Elihu N. Mitchener, a well known farmer and citizen of the First District, was born in Sumner County in 1829, being the eleventh born in a family of fourteen children. The parents were William B. and Elizabeth (Caudle) Mitchener. The father was of Dutch ancestry, born in North Carolina in 1775, and was twice married. His first wife was Mary Brien, and they had four children. After her death he married the mother of our subject. He was one of the early settlers of Sumner County, having moved to the county when it was a dense forest. He was an energetic man of fine character, and a consistent member of the Methodist Church. He died in 1851. The mother was born in North Carolina in 1785 and died in 1849.

Our subject was raised under the parental roof, and educated at Coram's Hill. He remained at home until he married Miss Nancy W., daughter of William and Sallie (McDaniel) Moss, September 15, 1857. Four sons and three daughters were born to this marriage: Robert M., Sallie E. (wife of Henry Gibbs), James N., William M., Kate C., Elihu W. and Nannie Pearl. Before his marriage Mr. Mitchener purchased the old home farm, where he has since resided, with the exception of five years in Wilson County, from 1858 to 1864. Mr. Mitchener owns 300 acres of valuable land ten miles southeast of Gallatin; all of this he has acquired by his frugal and industrious habits and good management, and he is now one of the most progressive farmers in Sumner County, and a man known for his honesty and integrity. He has been a life-long Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Franklin Pierce. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchener are faithful members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mrs. Mitchener was born in Sumner County in 1834; her father was born near Fort Blunt, E. Tenn., in 1788, and was a volunteer under Gen. Jackson in the war of 1812. His mother, Jemima Barton, was born, raised and married in Fort Barton in E. Tenn., and died in Wilson County in 1833; he died in 1869.