From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
Publ. 1912 - Page 846-847
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MITCHELL.  Among the farmers of Walworth county, Wisconsin, 
who believe in following twentieth-century methods is B. F. MITCHELL, of the 
vicinity of Honey Creek.  He comes of a splendid family, one that has always 
been strong for right living and industrious habits, for education and 
morality, and for all that contributes to the welfare of the commonwealth.  
Such people are welcomed in any community, for they are empire builders and as 
such have pushed the frontier of civilization ever westward and onward, 
leaving the green wide-reaching wilderness and the far-stretching plains 
populous with contented people and beautiful with green fields; they have 
constituted that sterling horde which caused the great Bishop Whipple to write 
the memorable line, "Westward the course of empire takes its way."
 
Mr. MITCHELL was born in East Troy, Walworth county, Wisconsin on June 2, 
1869, and here he has been content to spend his life, the fields of his 
fathers having greater charms for him than the allurements of distant climes, 
and here he grew to maturity on the home farm, which he worked when young, and 
here he was educated in the common schools.  He is the son of Edward MITCHELL 
and wife, a well known and highly respected pioneer family, a complete sketch 
of whom is to be found on another page of this work, to which the reader is 
respectfully referred for a further history of the family.
 
Early in life B. F. MITCHELL took up farming for a livelihood and he is now 
the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres, which he has placed 
under a high state of improvement and cultivation, and here he has been very 
successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, having a pleasant home and 
convenient outbuildings.
 
Politically, Mr. MITCHELL is a Republican, but he has never been especially 
active in party affairs.  In religious matters he is a faithful member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church.
 
On February 26, 1896, Mr. MITCHELL was united in marriage with Clara Louise 
BARKER, who was born in Waterford, Racine county, Wisconsin, April 5, 1870.  
She is the daughter of Carl Barker and wife, a highly respected family, a 
complete sketch of whom is to be found on another page of this volume.  To Mr. 
and Mrs. MITCHELL two children have been born, namely: Oliver Chester, whose 
birth occurred on February 19, 1897, and Lester Warren, who was born August 
23, 1905.
 
Submitted by Carol