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Mitchell, William B. "Wm."

Sessions Served  red ball graphic  Other Information


Map of Winona
Winona, MN

House 1859-60 (District 11)

Party when first elected:  Republican

Counties Served:  Winona

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Date of Birth: 11/19/1832 Date of Death: 08/21/1900
Birth Place: Stamford, Ontario Birth County:  Birth Country: Canada
Other Names: Wm.
Gender:  Male Religion:  Presbyterian
City of Residence (when first elected):  Winona

Occupation (when first elected):  Lawyer/Formerly Taught School, Virginia

EDUCATION

Private Schools, Canada; Secondary;
Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; College Graduate; 1848-1853
Studied Law; In the Office of Edgar C. Wilson in Virginia; Admitted to the Virginia Bar, 1857

OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE

County AttorneyWinona County, Minnesota (1 term)Elected??/??/18?? to ??/??/18??
Judge3rd Judicial District, Minnesota (Judge)Elected01/??/1874 to ??/??/1881
JudgeMinnesota Supreme Court (Associate Justice, First Appointed by Governor Pillsbury, Then Elected)Appointed03/??/1881 to 01/??/1900

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Spouse: E. Jane Hanway (while in office, married in September 1857; she died around 1867); Widower (after he left office); Francis N. Smith (remarried in July 1872)
Children: Six children: William D. (the first United States Solicitor General, also served as United States Attorney General) (son)
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:

GENERAL NOTES

He was of Scottish ancestry.

He was the oldest of 10 children.

He settled in the United States in 1848 and moved to Winona, Minnesota in the spring of 1857.

"He was originally Republican, but becoming dissatisfied with some of the reconstruction measures of the party during the administration of President Johnson, he has since acted chiefly, though not in a partisan sense, with the Democratic party." (Progressive Men of Minnesota, 1897, p. 437)

The William Mitchell College of Law was named after him in 1956 when the Saint Paul College of Law and the Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law merged.

He died of a stroke at home in Winona, Minnesota.

He attended the Presbyterian church.

Religion provided by Progressive Men of Minnesota, 1897, p. 437.

Legislative Session: 2nd (1859-1860)   Session Details
Body: House Elected: 10/11/1859 Term of Office: 12/7/1859 to 1/7/1861
District: 11 Residence: Winona
Counties Represented: Winona
Occupation: Lawyer/Formerly Taught School, Virginia
Party: Republican Party Notes: "He was originally Republican, but becoming dissatisfied with some of the reconstruction measures of the party during the administration of President Johnson, he has since acted chiefly, though not in a partisan sense, with the Democratic party." (Progressive Men of Minnesota, 1897, p. 437)
Committees:
Federal Relations (Chair)
Judiciary

OTHER INFORMATION

Articles & Books About
Minnesota Supreme Court. "William Mitchell." Biographical Sketches of Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court and Judges of the Minnesota Court of Appeals from Territorial Days to 1990, St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Company, 1990, p. 18.

Shutter, Marion Daniel. "William Mitchell." Progressive Men of Minnesota, Minneapolis: The Minneapolis Journal, 1897, p. 437.




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