History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1583 -

tary, besides being a director of the corporation. He has lived continuously at Manistee and has identified himself closely with other local interests. He is secretary of the Concordia Land & Timber Company and the
Manistee Land & Timber Company, is a director of the Glengarry
Upholstering Company, and is a stockholder of the Northern Michigan
Transportation Company, operating in the marine transportation of the
Great Lakes. He is a director and secretary of the Triple A Machine
Company, in the city of Chicago, and is the owner of valuable real estate
in Manistee. He came to this city as a young man without financial
fortification, and here he has won independence and definite success
through well directed effort.
As a consistent citizen of true public spirit Mr. Elton has taken due
interest in political affairs, and he has ever been a staunch supporter of'
the cause of the Democratic party. He was secretary of the board of
water commissioners of Manistee for a period of twelve years and he
is now treasurer of the board of education. The only fraternal organization with which he is actively affiliated is the Knights of Pythias.
In March, I88I, Mr. Elton wedded Miss Emma McMahan, of Greenville, Pennsylvania, and she is the popular chatelaine of their attractive
home in Manistee. They have no children.
FRANK A. MITCHELL. Among the men who have contributed to the
development of Manistee as a city of importance none have rendered
greater service than those who have been connected with its transportation facilities, and it is not unusual to find that individuals who have won
public recognition in this line have been called upon to serve the city in
distinguished positions of public trust. As vice-president, secretary and
general traffic manager of the Manistee & Northwestern Railroad Company, Frank A. Mitchell has demonstrated a high order of executive
ability, and in 1914 was elected mayor of the city under the commission
form of government, city manager plan. While he has been the city's
chief executive for such a short period that it is impossible to form an
adequate opinion of the manner in which the affairs of his administration will be executed, it is safe to assume, from his past achievements,
that he will prove one of the best mayors that Manistee has had.
Mr. Mitchell was born at Auburn, Maine, October 3I, I855, and is a
son of Asa and Julia (Vosmus) Mitchell, the former being a descendant
of old Norman stock, while the latter is of Dutch ancestry. Asa Mitchell
was born at Yarmouth, Maine, in I818, and for many years was engaged
as a civil engineer in the construction of railroads, building roads in
various parts of Kentucky, as well as in New England, where he was
identified with the Grand Trunk Railway in Maine and New Hampshire
and the Boston & Maine in New Hampshire and Vermont. He devoted
his entire career to work of this nature, became very successful in his
profession, and died in I884. He was a Republican in his political affiliation, was an active member of the Masonic fraternity and a deacon in the
Baptist church for a number of years. Mrs. Mitchell, who was born at
Auburn, Maine, in 1822, is still living, having reached the remarkable age
of ninety-two years. She has been the mother of four children, of whom
two are still living: Frank A.; and Julia, who is the widow of Mr.
Stevens, recently a farmer of St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
The early education of Frank A. Mitchell was secured in the public
schools of St. Johnsbury, Caledonia county, Vermont, and subsequently
he became a student in the noted Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine,
where he took the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts.
While there he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, a society which
admits only the six leading members of the graduating class, and also