Elisha Mitchell

Elisha Mitchell (August 19, 1793 – June 27, 1857) was an American educator, geologist and Presbyterian minister. His geological studies led to the identification of North Carolina's Mount Mitchell as the highest peak in the United States east of the Mississippi River.

Early life Mitchell was born August 19, 1793, in Washington, Connecticut. He was graduated from Yale University in 1813, where he studied under chemist Benjamin Silliman, whose courses would shape his own teaching career.

Mitchell at the University of North Carolina Mitchell began his career as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1818, teaching math and natural philosophy. In 1825, he began teaching geology - the field with which he would be primarily associated for the rest of his life. In addition to teaching, Mitchell also served as the university's bursar, accountant, and acting president at various times; he also led chapel services, as he had been ordained by the Presbytery of Orange in Hillsborough, North Carolina in 1821. In 1835, he first measured the height of this mountain, at the time known as Black Dome. Through subsequent measurements in 1838 and 1844, Mitchell proved it was higher than New Hampshire's Mount Washington, establishing the peak as the highest above sea level in the Eastern U.S.

Mitchell was originally buried in Asheville, but was reinterred in a tomb on the mountain in 1858. "University" is misspelled on the plaque.

Mitchell County, North Carolina, is named after him. Mount Mitchell, however, is not within the boundaries of Mitchell County, but in neighboring Yancey County.

Family Mitchell married Maria Sybil North from Connecticut and they had seven children.