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.
[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.
[9] Mitchell was elected to the post of Treasurer of the American Whist League, at that time representing Chicago, Illinois.