Harvey Mitchell

The plaque credits Harvey Mitchell with helping to secure the A&M College for Brazos County. A county account written about 1886 says he was one of three men sent to bargain, and that he ended up alone in Houston. Told what bonus the county must raise, he wired the mayor for instructions, got no reply, and wrote the bid himself. By that account it was accepted on condition that clear title to 2,250 acres arrive within forty-eight hours, and local citizens raised the money and delivered the deeds.

What the plaque says

Harvey Mitchell Came to Texas from Tennessee in 1839, and joined "minute men" protecting north frontier from Trinity to Brazos River. Moved to Brazos County; served 1842-1853 in County offices: Deputy Clerk, County Clerk, Surveyor, Chief Justice. Taught school, had a store, farmed. Led in building churches; also Brazos County courthouses of 1846, 1853, 1878. During Civil War, was assessor of Confederate state taxes. As a member of a local committee, his determination and tact secured the location of the A. & M. College of Texas for his county. He rightly deserves title, "Father of Brazos County". (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 5.5 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 25 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Navasota — 26 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.
• Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site — 27 mi
  A cedar-log dogtrot cabin of 1834 on the road through Anderson that grew into a seventeen-room inn and post office for travelers of the Republic, kept by one family until 1976.

More markers nearby

• Town Named for William Joel Bryan — steps away
• Brazos County Confederate Commissioners Court — steps away
• Brazos County — steps away
• John N. Johnson — steps away