John Templeton Mitchell (1854–1914) was born in Scotland in 1854[Note 1] and emigrated to the USA in 1875, where he settled in Chicago where he found employment as a bank clerk[1] and became a naturalised American citizen. He became interested in duplicate whist at the age of 34, in 1888, when he read of a duplicate match in his native Glasgow and was instrumental in the formation of the Chicago Duplicate Whist Club.[2] His name is synonymous with the Mitchell Movement used in many bridge clubs today.
Mitchell became known as the "Father of Duplicate Whist"[3] because of the movements of boards and players he designed for tournaments, a design included in his 1891 book on Duplicate Whist.[4] This relatively simple movement was refined in discussion with others during that decade in an attempt to truly compare skill at cards rather than pure chance.[5] His contemporary, E C Howell, developed a different system of movements for pairs in 1897.[6]
J T Mitchell contributed to the original Whist Reference Book,[7] and much to discussions on tactics of the game,[8] and the Laws of Whist.[9] Mitchell was elected to the post of Treasurer of the American Whist League, at that time representing Chicago, Illinois.[10]
Some books written by Mitchell have been republished in recent years[11]