Additional Games
- Chessgames
- Game, James Reid Mitchell vs. Stephen Howard Easton, Triangular College Chess League Tournament, 1903
James Reid Mitchell, Jr.
March 01, 1885 - April 12, 1913
First, Middle and Last Name: James Reid Mitchell, Jr. |
|
Date of Birth: March 01, 1885 |
Date of Death: April 12, 1913 |
Name of Father: Davis Washington Mitchell |
|
Name of Mother: Henrietta (nee Reid) |
|
Birth: Mount Vernon, Westchester, New York |
|
Education: Mount Vernon High School; Cornell University |
|
Military Enlistment: |
|
Occupation(s): Physician |
|
Residence(s): Louisiana; New York; (d.) Oak Cliff, a neighborhood in Dallas County, Texas; (b.) Fort Worth, Texas, Apr. 16, 1913 |
|
Spouse(s): |
|
Siblings: Ida Mitchell; Frank D. Mitchell |
|
Children: |
|
Other: Named after uncle, James Reid. “…From the court's reasoning it would appear that James Reid was much younger than Mrs. Jones, had always lived with her and was regarded in the light of a son, while the son was separated from her not alone by the fact that he lived in New York, but because they were estranged and had had many disagreements.” |
|
1903
U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016
New York > Ithaca > Cornell University > 1904
Cornell Chess Team, Google Books
1906
James Reid Mitchell, Jr., second man on the American team, is a sophomore in medicine at Cornell (A.B., 1905), and attained his twenty-first birth on the first of March. By birth he is a New Yorker, but his present home is in New Orleans. He acquired his knowledge of the game at the Mount Vernon High School in 1901 and has played on the Cornell Varsity teams of 1903, 1904, 1905 and 1906. In his first three tournaments under Triangular Chess league auspices he made the highest individual scores for his team.
American Chess Bulletin, Volume 3.
March 01 1907
The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, Louisiana, Friday, March 01, 1907, p. 16
Many Wills Probated
Interesting Case Is Submitted to Judge Sommerville
Must Select Valid Will from Batch of Four.
Matter Continued Until March 18 for Argument.
An interesting case has been submitted to Judge W. B. Sommerville of Division D of the Civil District Court, who will be called upon to decide which one, if any, of the four will left by Mrs. Henrietta R. Jones is valid. The case has been on trial daily for over a month, and the ample testimony has been finished and the case continued for argument until March 18.
Mrs. Henrietta R. Jones died in this city on May 22, 1906. She had been married twice, and was the widow by first marriage of David W. Mitchell and by second marriage of Richard Jones. Immediately upon the death of Mrs. Jones there ensued such a probate of wills as is seldom seen. On May 22, 1906, Mrs. Jones' brother, James Reid, asked for the probate of a will dated Aug. 18, 1904, written by the testator, together with a nuncupative codicil to the same. On June 6, 1906, another petition was filed by James Reid asking the probate of a will dated Oct. 20, 1904, written by Mrs. Jones in lead pencil, and on June 11, 1906, still a third petition filed asking the probate of a will dated Oct. 20, 1904, and written in ink by Mrs. Jones.
In the vault in the clerk's office there are four documents making testamentary dispositions credited to Mrs. Jones.
Will No. 1 is written by Mrs. Jones and is dated on Aug. 11, 1904. James Reid, under this will, is appointed testamentary executor, and he is given the testator's interest in and the contents of 1414 St. Charles avenue. Andrew Jackson Reid, another brother, is given the property, 2317 Coliseum, and a son, James Reid Mitchell, and Andrew Jackson Reid get one-third interest each in 317, 319, 321 and 323 Carondelet street. James Reid is left some land in Florida.
Wills No. 2 and 3 appear to be identical copies; one is written in pencil and the other in ink. James Reid is appointed executor, and is given the testator's interest in and contents of 1414 St. Charles. Andrew Jackson Reid gets 2319 Coliseum. James Reid Mitchell gets four-twelfths, James Reid five-twelfths interest in the Carondelet street property named in will No. 1. Both of these wills are dated Oct. 20, 1904.
[…]
As each of the petitions asking for the probate of these numerous wills were filed on May 28, 1906; June 6, 1906, and June 13, 1906, James Reid Mitchell, Mrs. Jones' son, filed different appositions to the probate of the wills, to the appointment of his uncle, James Reid, as executor, and to the carrying into effect of the provisions of the testaments. The grounds set up by him in these appositions is tht Mrs. Jones was interdicted and that at none of the times at which these wills were made was she of a disposing mind. He flatly avers that at the time the wills were made his mother was a victim of “servile dementia, madness and insanity,” and for these reasons he asks the court for an administration of the estate, that he be appointed administrator and that he be recognized as the sole and only heir at law of his mother, Mrs. Henrietta R. Jones.
The record in the interdiction proceedings shows that Mrs. Jones was interdicted by a judgment rendered by Judge Fred D. King of Division B, Civil District Court, on Feb. 16, 1906. These interdiction proceedings were begun by James R. Mitchell on Dec. 13, 1905. The inventory on file in the interdiction proceedings shows that Mrs. Jones had at the time property valued at $69,092.73 and that it consisted of cash. $17,056.18; notes, $42,150; movables, $136.55; real estate, $7750, and claims valued at $2000.
All of this property is being now fought for between Mrs. Jones' heir at law, James R. Mitchell, and the beneficiaries under her wills. Necessarily if the wills are held valid her brothers will take the property left them, and, on the other hand, should the will be of no effect the estate will go to the forced heir, James R. Mitchell.
May 09 1907
The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, May 09, 1907, p. 16
The Will Is Sustained
Judge Somerville Renders Decision of Much Interest.
Testament of Mrs. Henrietta R. Jones Matter Involved.
Both the Will and Codicil Are Ordered Executed.
Divorce Suit Follows Quickly Ater a Marriage Described.
Question of “Accepting Service and Waiving Citation” Is Again Brought Up by Suits.
Judge Sommerville yesterday decided the long-drawn out and bitterly fought will contest in the Succession of Mrs. Henrietta R. Jones, by holding, admitting to probate and ordering executed Mrs. Jones' will of Oct. 20, 1904, and the codicil thereto of Aug. 18, 1905.
Under this will Mrs. Jones leaves her large estate to her brothers, James and Andrew J. Reid, and her son, James Reid Mitchell. James Reid takes the property 1414 St. Charles avenue and the personal effects therein contained, and is appointed testamentary executor; Andrew J. Reid is given 2317 Coliseum street; the son, James Reid Mitchell, is devised four-twelfths interest in 317, 319, 321 and 323 Carondelet street; James Reid is given five-twelfths interest in the same property, and Andrew J. Reid the remaining three-twelfths. James Reid is also willed Mrs. Jones' property near Brooksville, on the Withiacoochie river, in Florida. By the codicil referred to the dispositions above were slightly changed; James Reid Mitchell took one-third of the estate and James Reid and Andrew J. Reid took three-fifths and two-ninths of the remainder, respectively. It was directed that the property 319, 321, and 323 Carondelet street be sold.
Mrs. Jones died May 22, 1906, and immediately there began a contest over her estate. Several wills successively were offered for probate by James Reid, who was named executor in each of the instruments, and these testaments were contested by Mrs. Jones' son, James Reid Mitchell, on the ground that at the time they were executed Mrs. Jones was of unsound mind and, hence, not capable of disposing of her property. It was charged that Mrs. Jones was a victim of senile dementia, madness, insanity; but the specifications of madness and insanity were abandoned and testimony in support of senile dementia alone offered.
Judge Sommerville's opinion covers thirty-two closely written pages of type-writing manuscript in which he has digested the thousands of pages of testimony and applied to the facts the law. The judge has taken pains to view the question of Mrs. Jones' sanity, or insanity, from every angle and his conclusion was, as has been stated, the Mrs. Jones' mind “was not diseased or impaired, according to the testimony of the witnesses who are entitled to the greatest weight; that is of her attending physicians, her lawyers and her intimate friends, so as to have rendered it an untrustworthy vehicle for the conveyance of her true wish or will.”
Judge Sommerville shows, by a table incorporatied in his reasons for judgment, that of the forty witnesses heard on the subject, twenty-six swore Mrs. Jones was of sound mind, while fourteen took the opposite view. These witnesses Judge Sommerville has classified into groups in accordance with the importance to be attached to their evidence and, it appears, four of her family swore she was afflicted while one said she was not: two of her physicians denied her senile dementia; two experts gave their evidence that she was non compos mentis, while two swore her mind was normal; one of her lawyers said she was not of disposing mind, two said she was, four ministers took the stand that Mrs. Jones was perfectly ration, as did two of her professional acquaintances, while Judge Fred D. King, who had interdicted Mrs. Jones, did not think that she could be called balanced; seven of Mrs. Jones' male acquaintances and seven of her female acquaintances testified that there was nothing the matter with the lady's mind, while two of her female acquaintances and four of her servants testified just in the opposite.
The opinion refers to and discusses all of the supposed evidences at unsoundness of mind adduced in support of their case by the contestant. One of these lines of testimony is disposed of in a manner disastrous to the contestant, but still in a highly amusing way. An old friend of Mrs. Jones had testified that Mrs. Jones “had slept and snored at 8 o'clock in the evening,” and Judge Sommerville remarks, “If sleeping is positive evidence of weakness of ind, and opponent is to be judged by the testimony of this witness, he is apt to be in the same condition as he alleges his poor old mother to have been in, for he slept in the courtroom on several days during the trial of his cause.”.
Judge Sommerville finds that there was a reason for Mrs. Jones' leaving to her brother, James Reid, a large part of her estate and to her son merely the disposable portion. From the court's reasoning it would appear that James Reid was much younger than Mrs. Jones, had always lived with her and was regarded in the light of a son, while the son was separated from her not alone by the fact that he lived in New York, but because they were estranged and had had many disagreements.
It is a strange fact in regard to the administration of Mrs. Jones' estate that interdiction proceedings to have Mrs. Jones declared incapable of managing her affairs, were begun in 1905 and Judge King rendered a judgment interdicting the lady. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, and on the very day, and within a few minutes of the hour, set for the hearing of the matter in the higher tribunal Mrs. Jones passed peacefully beyond the control of earthly courts and stood in the presence of the Judge “who knoweth best and loveth best.”
April 12 1913
Death Certificate for Dr. James Reid Mitchell, from “Texas, Deaths, 1890-1977”
Age 26 years
Birth Year (Estimated) 1887
Birthplace New York
Marital Status Single
Race White
Event Type Death
Event Date 12 April 1913
Cause of Death: Taking an overdose of Morphine with Suicidal intent.
Event Place Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States
Event Place (Original) Dallas, Dallas
Certificate Number 8014
April 15 1913
The Waco Times-Herald, Waco, Texas, Tuesday, April 15, 1913, p. 1
The Mystery Of Doctor's Death
Officials Fail to Find a Clue to the Tragedy in Oak Cliff.
Associated Press.
Dallas, Tex., April 15.—A verdict of poison, self administered with intent to cause death was rendered today in the peculiar case of Dr. J. R. Mitchell, who died in Oak Cliff Saturday night. The verdict was from Justice of the Peace J. H. Stewart. A new idea developed today was the discovery of the possibility that the drug injected into Dr. Mitchell's arm and which is supposed to have caused death, was strychnine.
Mitchell was 26 years old. A few months ago he came from New York to Fort Worth and later to Dallas. He advertised a skin preparation. Saturday night, according to witnesses, while preparing a demonstration of his remedy, Dr. Mitchell injected a small quantity of morphine or some narcotic drug into his arm to alleviate the pain that might ensue during the demonstration. A few minutes later he was found in convulsions and died before medical assistance arrived. This happened at his boarding house.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, Tuesday, April 15, 1913, p. 4
Physician's Death Adjudged Suicide; Cause Is Mystery
Special to The Star-Telegram.
DALLAS, April 15.—Justice Leslie Stewart today rendered a verdict that Dr. J. R. Mitchell, who died under mysterious circumstances Saturday night in Oak Cliff, came to his death by poison self-administered and with suicidal intent.
The woman assistant who was with Dr. Mitchell, disappeared immediately after his death and cannot be found. Her name was not learned. It is supposed she left immediately for Fort Worth.
No cause can be assigned for the act. Mitchell appeared to be in good circumstances and he is well connected. A sister is expected to arrive from New York tonight.
Mitchell was 26 years of age. A few months ago he came from New York to Fort Worth and later to Dallas. He was known in Fort Worth as a beauty specialist and had an office in the First National Bank building.
Saturday night, according to witnesses, while preparing for a demonstration, Dr. Mitchell injected a small quantity of morphine or some narcotic drug into his arm to alleviate the pain that might ensue during the demonstration. A few minutes later he was found in convulsions and died before medical assistance arrived. This happened at his boarding house in Oak Cliff.
April 16 1913
Fort Worth Record-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, April 16, 1913, p.6
Late Dr. J. R. MITCHELL JR. IS EULOGIZED BY JUDGE JA. W. SWAYNE
Judge James W. Swayne made the following statement Monday in speaking of the late Dr. James R. Mitchell, Jr., who died in Dallas.
“He was one of the best friends I ever had, he was my physician during my late sickness. At one time he lived at our house. He comes from a distinguished family. Those who are in position to know say he had the brightest prospects of any young physician who has ever come to the state. He was a scholarly fellow. His father is a very wealthy man and had given his son every advantage that money could buy, but with all that Dr. Mitchell was very democratic in his ideas; was modest even to his own detriment, never pushed himself in the least bit and yet was doing a distinguished service to his profession. His articles have been published all over the world, and in my judgment in a few years time he would have been at the very top of his profession in Texas. Not only was he well equipped in his profession, but he was a perfect gentleman.
“I am in a position to know of the many good deeds he has done, and yet he did not want the world to know it. The amount of charity practice that he has done, as all physicians do, has been remarkable, and yet not one word did he ever have to say about it. He had many friends here who mourn his loss. He was the ideal of his father's heart and he was honored and respected by all who knew him best. I have not only lost a man who was my physician and whom I would trust in that way, but I consider that I have lost one of my very best friends.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, April 16, 1913, p. 1 & 3
Fiancee Believes Death of Beauty Doctor Accident
Miss Nellie Pettijohn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Pettijohn, 605 West First street, doesn't believe that the death of Dr. J. R. Mitchell, the beauty specialist, in Dallas Saturday night is a case of suicide.
Miss Pettijohn was Dr. Mitchell's office assistant when he was located in Fort Worth, and also his assistant in Dallas. She and Dr. Mitchell were engaged to be married and May 14 was the date set for the marriage. Miss Pettijohn is the young woman Dallas dispatches stated disappeared after Dr. Mitchell's death. Miss Pettijohn did not disappear, but was in Dallas at the boarding house where Dr. Mitchell died until noon Sunday, when she returned with her mother to her home in Fort Worth.
According to Miss Pettijohn, Dr. Mitchell had administered a face treatment to her about two weeks ago and she had about recovered. Saturday he decided that he would take a face treatment and have freckles and blemishes removed and that she should give him the treatment.
The hypodermic, he said, he would administer himself. Accordingly Dr. Mitchell went to his boarding house in Oak Cliff and Miss Pettijohn accompanied him.
Two other women, Mrs. McAllister and her sister, one of whom he had treated, also went along to see the demonstration and were in the room at the time Dr. Mitchell administered the hypodermic. After the hypodermic had begun to show its effects, Miss Pettijohn applied the facial treatment. A few moments later, Dr. Mitchell appeared to be in a stupor but aroused himself and commented upon the improvement in the condition of the eyes of one of the women present. Later he relapsed into a state of coma and never recovered.
As soon as it was seen that Dr. Mitchell was dead, Miss Pettijohn phoned her mother and she caught the 11 o'clock car for Dallas. With her daughter she remained at the boarding house until noon Sunday, awaiting the arrival of the coroner, but one the advice of other women in the house returned with her daughter to Fort Worth. Miss Pettijohn returned to Dallas Monday for the inquest, and is still there.
Dr. Mitchell's death, according to Miss Pettijohn's belief, was due to accident. She thinks he made a mistake either in the drug he used or in the quantity, and regardless of the coroner's decision, does not believe it a case of suicide. Dr. Mitchell's affairs were in excellent shape, she states, and he was apparently in the happiest frame of mind.
The body of Dr. Mitchell will be for at 3:45 p.m. by Undertaker Robertson. It will be accompanied by Miss Ida Mitchell of New York City, a sister.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Oakwood cemetery, chapel under the auspices of the Elks, with Rev. Herman W. Knickerbocker, pastor of the Central Methodist Church, officiating. Burial was at Oakwood. The body probably will be removed later to New York, where deceased's father, J. R. Mitchell, Sr. and other relatives reside. No relatives other than Miss Mitchell were present at the funeral.
April 30 1913
Cornell Alumni News, Ithaca, N.Y., April 30, 1913
Obituary
James Reid Mitchell, A.B., '05, M.D. '08, died suddenly on April 12 at Dallas, Texas, where he had practiced since his graduation from the Medical College. He was advancing in the profession and was a contributor to medical journals and his life promised to be a useful one. During his four undergraduate years Mitchell was well known as a brilliant chess player and he was a member of every Cornell intercollegiate chess team during that time. In 1905 he was captain and first board in the tri-collegiate tournament at New York. He was a brother of Frank D. Mitchell '04, who died in 1908. His mother survives him.
Mitchell, James Reid ➦ bio + additional games
March 01, 1885 - April 12, 1913
