WILLIAM ARTHUR MITCHINER
AAFA #0010
1911–2006
Bill at the 2001
AAFA Meeting in Raleigh, NC
NEWS & OBSERVER
Raleigh, Wake Co., NC—Sunday, 24 September 2006
RALEIGH—William Arthur Mitchiner, 94, formerly of Oxford
[Granville Co.], died Thursday, September 21, 2006. William was born at Mitchiners
Crossroads, Franklin County in 1911. He graduated from North Carolina State
University in 1934 and was a Veteran of World War II. He owned and operated an
auto supply and home appliance business in Oxford for 40 years, retiring to
Raleigh in 1978.
William was an amateur genealogist and published
Mitchener and Mitchiner Families, a 375 page story of the family from
1600’s to the 1900’s. He was married to the former Lena Honeycutt. Together
they made about two dozen trips to Baptist mission operations around the world.
They shared their experiences through various media with churches in North
Carolina and other states for 25 years. William was a member of the Oxford
Baptist Church and Forest Hills Baptist Church, serving as deacon for both and
was preceded in death by his beloved Lena.
He is survived by nieces: Patsy M. Harris and
Joyce M. Bussey; and nephews, John Mitchiner, William C. Mitchiner, Christopher
Underhill and Donald Underhill.
A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday,
September 27th at 11:00 a.m. at Forest Hills Baptist Church in the Bunn Olive
Chapel....
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made the
William Arthur Mitchiner Fund, NC Baptist Foundation, 201 Convention Drive,
Cary, NC 27511.
AAFA NOTES: SSDI records show that William A. Mitchiner (SS #241-10-1442
issued in NC) was born 27 Dec 1911.
Bill served as AAFA’s genealogist from 1989 to
1991. When our first genealogist, Nancy Dietrich, AAFA #0028, resigned from the
position, we began seeking someone to her replacement. Then-President Lodwick
Alford approached Franceine Rees, AAFA #0051, who suggested that fellow North
Carolinian Bill Mitchiner would be a better choice. Here are excerpts from her
letter to Wick:
Mr. Mitchiner is far more qualified
than I am for several reasons:
— He has already contributed valuable
original data to the collection, extractions pf Alfords from the tax records.
— He has a well-documented line or
lines to Alfords of the 18th century.
— He has ready access to the best
repository of North Carolina Alford material, the state archives. He lives in
Raleigh and goes to the Archives two days each week.
— He is one of the best liked and most
respected researchers who do professional work in Raleigh. He has decades of
experience in genealogy.
My first encounter with Mr. Bill Mitchiner
occurred about four or five years ago, when he and I were at opposite ends of a
table in the State Library’s genealogy room and discovered that we had two
families in common—Alford and Wilder. He told me then of his standing offer to
help all cousins, however distant. Some time later, he actually did help with
one of my Wilder problems. Typically, he would take no fee for searching the
records for me. Around that time I suggested that the Raleigh newspaper
interview him for a feature article, which they did, and the reporter got some
wonderful statements about him from the various professional and lay
genealogists in and around the Archives. The article was run as a half-page
feature. In short, Mr. Mitchiner is one of the finest gentlemen ever produced
on an Alford tree, and I can think of no better candidate for the association’s
genealogist slot.
See a copy of one of Bill’s letters to Lodwick
Alford on AAFA’s website: Databases—>Letters.
William’s earliest Alford ancestor is Elizabeth,
1780 NC, daughter of first cousins Isaac Alford and Mary Alford (both
grandchildren of James 1687 VA). Elizabeth married Wiley Clifton on 10 Nov 1802
in Bute Co., NC.
William’s Alford lineage: Elizabeth 1780 NC5,
Isaac 1754 NC6, Julius 1717 VA7, James 1687 VA8,
John 1645 VA9.
Isaac’s wife Mary’s lineage: Mary 1760 NC6,
Lodwick17107, James 1687 VA8, John 1645 VA9.
