2 88 PIONEERS OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 



then fallen fifteen feet into the pool. The body was borne by 

 the Yancey men, after the coroner's inquest, a distance 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 

 Tennessee, one of Prof. Mitchell's first pupils, and an address 

 in vindication 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 

 university 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 monu- 

 ment, 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 1881- 

 '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 

 memorial 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 commis- 

 sioner for the village of Chapel Hill, and at times its magis- 

 trate of police. He was known as a skilful and conscientious 

 professor, and vigilant, long-suffering, firm, and mild as a dis- 

 ciplinarian. 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 offences 

 were committed, he would try to present the nature of his con- 

 duct 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. 



