There are assorted stories, tales, events and people that comprised the life of James Comey Mitchell. Mitchell is famously credited as the founder of Florence, Nebraska, which today is a neighborhood in North Omaha.
This is a timeline of the life of James Comey Mitchell. Its not all-inclusive, but includes many of the major events in his life with some information about his offspring.
James C. Mitchell Timeline
- August 1809—James Comey Mitchell was born in Pangborn, PA
- 1809—Eliza Jane Archdale Krosnic and her husband Mr. Krosnic gave birth to a daughter named Eliza Krosnic in Cape Good Hope, South Africa
- 1824—Eliza Krosnic married Rev. John Vandenberg, an Episcopalian British Royal Navy chaplain
- 1825—15-year-old James C. Mitchell left home and became a sailor
- 1824—Eliza Krosnic-Vandenberg and Rev. John Vandenberg gave birth to their only child, Hannah Vandenberg
- 1828—18-year-old James C. Mitchell started captaining ships for a firm called Grinnel, Minturn and Company between New York City and Liverpool, England
- 1835—Rev. John Vandenberg was lost at sea and presumed dead
- April 8, 1836—James Mitchell married Eliza Krosnic-Vandenberg in Liverpool, England. James adopts Eliza’s daughter Hannah Vandenberg
- 1838—James and Eliza Mitchell moved to New England
- 1840—James and Eliza Mitchell moved to Bellevue, IA
- 1840—James and Eliza Mitchell opened a store in Bellevue, IA
- 1840—James C. Mitchell became Indian Commissioner in Bellevue, IA
- April 17, 1840—James C. Mitchell was indicted for manslaughter in the death of James Thompson during the so-called “Bellevue War”
- June 19, 1840—James C. Mitchell was found not guilty of manslaughter of James Thompson
- 1840—James and Eliza Mitchell adopted J. Ann Floyd, who was born in 1833 in Nova Scotia
- October 6, 1841—James C. Mitchell became the president of the Belleuve, IA town council
- 1846—Hannah Vandenberg married Nathaniel Kilborn, a flour miller from Missouri. The newlyweds lived with Hannah’s mother and step-father in Bellevue, IA
- October 1849—James C. Mitchell and his family moved to Kanesville, IA. He and Eliza opened two stores in town. Hannah and Nathaniel Kilborn stay in Bellevue, IA
- 1850—James and Eliza Mitchell open a store in Kanesville, IA
- 1851—Hannah and Nathaniel Kilborn gave birth to their first child, daughter Florence Vandenberg Kilborn in Bellevue, IA
- 1852—Hannah and Nathaniel Kilborn gave birth to their second child, son James Mitchell Kilborn in Bellevue, IA
- 1853—James C. Mitchell formed the Winter Quarters Town Company with James Monroe Parker and others. They bought all the claims in the area, and platted present-day Florence
- January 1854—James C. Mitchell plats the Winter Quarters township before the NT was opened for settlement
- May 30, 1854—Kansas-Nebraska Act opened the Nebraska Territory, or NT, to settlement
- June 1, 1854—James C. Mitchell and his family moved to Winter Quarters, NT
- June 1, 1854—James C. Mitchell renames Winter Quarters in honor of his young step-granddaughter Florence Kilborn
- October 21, 1854—James C. Mitchell was chosen to represent Washington County in the Nebraska Territorial Legislature
- October 1854—James C. Mitchell served on the credentialing committee for the First Nebraska Territory Legislature
- 1854—The 12-room James C. Mitchell House aka “The Cedars” was built at 8314 North 31st Street.
- December 20, 1854—James C. Mitchell formed a partnership to buy the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company (aka the Florence Ferry Corporation)
- December 26, 1854—James C. Mitchell’s adopted daughter, J. Ann Floyd, died in a horse riding accident. Her burial site is unknown
- February 1855—James C. Mitchell incorporates the Florence Bridge Company for the first time with James M. Parker, Peter Sarpy and others
- March 17, 1855—James C. Mitchell served as the sole commissioner responsible for identifying the site of the new Nebraska Territory Capitol and selected Capitol Square
- March 10, 1855—James C. Mitchell became the primary owner of the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company
- May 5, 1855—James C. Mitchell re-forms the Winter Quarters Town Company as the Florence Town Company and sold property for the company
- March 15, 1855—The Town of Florence is incorporated by an act of the NT Legislature
- 1855—Hannah and Nathaniel Kilborn gave birth to their third child, Pearl Kilborn in Bellevue, IA. She died young and was buried in Bellevue, IA
- 1855—James C. Mitchell took ownership of the Florence Mill
- January 1856—James C. Mitchell became a trustee of Washington College in Cuming City
- March 12, 1856—James C. Mitchell starts publishing the Florence Courier
- July 14, 1856—James C. Mitchell became a director and secretary of both of the Elkhorn and Loup Fork Bridge and Ferry Company and the Columbus Town Company in NT
- October 22, 1856—James C. Mitchell became a director on the board of the Sulphur Springs Land Company, formed to sell land in the town of Saratoga, incorporated by the NT Legislature
- 1856—James C. Mitchell joined the board of the Florence Bank
- 1856—James C. Mitchell starts operating Steam Ferry Boat Nebraska No. 2 on trips from Florence to St. Louis and points in between
- 1856—Hannah and Nathaniel Kilborn gave birth to their fourth child, Hannah Kilborn in Bellevue, IA
- 1856 James C. Mitchell opened the first hotel in
- 1857—James C. Mitchell and the Florence Bridge Company got a bridge charter that allowed them to collect money for construction
- 1857—James C. Mitchell traveled to Washington DC to lobby for the Florence Bridge Company for a railroad bridge to be built in Florence. He was unsuccessful
- 1858—A photographic portrait is taken of Eliza Mitchell and her granddaughter Florence Kilborn
- April 7, 1860—James C. Mitchell ordered all of his land titles from the Florence Land Company to retire permanently from the business
- August 6, 1860—James C. Mitchell died in Florence and was buried by Eliza in a glass-door casket in a mausoleum behind their house
- James C. Mitchell was buried in the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery
- 1862—An oil portrait of Florence Kilborn is painted and has been in the family for several generations
- April 18, 1866—Florence Kilborn died and was buried in the First Presbyterian Cemetery in Bellevue, IA
- 1868—Hannah and Nathaniel Kilborn gave birth to their fifth child, Nathaniel Kilborn in Bellevue, IA
- November 3, 1881—Eliza Krosnic-Vandenberg Mitchell died and was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery
- 1896—James Mitchell Kilborn died and was buried in Bellevue, IA
- 1933—The James C. Mitchell House was surveyed for its historical integrity by the Historic American Buildings Survey and determined to be of significant historical value
- 1964—The James C. Mitchell House was demolished by the Florence Presbyterian Church
Special thanks to John Lemen for his contributions to this article!
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Elsewhere Online
- “James Comly Mitchell” by Historic Florence
- Settlers of the American West: The Lives of 231 Notable Pioneers By Mary Ellen Snodgrass
- 1860 United States Census
- The founding of Florence, Nebraska, 1854-1860 by Marian G. Miles for the University of Nebraska at Omaha on 6/19/1970
North Omaha History 