Los Angeles County
Biographies
CLYDE
WITHERS MITCHELL
MITCHELL, CLYDE WITHERS, Mining, Los Angeles, California, was born in San Marcos, Texas, April 2, 1873, the son of Lafayette Withers Mitchell and Mary Lou (Ellison) Mitchell. He married Elizabeth Moore at Tropico, California, July 13, 1896, and to them there have been born three children, Gerald, Dorothy and Donald Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell’s family is one of the oldest in the South, and his grandfathers, Colonel James Ellison, served in the United States Army during the war with Mexico. His father served four years in the Confederate Army.
Mr. Mitchell’s family moved to Los Angeles when he was twelve years of age and he has since made his home there, with the exception of slight interruptions. He attended the public schools of Los Angeles, during 1885-1887, and 1887-1889 he was a student at McPherson’s Academy, a well known private school of the city. Finishing there, he worked for about two years and in 1890 began to study Mine Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, graduating in 1892, with the degree of E.M.
For the first five years after receiving his degree Mr. Mitchell worked for various mining interests of the West and in 1897 entered the employ of the Phelps-Dodge Mining Company as metallurgist.
He was stationed at Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico, where the Moctezuma Copper Company, a subsidiary corporation of the Phelps-Dodge interests, operates one of the best producing mines in that section of the country. He remained there for five years and during that time, in addition to his professional work, was engaged in important metallurgical experiments.
Upon severing his connection with the Phelps-Dodge Company in 1902, Mr. Mitchell was appointed Superintendent of the Black Diamond Copper Company’s smelter in Arizona and remained in charge of the plant for about four years.
In 1906 Mr. Mitchell organized the Pacific Copper Mining Company, at Prescott, Arizona, a corporation financed by Kansas City capitalists, and one in which he still retains the offices of first Vice President and Consulting Engineer. John Kelley, of Kansas City, was the principal owner of this property, as well as the famous El Tigre Mine, in Sonora, Mexico. After two years with the Pacific Copper Mining Company, Mr. Mitchell was appointed Consulting Engineer of El Tigre Mine and while acting in this capacity was sent to New York by the owners to negotiate the sale of the property to the Lewisohns, bankers. This deal fell through because of a difference on price and Mr. Mitchell was then authorized to open negotiations with a syndicate of English capitalists, but this also failed and the property, considered one of the rich gold mines of the American Continent, has remained with its original owners.
Mr. Mitchell relinquished his connection with the Mexican property in 1908, but he still is associated with the Kansas City capitalists in their American enterprises and acts as Consulting Engineer for the Pacific Copper Mining Company.
In 1909 Mr. Mitchell’s attention was turned to Southern Arizona and as Secretary and Treasurer of the Arizona Empire Copper Mines Company, he has been engaged in the development of a valuable copper property at Parker, Arizona. He also has a mine at Tuolumne, California, which he is working.
Aside from his mining operations, Mr. Mitchell for several years has been actively interested in real estate in Southern California, especially in the Sierra Madre district, where he has a beautiful home. He is a member of the Sierra Madre Board of Trade and an active participant in the affairs of the town, which he has aided in upbuilding and which has, in the last few years, come so noticeably to the front as a residence place of great natural beauty.
Mr. Mitchell occupies a strong position in mining affairs in the Southwest and in 1909 was chosen by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, of which he is a member, to represent the city at the American Mining Congress, held that year in the Southwestern Center.
In addition to the interests mentioned, Mr. Mitchell is President of the Sierra Madre Hotel Company.
He is a member of the Masonic order, the Sierra Madre Club and Gamut Club of Los Angeles, the Southern Club of San Francisco, and National Geographic Society of Washington. He also holds membership in the Los Angeles Chamber of Mines and Oil.
Transcribed
11-14-10 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 549, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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