The body of B. F. Mitchell, who died Saturday in the Fremont hospital, was brought to Arlington Sunday morning and taken to the Mitchell home four miles northeast of Arlington. The funeral was held Tuesday with services at the home at 10 a.m. and at the Methodist church in Arlington at 11 o’clock. The Masonic lodge of Fremont attended the funeral in a body and assisted in the final rites. Members of the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen, of which order Mr. Mitchell was also a member, attended the funeral. Interment took place in the Elk City cemetery.

#2-June 3, 1909- Arlington Review Herald- Benjamin Franklin Mitchell

He Passes Away at a Fremont Hospital, End of a Busy Life

After an illness extending over a period of about six months, Ben F. Mitchell died in a Fremont hospital at 5 o’clock on Saturday, May 29. The remains were brought to Arlington on Sunday, and were taken to his late residence near Lone Tree, where they reposed until 11 o’clock Tuesday, when, after a brief ceremony they were escorted to the English M.E. church in Arlington by a large number of old neighbors and friends. At the church the casket was placed in front of the pulpit, and Rev. G.M. Couffer, of Valley, and a former pastor of the M.E. church here, paid an eloquent tribute to the character and worth of the deceased. The regular church services were interspersed by the singing of several appropriate hymns, by a choir composed of Mesdames, Geo. Ludwig and E.H. Eisner, and Messrs. E.H. Eisner and J.H. Dorbecker, accompanied on the organ by Miss Beatrice Mansfield. At the close of the church services, a delegation from the Knights Templar commandery at Fremont, of which organization Mr. Mitchell had been a member for several years, held the impressive ritualistic ceremony of the Masonic order. The remains were escorted to Elk City, where they were interred beside those of his father and mother whose deaths occurred several years ago.

Ben F. Mitchell was born Nov. 12, 1865 at Camden, Mo. therefore it makes him 43 years and 6 months old. He has been a resident of Dodge County for 25 years, coming here with his father while a young man. He was greatly interested in the feeding and breeding of livestock, and carried on this great industry, in company with W.E. Lee of Fremont, for a number of years. He also farmed on a large scale. At the time of his death he had nearly 1000 head of hogs big and little on the farm.

The direct cause of Mr. Mitchell’s death was Bright’s disease of the kidneys, and for the past six months all that skill and constant attention could do to restore him to health was employed, but the grim visitor-death- at last won the victory and carried this once stalwart man among stalwarts, to his everlasting home, leaving behind him a record as a man, a neighbor and a citizen never excelled and seldom equaled. He was a member of the Masonic Order, and the Modern Woodman of America, a lifelong worshipper in the Methodist church. He leaves a wife, one young daughter, a stepson, three brothers and four sisters, and a host of friends, all of whom sincerely mourn his early demise. He was a stockholder and one of the directors of the First National bank of this place, and which institution was closed during the funeral hours.

Ben Mitchell’s death will be sincerely mourned by everybody who knew him. He was a Christian man, a staunch friend and an indefatigable worker, and it was his boast that, in spite of his great size, nearly 300 pounds of weight, he could always perform his share of the arduous duties on the farm.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #73303444