Eugene Severn Mitchell was born July 28th, 1841, near Macon. He attended Mercer University in Penfield, graduating in 1860. He served during the war as a member of Company F, 45th Regiment, and was one of the Gray Volunteers from Jones County. In March of 1865, he was captured in Petersburg, VA, and was held at Fort Delaware until June.

After the war, he returned to Georgia, where he married his sweetheart, Chloe Lewis, in 1867. In the 1870 census, Eugene and Chloe were listed as living in Montgomery, AL, where Eugene worked as a coal dealer. At that time they had two daughters, Annie, who was one, and Laura, six months. Before October 1871, they moved back to Georgia and had a son, also named Eugene.

The elder Eugene died of “an acute attack of congestion of the lungs” in Atlanta on December 10th, 1871. His younger daughter, Laura, also known as “Lollie,” died the following year. Chloe went on to marry John D. Turner, a war veteran and doctor. The Mitchell collection was passed down through Chloe’s family, ending up with one of her great-granddaughters, who gave them to the university.

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