From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
publ. 1912, Page 1438-1440
 
JOHN MITCHELL.  The subject of this sketch occupies a prominent place in the 
esteem of the people of the northwestern part of Walworth county and is 
universally respected, for as a business man, fair dealing is his watchword in 
all his transactions.  Mr. MITCHELL is a worthy representative of one of our 
excellent old pioneer families, members of which have figured more or less 
prominently in the affairs of the county for several generations, ever lending 
such aid as was their just due in furthering any movements having as their 
object the general upbuilding of the county in a material, civic and moral 
way.  They have not been neglectful of their duty in any of the avenues of 
life and they have long ranked among our best farmers, being advocates of 
twentieth-century methods in order to get the largest results from the minimum 
expenditure of labor.  There is peculiar satisfaction in offering biographies 
of such people in a work of this nature.
 
John MITCHELL was born in Spring Prairie township, this county, November 5, 
1862. He is the son of Edward and Sarah (BURTON) MITCHELL, both natives of 
England, the father born in Yorkshire on March 22, 1834, and the mother on 
August 15, 1841.  The paternal grandparents, William and Christina (CHANLEY) 
MITCHELL, were also natives of England, his birth occurring there in 1811, and 
there they grew up and were married, and there the death of the grandmother 
occurred in 1853, after which the grandfather married Mary HARGRAVE, in Spring 
Prairie township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, whither he had emigrated in 
1858, and here he spent the balance of his life, dying in 1893, his wife 
having preceded him to the grave in 1890.
 
Edward MITCHELL, father of the subject, spent his boyhood in England and 
received his education in the public schools.  He was reared on the farm and 
when a young man took up farming for a livelihood in East Troy township, 
Walworth county, having accompanied his father here in 1858.  He first secured 
fifty acres, to which he later added one hundred and thirty-five acres, then 
added forty acres.  He placed this land under excellent improvements and 
cultivation and laid by a competency thorough his close application and good 
management, and he is now living retired from the active duties of life in his 
pleasant home in East Troy township.
 
Five children, four sons and one daughter, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward 
MITCHELL.  Politically, he is a Republican, and has taken considerable 
interest in public affairs.  He has been supervisor for five years in 
succession, filling the office to the satisfaction of all concerned.
 
John MITCHELL was reared on the home farm where he made himself useful in his 
boyhood days and he received his education in the country district schools and 
the East Troy graded schools, and early in life he took up farming for a 
vocation.  He is now the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and thirty-
five acres which he has kept well improved and well tilled and on which he 
carries on general farming and stock raising successfully.  He has a pleasant 
home and a good set of outbuildings.  He makes a specialty of raising Holstein 
cattle.
 
Politically, Mr.. MITCHELL is a Republican, and in religious matters a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his father and mother are members 
and also the grandfather before him.  Edward MITCHELL, the father, was a 
soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, having enlisted in February 
1865, serving until the close of hostilities.  He is now a member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic.
 
John MITCHELL was married on November 23, 1886, to Elizabeth CASTLE, who was 
born in England on September 12, 1857, the daughter of Edward and Mercy 
(WARREN) CASTLE, both born in England, the father on April 8, 1820, and the 
mother on March 3, 1819, and there they grew up and were married, and the 
father died there on March 14, 1875.  In 1880 Mrs. CASTLE emigrated to 
America, and located in Walworth county, Wisconsin, and here she spent the 
rest of her life, dying on December 1, 1910, at the advanced age of ninety-one 
years.  They were the parents of five children, three of whom are living.
 
To John MITCHELL and wife three children have been born, the first dying in 
infancy; the second in order of birth was Mercey Pearl, whose birth occurred 
on November 27, 1891; the youngest, Edgar Warren, was born on September 26, 
1895.
 
Submitted by Carol