Written by Carol Godette
Photos provided (Unless Noted)
[From the 2026 Spring Magazine]
When I was growing up at 45 Mitchell Street, I played in the yard between George and Mitchell Streets without ever wondering where their names came from. Only later did I learn they honored the original landowners — brothers Caleb and George Mitchell. In the 1800s, as Saratoga was developing, prominent landowners often laid out streets and named them after themselves. That was likely the case with my street, which bore Caleb’s name—the older and more famous brother, whose life would become one of the most dramatic in Saratoga’s history.
This 1888 Burleigh’s map shows Mitchell Street highlighted in yellow and George Street highlighted in blue.
On the frigid morning of January 29, 1902, Caleb W. Mitchell, walked into Town Hall and shot himself through the temple at the entrance to Senator Edgar Brackett’s office. He was one month shy of his sixty-fifth birthday. To this day, no one fully understands why he did it.
Saratoga Springs has always had a way of surprising us. And that is where this story begins…
Mitchell was happily married and had nine children. He found success in business, investing in many ventures and serving as President of Saratoga Springs three times. He owned a well-known wine and grocery store on Broadway and, with his brother George, ran the Glen Mitchell Hotel just outside town. The hotel became a favorite spot for sports fans, featuring a trotting ring and a popular three-chute toboggan slide. Yet it was his Broadway gaming hall, where Uncommon Grounds stands today, that drew the greatest notice.
During the Gilded Age, Saratoga was popular among the affluent as a destination for relaxation and health, but according to Hugh Bradley, the author of Such Was Saratoga, gaming had become the favorite diversion of the wealthy traveler. Mitchell tuned into that fact and made sure Saratoga would deliver what the tourists wanted. It was not for naught that well-known investigative journalist Nellie Bly labeled Caleb Mitchell “the village president and boss gambler” in her 1894 full-page exposé calling Saratoga “OUR WICKEDEST SUMMER RESORT.”
Bly’s opening declaration: “Saratoga is the wickedest spot in the United States. Crime is holding a convention there, and vice is enjoying a festival such as it never dared approach…” didn't capture my attention as much as her center page interview with Mitchell.
She began their conversation wanting to dislike him, asking sharp, pointed questions, all of which he honestly answered with charm and dignity. Her interview painted a portrait of a genteel man who attended church, rarely drank, and gave largely to charities, ending with a revealing line: “I'm sorry I've met you. I could've said mean things about you if I hadn't.”
Caleb Mitchell was born February 12, 1837 in Troy, New York. In a newspaper interview he said, “ While I’m not good looking, I’m decidedly genteel.”
Nellie Bly's expose on gambling in 1894
When Mitchell was first elected as village leader in 1872, the Gilded Age was just beginning. Saratoga was home to the largest hotel in the world at the time, the Grand Union Hotel, and tourists were flocking to town. Mitchell saw an opportunity for growth, feeling that the town was ripe to promote more than its famed mineral waters. The times dictated that pleasure could be part of a bigger equation, and gambling appealed to Mitchell as an activity to develop and exploit.
Almost two decades passed between Mitchell’s first foray into Saratoga government and his second and third terms as President. In that time, Mitchell had earned and lost a few fortunes. His closest brother and business partner, George, was no exception. Troubled by money problems, George took his own life at the Friends Lake Inn in 1875.
Caleb Mitchell was just nine years old when his mother, Laura Weeks Mitchell, slit her throat in the basement of their family home, an impetus for lasting family despair. Caleb was 38 when his brother William hung himself from a beer cask in his NYC saloon. By the time William’s body was discovered, rats had eaten his ears and feet. I can only speculate on his pain, having three immediate family members die by suicide in the span of 29 years.
Misfortune did not stop there. An unexpected change in village election laws very possibly accounted for Mitchell’s fatal break.
Mitchell began his political career in 1872 as Village President. Nearly twenty years later, he won the popular vote again, securing a term in 1891. By 1893, his popularity cemented a 385-vote win, despite Protestant ministers opposed to gambling sermonizing against him.
Bly’s article became a rallying call for those opposed to gambling. Hugh Bradley wrote, “Many thought it was not quite right for the Village President to conduct a gambling house on the main street. They suggested he move to a more secluded location. Mitchell laughed at the suggestion.”
But those in higher power knew there was more than one way to skin a cat. In an effort to change Saratoga’s image as a gambling town, Senator Edgar Brackett and other reformists legislated that the village board of trustees would be the ones to “elect” the Village President. This ensured a candidate aligning with their conservative values.
On May 6, 1895- one year into Mitchell’s third term - Charles Sturges was appointed as President. He immediately closed Mitchell’s gaming house but looked the other way when it came to Richard Canfield’s “Saratoga Club.”
Caleb felt his removal from office was unconstitutional and challenged it in court. He lost his appeal and began to complain that all his friends had abandoned him. He was unrealistically hopeful that the village trustees would reappoint him as President in 1901. Adelbert Knapp was instead appointed, and Mitchell became depressed.
1st page of Saratoga directory in 1895 listing Village President and the election terms. Mitchell’s term was to expire in 1896.
Saratoga Springs directory for the following year 1896 notes the charter revision. As a result of this revisio, Charles Sturges is now the President with his term expiring in 1897.
When Caleb left 149 Phila Street to take a short walk before breakfast on January 29, 1902, his wife and daughters were relieved. Finally, he seemed like his old self again. His first stop was at Towne’s Hardware store on Broadway to buy a revolver. He told the clerk he needed it to kill “disturbing cats.”
Next, he crossed the street to the undertaker’s office at 457 Broadway to see fellow Irish Catholic William Burke Sr. “on a matter of business.” It was shortly after 8 a.m., and Mr. Burke had not yet arrived at his office.
Caleb Mitchell’s home at 149 Phila St. Mitchell left his home on January 29, 1902 to take a walk before breakfast. His final stop at Town Hall was his last.
Caleb Mitchell is buried in Greenridge Cemetery in Saratoga Springs.
Caleb’s last stop was Town Hall, where he went to Senator Brackett’s office. Brackett was on his way to Albany. Minutes later, a janitor found a man “dressed like a tramp” with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The janitor didn’t recognize his former Village President.
Mitchell’s suicide drew national attention, capturing a Washington, D.C. paper with this headline: “Cal Mitchell, Prince of Sport, Commits suicide at Saratoga.” His choice of a tragic and very public death was remarkable to me. It seems a very pointed protest to the senator who denied him what might have been his most prized raison d’etre - as Saratoga’s President.
News clipping announcing Mitchell’s win for Saratoga presidency.
Clipping courtesy of Newspapers.com
Today, the quiet .16-mile stretch of Mitchell Street is often overlooked. Few who stroll this quiet residential street realize it honors a man whose life embodied Saratoga’s glamour, controversy, and tragedy.
Author's Note: Thank you to Micelle Isopo at the Saratoga Room; Mitch Cohen for research assistance and writing style advice from authors Victoria Campos and David Sobhoff.