4 o6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tance of about three miles, to the top of the mountain. Then 

 word came that it was to be taken to Asheville ; and the men of 

 Buncombe took it up and carried it there. 



Not quite a year afterward, in June, 1858, the body was ex- 

 humed from the graveyard of the Presbyterian church in Ashe- 

 ville, and was carried again, this time with formal ceremonies, 

 and a procession of citizens, large considering the character of 

 the march, to the top of the mountain, where it was laid in the 

 earth, within a few feet of the famous balsam tree. A funeral 

 discourse was pronounced by Bishop James H. Otey, D. D., of Ten- 

 nessee, one of Prof. Mitchell's first pupils, and an address in vin- 

 dication of Prof. Mitchell's claims to have the mountain named 

 after him was delivered by President Swain. It is worthy of 

 remark that the first class taught by Prof. Mitchell in the uni- 

 versity was represented at the ceremonies, in the persons of Bishop 

 Otey and Dr. Thomas H. "Wright, of Wilmington, and the last 

 class by Mr. J. W. Graham and his own son. A monument, 

 twelve feet high, in the material known as white bronze, was 

 erected over the grave in 1888. 



The question of the name of the mountain appears to have 

 been decided by the United States Geological Survey in 18Sl-'82, 

 which, adopting the final designations for the peaks of this range, 

 gave Prof. Mitchell's name to this one. 



Prof. Mitchell was a Presbyterian minister of the Presbytery 

 of Orange, Synod of North Carolina, and was styled, in the memo- 

 rial resolutions passed by the synod, probably the most learned 

 man that had ever lived in the State ; was a regular preacher in 

 the college chapel and the village church ; and was the college 

 bursar, a justice of the peace, a farmer, a commissioner for the 

 village of Chapel Hill, and at times its magistrate of police. He 

 was known as a skillful and conscientious professor, and vigilant, 

 long-suffering, firm, and mild as a disciplinarian. Believing that 

 prevention of the ills of a college life was better than having to 

 cure them, he was watchful to guard the students against falling 

 into error. When offenses were committed, he would try to pre- 

 sent the nature of his conduct to the culprit in its true light, and, 

 when punishment had to be inflicted, to select such a method as 

 would appeal to his better feelings and open the way to a return 

 to sound views. He loved to help others, and he was a well- 

 grounded believer in revelation. He was extensively known 

 among the mountaineers, who all had a remarkably warm affec- 

 tion for him, and the interest that was aroused among them by 

 the circumstances of his disappearance was still " warmly alive," 

 and the event was still a topic of conversation among them, as 

 late as the end of 1889. 



