Biography of John F. Mitchell, page 412. History of Northeast Indiana; 
LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, and DeKalb Counties, Vol. II, under the editorial 
supervision of Ira Ford, Orville Stevens, William H. McEwen, and William H. 
McIntosh.    The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, and  New York, 1920.

   John F. Mitchell is one of the oldest locomotive engineers in the 
service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and is also one of the oldest 
residents of the railroad colony in Garrett.  He has handled practically 
every type of engine used in American railroading since the time of the 
Civil war, and out of his individual experience he could give an authentic 
history of practical railroad operation,
   Mr. Mitchell was born on the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel, 
March 10, 1852, son of  Nicholas and Amelia (Hillier) Mitchell. His 
parents were also natives of Jersey and in 1858 brought their family to 
the United States, settling at Sandusky, Ohio.  Nicholas Mitchell was a 
ship carpenter by trade and had been an officer in the British Navy.  He 
followed his trade at Sandusky the rest of his life.  He and his wife were 
members of the Established Church of England. In their family were two 
children, Nicholas, and John F., the former lives at the old Mitchell 
homestead in Sandusky and is a boss in the fertilizing works in that city.
   John F. Mitchell had a grammar school education at Sandusky.  His early 
aspirations were for railroading and he satisfied his desires at first as 
a news butch, selling papers, apples and oranges on the trains.  At the 
age of sixteen he was advanced to the honor and responsibility of 
locomotive fireman and four years later was made an engineer.  At that 
time he was the youngest engineer on the road and having been in the 
service fifty-one years, he is now one of the oldest active railroad men 
in the country.
   Mr. Mitchell came to Garrett in 1874 and has been a resident of that 
railroad town for forty-five years.  Thirty-five years ago he bought ten 
acres more and also had a farm of forty acres.  He has since sold all his 
real estate except his home, including two cottages.
   Mr. Mitchell married Ella Babbott.  She died in 1916, the mother of two 
children, William F. and Jane.  Both are graduates of the Garrett High 
School and William is superintendent of the Moler Car Works at Paterson, 
New Jersey.  Jane is the wife of Mr. Boden, of Haleyville.  Mr. Mitchell 
married for his present wife Mrs. Emma Hess, of Willard, Ohio. By her 
first marriage she has four children, Louis, Elizabeth, Marie and George, 
each having a business or college education. Mr. Mitchell is a member of 
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and is affiliated with Garrett 
City Lodge of Masons, while politically he is a republican.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com