A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Mitchell, Maria
MITCHELL, MARIA,
Is the daughter of William and Lydia C. Mitchell, descendents of the earlier settlers of Nantucket Island, in the state of Massachusetts, and members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. Mrs. Mitchell descended from the same stock with Dr. Franklin, whose mother was from this island; and it is quite remarkable, that throughout this family lineage are to be traced some of those traits of character which, in full measure, marked the character and history of that distinguished philosopher. The mother of Miss Mitchell was much distinguished, in her youth, for her fondness for books.
Of these parents Maria was the third child, born August 1st., 1818. At a very early age she busied herself in writing tales for her brothers and sisters, and other juvenile friends, printing them with her pen, and binding them in the form of books. Some of these little productions were very ingenious, and would have done honour to maturer years.
From her mother and an excellent preceptress she received the first rudiments of her education, and at the age of eleven entered her father's school, alternately as student and assistant teacher. To the study and practice of astronomy her father was a devotee. Whenever the duties of life permitted, the whole man was engrossed with the pursuit. Without instruments at that period, or the means of procuring any, he contemplated the heavens as a shepherd, watching the motions of the firmament, and investigating its laws by his own resources. It is said that his love of the study originated in observing, in very early life, the phenomenon of the harvest moon, and in attempting to search out the cause before he knew that it had been done by others. Later in life he became possessed of instruments, and engaged in practical operations j and Maria, who had already distinguished herself in mathematical learning, was employed as assistant in the observatory.
The onerous duties of a mere assistant in an establishment of this kind are scarcely calculated to attach one to the employment, yet Miss Mitchell was enamoured of the prospect of observing by herself, and commenced her career by obtaining altitudes of the heavenly bodies, for the determination of the local time. The instrument thus used was the sextant, one of the post difficult of the observatory. Mastering this, she engaged in the study of the science; and familiarizing herself with all the instruments, she became skilful in their use.
On the 1st. of October, 1847, she discovered a telescopic comet, for which she obtained the gold medal of the King of Denmark, an interesting account of which has been written by the Hon. Edward Everett, late President of Harvard University.
Miss Mitchell calculated the elements of this comet, and communicated a memoir on the subject to the Smithsonian Institute. She has been for some time engaged with her father in making the necessary astronomical observation for the measuration of an arc of the meridian between Nantucket and Portland, in the employment of Dr. Bache, for the coast survey. At the invitation of the superintendent, she also made some observations at the northern extremity of this arc. She is also engaged in the computations of the new Nantucket Almanac, authorized by the government of the United States, and under the superintendence of Lieutenant Davis. Amidst all these employments, she finds time to read many of the French and German mathematical writers, and to keep up with the literature of the day. She has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the only lady having that honour, and subsequently, on the nomination of Professor Agassis, a member of the American Association for the Promotion of Science.