Martha Reed Mitchell (March 1818 – February 15, 1902) was an American philanthropist and socialite,[1] well known in charity, art and society circles in the U.S. and abroad.

While her husband amassed great wealth, neither prosperity nor popularity deprived Mrs. Mitchell of her simple manner and her love and interest in the cause of the less fortunate.

After the civil war, she established a winter home near Jacksonville, Florida, where she brought to great perfection tropical fruit-bearing trees, and many rare plantings, including those from Ceylon, China, and India.

She was one of a large family, and in early years learned the lessons of unselfishness and thoughtfulness of others, characteristics that in a marked degree remained prominent through her life.

At the age of 13, she attended Miss Catherine Fiske's Young Ladies Seminary in Keene, New Hampshire, and at 17, went to Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, where the happiest days of her life were passed.

Through the Erie Canal and by the chain of Great Lakes the family wended their way, and after three weeks of anxiety and trouble, they touched the shores of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, their objective point, a village of 500 people.

[3] For years, after leaving Milwaukee, she supported a mission kindergarten, where, daily, nearly 100 children from the poorest parts of society were taught to be self-respecting and self-sustaining men and women.

[6] With her indomitable will and energy, aided by ample means, Mitchell in a few years, converted a sandy area into "a thing of beauty and a joy forever."

She brought to perfection the orange, lemon, banana, olive, plum, pear, peach, and apricot, the English walnut, the pecan from Brazil, and the Spanish chestnut.

[3] After the death of her husband, April 19, 1887, Mitchell left Milwaukee and located her summer home on the St. Lawrence River, in the vicinity of the Thousand Islands.