William M. Mitchell

The Rev. W. M. Mitchell as he appeared in the frontispiece to his book, The Under-Ground Railroad William M. Mitchell (c. 1826 – c. 1879) was an American writer, minister and abolitionist who worked on the Underground Railroad. He is said to be the only writer who wrote about the railroad while it was still illegal.

Early life and career Mitchell was raised as an orphan in North Carolina. His birth date is about 1826.

He became involved in the resistance to slavery in 1843 when he was among a crowd of people who intimidated some bounty hunters who were returning an escaped slave to his owners. The man regained his freedom when his captors fled. Mitchell later reported that the man, who had a wife and children, had been given away by the local white pastor who claimed a $100 bounty. Mitchell's book was published in London in 1860. Mitchell's book garnered recommendations from leading abolitionists including the American activist William Howard Day and the British politician George Thompson.

Despite the death of his daughter, Mitchell traveled again to Great Britain in 1863 to 1864 when a controversy erupted over his poor accounting and the potential mixing of his expenses with the hundreds of pounds (sterling) that he was meant to be sending back to Canada. Mitchell and his family are presumed to have returned to America. One record shows that he died before 1879 but there is no further detail.

Works The Under-Ground Railroad