Dinah Mitchel

Dinah Mitchel claims to have been owned by 'Mr Mitchell' of Norfolk. According to the Loyalist Claims Commission Joseph Mitchell owned land in Dismal Swamp County but according to the tithable lists he also owned land in Norfolk. There are two Mitchells (they may in fact be the same person) recorded as being on board Dunmore's Floating Town in 1776. Mitchell may be one of them and therefore be a loyalist. Dinah claimed to have been at the siege of Charleston and to have had some connection with Dr Humphry of the York Volunteers- a loyalist unit. She travels in the Book of Negroes with a child in her arms and another- ten year old Frank. Her age was recorded as thirty but this is a mistake. As the tithables show she was more likely to be the age recorded for her in the Birchtown - 60. In the Birchtown Muster she is also recorded as being 'dead'. With this entry is another person listed as 'dead' -Francis Mitchel, her husband. His age here is also recorded as being sixty. The children that Dinah travels with in the BON are not listed in the Birchtown Muster. It is most likely that they died en route to Canada. Francis is almost certain to be Bristol Mitchel, also owned by Joseph Mitchell and a man recorded as being with Dunmore on board the Floating Town in 1776. Also on the list of those on board the Floating Town is a Dinah Morris- the only Dinah recorded- she is listed as being the spouse of someone in Dunmore's Royal Ethiopian Regiment- Bristol was in this unit. That entry is listed here. It can be safely assumed that Dinah, her husband Bristol and Joseph Mitchell her former owner, all evacuated Norfolk as loyalists.
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1724

Born

1751

Tithables for the South Side of Tanners Creek- 1751 - Norfolk

Source for this event: Norfolk County Virginia Tithables, Volume 2, 1751 - 1765
Name Owner
Chania Joseph Mitchell - Norfolk

1752

Tithables for the North Side of Tanners Creek - 1752 - North Side of Tanners Creek

Source for this event: Norfolk County Virginia Tithables, Volume 2, 1751 - 1765
Name Owner
Chomcey Joseph Mitchell - Norfolk

1753

Tithables for the South Side of Tanners Creek - 1753 - South Side of Tanners Creek

Source for this event: Norfolk County Virginia Tithables, Volume 2, 1751 - 1765
Name Owner
Chany Joseph Mitchell - Norfolk

1757

Tithables for South Side of Tanners Creek - 1757 - South Side of Tanners Creek

The first page of this tithable list is missing, but it is assumed to relate to the South Side of Tanners Creek in 1757.

Source for this event: Norfolk County Virginia Tithables, Volume 2, 1751 - 1765
Name Owner
China Joseph Mitchell - Norfolk

7/ Nov
1775

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Lord Dunmore's Proclamation - Norfolk

  • John Murray, Lord Dunmore -

    John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1732 – 25 February 1809), was the  colonial governor of Virginia at the outbreak of the American Revolution.
Source for this event: Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

1776

Dunmore's Fleet: Gwynn's Island May-August - 1776 -

Dinah Morris- spouse of a member of Dunmore's Royal Ethiopian Regiment.

1780

Ran

1781

Siege of Yorktown - YorkTown

1782

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Treaty of Paris - Paris France

  • Treaty of Paris -

    In November 1782 a provisional peace treaty was hammered out between the British and the Americans in Paris.
Source for this event: Treaty of Paris

1783

Evacuation of New York - New York

  • Evacuation of New York -

    In April 1783 the first evacuation fleet left for Nova Scotia. A week later  the British Commander, Sir Guy Carleton, sailed up the Hudson River to Orangetown for a conference with General Washington to discuss the evacuation. As the victorious commander, Washington opened the meeting by reiterating the resolution of Congress regarding “the delivery of all Negroes and other property.”
Source for this event: The Book of Negroes
Vessel Names and their Commanders Where Bound Names Age Description Names of the Person in whose Possession they now are Remarks
Ariel
Master: Richardson		 St. John Dinah Mitchel 59 Stout healthy Negres with child in her arms. Left Charlestown from whence she was ordered by Dr. Humphry of the York Volunteers. then the property of Mitchel. Matthew Stewart Formerly Slave to Joseph Mitchell, Norfolk. Left 3 years ago. Certificate from General Birch. Dinah's age is listed as being 30 however there are tithable entries for her that go well before 1753. Her age in the Birchtown Muster- 60 is more likely.
Dinah Mitchel's Relationships

1784

Birchtown Muster - Birchtown

Source for this event: Birchtown Muster of Free Blacks
Name Age Occupation Families they lived with Companies they belong to Remarks Company They Are Now With
Dinah Mitchell (DEAD) 60 Unnamed
Dinah Mitchell (DEAD)'s Relationships