# William B. Mitchell *Minnesota lawyer, judge, and first dean of the St. Paul College of Law (1832–1900)* William Mitchell (November 19, 1832 – August 21, 1900) was a [[Minnesota]] lawyer and judge. He sat on the 3rd Minnesota District Court and, from 1881, served as an associate justice of the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]]. In 1900 he was chosen as the first dean of the St. Paul College of Law, but he died before taking up the post.[^1] The St. Paul College of Law took his name in 1956. That year its merger with the Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law produced the William Mitchell College of Law.[^1] The William Mitchell College of Law later combined with Hamline's law school. The American Bar Association approved that merger on December 9, 2015, forming [[Mitchell Hamline School of Law]].[^2] ## Early life Mitchell was born in Stamford, Ontario, in 1832. His parents, John Mitchell and Mary Henderson, had both emigrated from Scotland.[^1] At Jefferson College in Pennsylvania he became friends with Eugene McLanahan Wilson. After graduating in 1853 he worked as a schoolteacher in Morgantown, West Virginia. During that time he studied law with his friend's father, Edgar C. Wilson, and he gained admission to the bar in 1857.[^1] Soon afterward Mitchell and Eugene McLanahan Wilson moved to Winona, Minnesota. Over the years his law partners there included Wilson, Daniel Sheldon Norton, [[William H. Yale]], [[Thomas Wilson (Minnesota politician)|Thomas Wilson]] and William Windom.[^1] Voters sent him to the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]] for a single term in 1859. He also served one term as county attorney for [[Winona County, Minnesota|Winona County]].[^1] ## Judicial career Mitchell won election to the 3rd Minnesota District Court in 1874. Three years later he sat on the Minnesota Supreme Court *pro hac vice* in a case in which two of the sitting justices had acted as counsel.[^1] He was re-elected to the district bench in 1880. In 1881 [[governor|Governor]] [[John S. Pillsbury]] named him an associate justice of the Supreme Court, after the court grew from three seats to five.[^1] In 1886 and 1892 Mitchell had the backing of both the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] parties. In 1898 the Democrats nominated him but the Republicans did not, and he lost that election.[^1] President Benjamin Harrison at one point nominated Mitchell to a vacancy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but Mitchell ultimately withdrew. He was later offered the post of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico after its incorporation into the United States as a protectorate, and he turned it down.[^1] ## Personal life In September 1857, in Morgantown, Mitchell married Jane Hanway. The couple had two daughters before her death in 1867. His second marriage, in 1872, was to Frances M. Smith of Chicago, Illinois, who died in 1891.[^1] Their son, William D. Mitchell, also became a lawyer. He served as Solicitor General of the United States and as United States Attorney General.[^1] The Department of Justice's biography records him as Attorney General under President Hoover and states that he oversaw the Capone prosecution.[^3] Mitchell had a Presbyterian upbringing.[^1] ## Later life and death In 1900 Mitchell was chosen as the first dean of the newly established St. Paul College of Law. He died the same year without having started in the role.[^1] On August 21 he had a stroke while fishing at Miltona. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Winona.[^1] ## Legacy Mitchell spent eighteen years on the Supreme Court and authored more than 1,500 opinions during that time. His opinions spanned the range of Minnesota state law.[^1] Harvard law professor James Bradley Thayer wrote to a friend in Minnesota about him. Thayer called Mitchell "one of the best judges in this country" and urged that the state keep him on the bench.[^1] The college he had been chosen to lead adopted his name in 1956, when it merged with the Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law.[^1] The resulting William Mitchell College of Law then combined with Hamline's law school on December 9, 2015, with ABA approval, to form Mitchell Hamline.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - William Mitchell (1832–1900) served as a Minnesota district court judge and associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and was named the first dean of the St. Paul College of Law.[^1] - William D. Mitchell, his son, served as U.S. Solicitor General and as Attorney General under Hoover. The Department of Justice states that he oversaw the Capone prosecution.[^1][^3] - [[John Choi]]: a Mitchell Hamline biography of Choi records his William Mitchell credentials.[^4] ### What - Mitchell Hamline School of Law was formed by an ABA-approved merger of William Mitchell College of Law and Hamline's law school.[^2] ### When - 1874: Mitchell was elected to the 3rd Minnesota District Court.[^1] - 1881: Mitchell was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Pillsbury.[^1] - 1956: The St. Paul College of Law merged with the Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law and was renamed the William Mitchell College of Law.[^1] - December 9, 2015: The ABA approved the merger forming Mitchell Hamline.[^2] ### Where - Winona, Minnesota, where Mitchell practiced law after his 1857 admission to the bar and where he is buried.[^1] ### How many - More than 1,500 opinions written over eighteen years on the Minnesota Supreme Court.[^1] ## See also - [[Warren E. Burger American Inn of Court]] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *William B. Mitchell* (revision 1348710535, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth, education, legislative and judicial service, family, death, opinion count, Thayer letter, and the 1956 renaming of the college. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Mitchell [^2]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *ABA Approves Combination of William Mitchell and Hamline Law* (2015-12-10) — formation of Mitchell Hamline by ABA-approved merger on December 9, 2015. https://mitchellhamline.edu/news/2015/12/10/aba-approves-combination-of-william-mitchell-hamline-law/ [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, *William D. Mitchell* (Attorney General biography) — service as U.S. Attorney General under Hoover; oversight of the Capone prosecution. https://www.justice.gov/ag/bio/mitchell-william-d [^4]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *John J. Choi* (biography) — Choi's William Mitchell credentials. https://mitchellhamline.edu/biographies/?person=john-j-choi