John Lendrum Mitchell (1842-1904)

He was educated in America, Germany, Switzerland and Britain, and when he was fifty he studied French Literature at the University of Grenoble. During the Civil War, he fought for the Union with the 24th Wisconsin Infantry. He represented Wisconsin in Congress as well as in the Senate. He lived between Milwaukee (where he continued his father's many business interests) and the South of France, at the Maison Corinaldi on Nice's Place Grimaldi. He gave liberally to charity (notably Racine College) and donated the land in Milwaukee which is today's Mitchell Park. He also built the magnificent Mitchell Building on Milwaukee's East Michigan Street. Financially, he took a personal hit of $1.3 million when there was a run on his bank and when he died he left just over $500,000 which was a paltry sum for the only son of a man who had been worth $20 million. He was married twice (the second ended in a bitter public court case with accusations of adultery and drunkenness on both sides) and was the father of at least eleven children. Among his sons was Billy Mitchell, "Father of the U.S. Air Force".