The President called for the report of the Obituary Committees upon the
late Drs. Chapman and Mitchell.
The obituary report of the late Dr. Chauncey L. Mitchell was then read
by Dr. Burge, as follows:
Chauncey L. Mitchell, whose ancestors were of Puritan stock, coming to
this country from Halifax, England, as early as 1635, was born in New
Canaan, Connecticut, November 20, 1813. An excellent general education,
obtained here and at Union College, Schenectady, was supplemented by a
full course of study in the medical department of the University of the
State of New York, better known as the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, where he was graduated in 1836. The next twelve months were
spent in the New York Hospital, and the succeeding two years on the
continent of Europe. All who knew Dr. Mitchell intimately are so
familiar with his studious habits that they need not be told that he
never lost an opportunity for observation and improvement. This was true
of him, not only during the period of his pupilage, but in all the fifty
years of his active practice, five of which were in the City of New
York. He came to Brooklyn in 1844, was admitted to membership in the
Society of the County of Kings soon after, and was thrice honored by an
election to its highest office. All the duties of his active life he
performed with dignity and zeal. No one more than he enjoyed the
uninterrupted confidence and affection of this community. Among his
friends and patients were numbered the best of our citizens, and he is
now equally missed in the profession, in the church and in the
household. Dr. Mitchell was an earnest and devout believer in the
Christian religion. His connection with the Church of the Pilgrims
antedates the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Storres, between whom and
himself there was an intimate, personal and professional relationship
for forty years.
Dr. Mitchell’s powers of observation and discrimination and his
exactness of verbal expression were so excellent, that we regret that he
did not give more time to authorship. An article on “The Effects of
Ergot,” “Labor Complicated with Disease of the Heart,” and an occasional
contribution to the journals, are all that we can find of his writings.
During the period of declining health, which occupied more than two
years, Dr. Mitchell resigned many positions of responsibility, yet, at
the time of his death, he was Sn. member of the Council of the Long
Island College Hospital, member of the Amer. Med. Asso., Consulting
Surgeon to St. John’s Hospital, to L. I. Coll. Hospital and to the Home
for Aged Men, a member of the New York Academy of Medicine, New York Co.
Med. Soc., and Kings Co. Med. Asso. He was also a life member and
Corres. Sec’t’y of the L. I. Historical Society. It is matter of record
that he was once a member of the Medical Staff of the Brooklyn City
Hospital, and that he also filled with honor the Professorship of
Obstetrics in the Castleton Medical College.
In 1843, Dr. Mitchell married _Caroline_, daughter of Hon. B. F.
Langdon; in 1857, _Frances_, daughter of Hon. Benjamin Wright; in 1875,
_Kate_, daughter of Hon. J. M. Van Cott, of this city.
Dr. Mitchell’s tastes were professional, literary, artistic and
religious, but the centre of all was his own home. In the house which he
had built more than forty years before, he died on the 8th of May, 1888,
terminating a long career of untiring usefulness.
Mr. Chairman: In the preparation of this minute for the records of the
Society, your committee have recognized the fact that they were
appointed for this simple duty only. The pronouncing of a suitable
eulogy belongs to other hands and to another occasion. We offer for your
consideration the following:
_Whereas_, In obedience to the Divine Law the fully matured life of
Chauncey L. Mitchell is ended on earth, and
_Whereas_, He was destined to fill a high position in the profession of
medicine and as a citizen of this country, and
_Whereas_, He met all these requirements, fulfilled every duty, and
discharged every obligation in such manner as only a highly cultivated,
educated and honest man could, and
_Whereas_, When the end came, those who knew him best could truly say
that he had left nothing undone to complete a noble, highly useful and
honorable life;
_Therefore be it resolved_, That while paying this tribute to his memory
we desire to express our high appreciation of his many virtues, and that
while we deeply feel our loss, we also cherish his memory, and are
grateful for the honor, dignity and advancement which his life’s work
gave to this Society.
_Resolved_, That we offer our deepest sympathy to his bereaved family,
and that a copy of these resolutions be conveyed to them as a humble
tribute to his superior worth.
All of which is respectfully submitted by your committee.
J. H. HOBART BURGE, M.D.,
ALEX. J. C. SKENE, M.D.
The report of the Obituary Committee, as above, was accepted and
committee discharged.
The Resolutions introduced by this committee were adopted as read.