision and skill, while in argument he is logical and convincing. He has been connected with a number of important cases, and his clientele is constantly increasing as his ability wins recognition.
He is a gentleman of culture and refinement, who has traveled extensively, and his mind has also been enriched by broad reading and study. He is the owner of a large and valuable library and is never happier than when among his books. He is a forceful and eloquent speaker and is often called upon to address clubs and other public gatherings upon literary topics. He has also gained prominence as an author, having made frequent contributions to leading periodicals.
At Springfield, Missouri, on the 8th of February, 1913, Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage to Mrs. Jessie F. Matthews, formerly a successful newspaper woman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was accorded liberal educational advantages and following the completion of her academic course took post-graduate work at Wellesley College. She became well known as a librarian in the east, holding important positions in that connection, and had charge of the work of cataloguing the library of the University of Pennsylvania. Her father, Henry Holmes, was a leading real estate dealer of St. Louis, Missouri, and his demise occurred in 1870.
Mr. Mitchell attends the Presbyterian church, and fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is serving on the Miami Library Board, and his public spirit finds expression in his membership with the Chamber of Commerce, whose well defined plans for the development of the city receive his hearty cooperation and support.
He finds much enjoyment in the society of young people and is a broadminded, cultured gentle man with whom association means expansion and elevation.
