Born in the town of Claremont, Sullivan County, on the fifth of July, 1818, and is a son of William and Dolly Mitchell. He at once joined his brother Thomas, who had made a claim at a point two and a half miles west of the city of Fairfield, Jefferson County, his settlement dating from November 1, 1840. On the 26th of October 1847, at what is now known as Tool's Point, Jasper County, Iowa. Mr. Mitchell was joined in wedlock with Miss Marie E., daughter of Adam Tool. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have nine children living, and have lost one. In politics, Mr. Mitchell was a Whig in early life, and in 1852, was elected by that party to the House of Representatives of Iowa, becoming a member of the Fourth General Assembly. Since the organization of the Republican party, he has been identified with that body, and is numbered among its active and influential supporters. For nine years he has been a member of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, and with the exception of one year has been Chairman of that body. He was also President of the Board of Directors of Fairfield Township school district, for seventeen years. In 1886, Mr. Mitchell was again elected to the Legislature, when he was forcibly reminded of the progress his State had made in the period of thirty-six years that had elapsed since he was first a member of the House. The magnificent Capitol building and the large representation; the difference in style of dress and the manner of the members, made a striking contrast to the humble quarters in Iowa City, where the young State government first met, and where the modest but cool-headed pioneer and backwoodsman for the first time perhaps, found himself bearing the responsibility of a law-maker. While a resident of the city, Mr. Mitchell owned a fine farm of two hundred and ninety-five acres, one of the best improved and most valuable tracts of land in Jefferson County.

Born in the town of Claremont, Sullivan County, N. H., on the fifth of July, 1818, and is a son of William and Dolly Mitchell. He at once joined his brother Thomas, who had made a claim at a point two and a half miles west of the city of Fairfield, Jefferson County, his settlement dating from November 1, 1840. On the 26th of October 1847, at what is now known as Tool's Point, Jasper County, Iowa. Mr. Mitchell was joined in wedlock with Miss Marie E., daughter of Adam Tool. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have nine children living, and have lost one. In politics, Mr. Mitchell was a Whig in early life, and in 1852, was elected by that party to the House of Representatives of Iowa, becoming a member of the Fourth General Assembly. Since the organization of the Republican party, he has been identified with that body, and is numbered among its active and influential supporters. For nine years he has been a member of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, and with the exception of one year has been Chairman of that body. He was also President of the Board of Directors of Fairfield Township school district, for seventeen years. In 1886, Mr. Mitchell was again elected to the Legislature, when he was forcibly reminded of the progress his State had made in the period of thirty-six years that had elapsed since he was first a member of the House. The magnificent Capitol building and the large representation; the difference in style of dress and the manner of the members, made a striking contrast to the humble quarters in Iowa City, where the young State government first met, and where the modest but cool-headed pioneer and backwoodsman for the first time perhaps, found himself bearing the responsibility of a law-maker. While a resident of the city, Mr. Mitchell owned a fine farm of two hundred and ninety-five acres, one of the best improved and most valuable tracts of land in Jefferson County.