Alexander Mitchell was an American banker, financier, congressman, and railroad builder.
Background
Alexander Mitchell was born on October 17, 1817, in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His parents were John and Margaret (Lendrum) Mitchell. The father, a well-to-do farmer, was the son of an immigrant from the north of England; the mother was of pure Scottish descent.
Career
At twenty-two, Alexander Mitchell came to America as secretary of the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company, with headquarters at Milwaukee. The guiding spirit behind this organization was George Smith, also a Scotchman, who had obtained the charter from the Wisconsin territorial legislature in February 1839, ostensibly to do an insurance business. Shortly after its organization, however, the company began doing a full-fledged banking business under a clause in its charter which authorized it to receive money on deposit and issue certificates therefor. Various efforts were made to repeal the charter, but were frustrated, largely through the strategy and astuteness of Alexander Mitchell, who maintained that a court at law, rather than the legislature, should determine whether or not the corporation was usurping powers not conferred upon it in the charter. Despite the hostile attitude of the legislature at almost every session, the institution continued to thrive and flourish during the forties. By December 1, 1852, the certificates of deposit outstanding totaled $1, 470, 235, which went a long way toward meeting the currency needs of the Northwest. Soon after Wisconsin was admitted as a state in 1848, the attorney-general commenced proceedings by quo warranto to test the legality of the charter. This was the correct legal procedure, and there is no question but that the charter would have been revoked had a truce not been declared. In 1852, Wisconsin passed its free-banking law, and it is generally understood that Mitchell had agreed that if the free-banking law were ratified by a vote of the people at the November election, the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company would be reorganized under the laws of the state. The law was approved by the people, and in January 1853 the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company became a state bank, with Alexander Mitchell as president. In 1854, Mitchell bought Smith's holdings and became the principal owner. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the free banks in Wisconsin faced financial ruin. In 1861, about two-thirds of the collateral placed in trust with the state treasurer to safeguard the interests of the noteholder were the bonds of seceding states.
In 1863, the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company was organized and got a continuous road from Milwaukee to La Crosse by welding together several hitherto unconnected lines. It failed to pay running expenses and the interest on the mortgage debt, and the bondholders were about to foreclose in the spring of 1865. Mitchell was the only director who opposed this policy and maintained that with proper management the road could be made to pay its way. He accepted the challenge to take the presidency and was elected to that office in 1865. Within a year, the road was again on a paying basis. At that time it comprised in all about 270 miles. An unsuccessful candidate in 1868, he was elected to Congress in 1870 and again in 1872. In 1877, he was nominated by the Wisconsin Democrats for governor but refused to run. When Mitchell died in 1887, the corporation, whose name had been changed in 1874 to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, owned and operated over 5, 000 miles of railway, covering Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota.
Achievements
Politics
In politics Mitchell was originally a Whig; in the late fifties he became a Republican and a loyal supporter of Lincoln; later he championed the Reconstruction policies of Andrew Johnson and became a Democrat.
Personality
Mitchell left the bulk of his fortune to his only son, John L. Mitchell, who represented Wisconsin in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1899.
Connections
Mitchell was married, October 7, 1841, to Martha Reed.