Alexander Mitchell, (18 October 1817-19 April 1887), was a prominent Wisconsin banker,
railroad promoter and executive, and politician.
John L. Mitchell, (19 October 1842-29 June 1904), was the only surviving child of
Alexander's first marriage, to Martha Reed. After studying abroad, John L. Mitchell returned
to serve in the 24th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. In 1863, he mustered out
because of an illness and returned to his farm in Wisconsin, where he raised trotting
horses. He became active in Democratic Party politics and was elected to Congress in 1890
and to the U.S. Senate in 1893. Mitchell was also prominent in business, notably with the
Marine Fire and Insurance Company, the Milwaukee Gas Company, and the Northwestern Fire
Insurance Company, as well as various philanthropic ventures. He retired from politics in
1899 and studied in Europe until 1902, when he returned to Milwaukee, where he lived until
his death in 1904.
Mitchell married Harriet Danforth Becker in 1878. They had eight children who survived
infancy: Catharine; Florence, Harriet; Janet; John; Martha; Ruth; and William (the
aviator).
