Mitchell Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 97

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Mitchell Family Papers Collection consists of one box of materials relating primarily to the members of the Mitchell family, Alex, Evans, and Mary Mitchell Lindsay. The collection consists of information about Alex Mitchell's, the candy store in downtown Columbus, and the family members related to the stores' founder. Included are newspaper clippings and personal papers. One of the folders contains original candy recipes from the store, including Dixie Chips and Flapper Food, fondly remembered in Columbus.

The collection is divided into two parts. Folders 1-12 pertain to the candy store founded by Alex Mitchell and continued by his son, Evans Mitchell. Folders 13-27 pertain to Mary Sherwood Mitchell Lindsay, Evans' daughter, Alex's granddaughter, and her activities. The folders in each section are arranged alphabetically by subject area.

Dates

Creation: 1900s-1999
Creation: Date materials were donated

Biographical / Historical

Alex Mitchell's Confectionary Store, a candy and fruit shop in downtown Columbus, Georgia, was a landmark among the locals from its founding in 1889 until its closing in 1966. Dixie Chips and Flapper Food are just two of the fondly remembered confections.

Alex Mitchell (1871-1940) founded the store in Columbus in 1889 after having learned the candy trade in New York and Savannah. He was born in Sparta, Greecea nd immigrated to the U.S.while in his teens. His Broadway store became a downtown fixture before moving to13th Streeti n 1947 when his building was razed to build Davison's Department store. FDR had been a favorite customer in the candy store while he resided in Warm Springs.

Alex Mitchell married Ann Elizabeth Hamm of Columbus. T hey had three children, daughter Golfo in 1896, Evans Alexander in 1899, and William. Evans (1899-1995) became a partner with his father in the store in 1937 and married Mary Lyndon Sherwood in 1926. One daughter, Mary Sherwood Mitchell, was born in 1927. After his father's death in 1940, Evans ran the store until 1966 when he retired and sold the store. He continued to make candy for friends and family after his retirement.

Mary Sherwood Mitchell, Evans' only child, was born in Columbus in 1927. Her mother had come to Columbus at the request of School Superintendent Roland B. Daniels to teach the first class for exceptional children. Mary graduated from Columbus High in 1945 and attended Ward Belmont, a junior college prep school, in Nashville. She graduated from the High Museum School of Art in Atlanta with a BFA in 1950. In 1958, she married James L. Bumpus, Jr. She taught art part-time at Columbus College1961-62. After becoming a widow in the early 60's, she met Robert Lindsay in 1963 while he was vacationing at his sister's home in Columbus. Lindsay was a career Foreign Service Office with the U.S. Department of State. They married in January 1965 and moved to Lagos, Nigeria. They lived around the world and in the Washington,D.C. area before returning to Columbus in the late 1980's where she resumed her activities in various women's social clubs.