William B. Mitchell, an old and highly esteemed resident of Lancaster Township, and one of its prominent and successful farmers and stock-growers, has been identified with the interests of its people for a period of more than forty-seven years. He possesses those substantial and reliable qualities which long years ago secured him the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, and which from the first have rendered him one of the leading men in all good works which have tended to insure the welfare and prosperity of the people. He has contributed liberally and cheerfully to the various worthy enterprises set on foot in this locality and is looked upon as one of its benefactors, without whose aid it would scarcely have attained to its present position.

Mr. Mitchell is the representative of a fine old family which dates its ancestry back to Scotland and Germany, the former nationality representing the paternal branch of the family and the latter the maternal. The first ancestor of whom they have any record was Robert Mitchell, who was born in the Highlands and emigrated to the United States when a young man, locating in Dauphin County, Pa., where he made a comfortable and respectable living on an ordinary sized farm. He was of pure Scotch blood and came of stanch Presbyterian stock, whose principles he advocated all his life and of which he was a strict adherent. He married and became the father of two sons and one daughter, and died in Dauphin County when of middle age. His children were Margaret, Robert, Jr., and William, and the latter became the father of our subject. Robert, Jr., migrated to North Carolina and but little was known of him afterward. The sister spent her entire life in her native State. William remained with his mother after she was married to Robert Frickelton, of Dauphin County, until reaching manhood.

William Mitchell was mostly reared in Centre County, Pa., and was there married to Miss Rebecca Noss, who was of German parentage and the daughter of George Noss, who was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States prior to the Revolutionary War. He was a baker by trade and in this capacity made himself of use in the Federal army. At the close of the war he located in Dauphin County, where he lived to an advanced age, and died near the city of Harrisburg. He kept a public house for a number of years in Cox's Town on the banks of the Susquehanna River. The mother of our subject was reared in Dauphin County and was first married to William Walker, who died a year later leaving her with one child, who died soon afterward. After her marriage with William Mitchell they located in Armstrong, where they conducted a public house for a few years, and then Mr. M. went to work at his trade of cabinet-maker. They became the parents of seven children, and the father died when William B. was a lad of eleven years. The mother nobly kept her little family together until they were old enough to care for themselves. They finally came to Illinois and the mother spent her last days at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sedam, in Lancaster Township, where her death took place June 22, 1859.

William Mitchell was the fourth of seven children born to his parents, their family consisting of four sons and three daughters. His birth took place in the village of Aaronsburg, Centre Co., Pa., Dec. 16, 1815. He remained with his mother until reaching his majority, and while still unmarried came to his county, in 1840, and employed himself as a mechanic and farm laborer until he had saved sufficient money to buy a tract of land. His first purchase consisted of 160 acres, and after his marriage his wife also became the owner of a like amount, their property being located upon sections 12, 13 and 19. On section 13 there was a perpetual spring and here they decided to establish their permanent home. The first dwelling was a small log cabin, fifteen feet square and six feet high, with a huge fireplace extending across one end and a chimney constructed of mud and sticks, without. Within this humble dwelling the young people commenced life together, living economically and saving what they could of a limited income. Mr. Mitchell improved his land as fast as possible and in the meantime obtained his cash income by working as a carpenter, which trade he had learned in his native county. He now felt the need of a companion and helpmeet, and accordingly, in September, 1842, was united in marriage with Miss Lydia Furst. Mrs. Mitchell was a native of the same county as her husband, where she was reared and whence she came to this State with her parents, George and Rachel (Snyder) Furst, with whom she remained until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Furst were numbered among the earliest settlers of this county, to which they came in 1839, establishing themselves in a humble abode on the wild prairie, upon which they eventually built up a comfortable home and lived to a good old age. Mrs. Mitchell was reared and educated in her native county and remained under the home roof until her marriage at twenty-four years of age. Of her union with our subject there were born eight children, of whom the record is as follows: Layard married Miss Sallie Chambers, and is now a successful farmer of Rock Run Township; Duncan married Miss Sophia Lye, and is carrying on farming in Dakota Township; Ann is the wife of Edwin D. Herbert, who is farming in Lancaster Township and is Township Clerk; Jerusha is the wife of Jacob L. Thoman, a carpenter by trade, and they are living near the old homestead; Laura married Charles Lye, a farmer of Rock Run Township; William married Miss Carrie Bokmeier, and is farming in Lancaster Township; John and Ellen are at home with their parents.

The real-estate of which Mr. Mitchell is the possessor includes 650 acres of land and comprises five farms most of them supplied with suitable buildings and machinery. The greater part of the land is under cultivation and the proceeds net a handsome sum annually. Although Mr. Mitchell has had little time to devote to public matters, he keeps himself well posted upon current events and uniformly labors for the success of the Republican party. He has served as Road Commissioner and been a Justice of the Peace for the last thirty years, discharging the duties of his office with rare good judgment. His uniform kindness of heart and courteous manner to all have endeared him to the people of his township, of which he is one of the most important factors in its agricultural and business interests.

Contributed by Carol Parrish from Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888), p. 398