Elisha Mitchell

Infobox_Scientist
name = Elisha Mitchell

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image_width = 250px
caption = Portrait of Rev. Elisha Mitchell, 1858
birth_date = birth date|1793|8|19|mf=y
birth_place = Washington, Connecticut, USA
death_date = death date|1857|6|27|mf=y
death_place = Yancey County, North Carolina, USA
residence = Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
nationality = American
field = Chemist and Geologist
work_institution = University of North Carolina
alma_mater = Yale University
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for = Proving Mt. Mitchell was highest mountain east of the Rockies Acting President of the University of North Carolina
prizes =
religion = Presbyterian

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footnotes =

Elisha Mitchell (August 19, 1793 - June 27, 1857) was born in Washington, Connecticut. As a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 1835, he measured the height of Mt. Mitchell. Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi River. It is located in North Carolina and is 6,684 feet (2,037 m) high. Elisha Mitchell fell to his death at nearby Mitchell Falls in 1857, having returned to verify his earlier measurements. In 1881-82 the U.S. Geological Survey upheld Mitchell's measurement of the highest peak in the eastern US and officially named it Mount Mitchell.

The [http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncas/jemsstab.html Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society] , published by the [http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncas/ncas.html North Carolina Academy of Science] , was founded in his honor in 1883.

References and external links

* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/browse/bios/pn0001194_bio.html Biography from DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY] , primary reference

* [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/00518.html Inventory of the Elisha Mitchell Papers, 1816-1905]