William DeWitt Mitchell, son of William, a lawyer who eventually became a state supreme court justice, and Frances Merritt Mitchell, was born in Winona, Minnesota on September 9, 1874.
Mitchell received his early schooling in Winona Schools and the Lawrenceville School of New Jersey before enrolling in the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University in 1891.
In 1919, William served on the regional council of the U.S. Railroad Administration and in 1922, he served as chairman of the Citizens Charter Committee of St. Paul.