Mow Mitchell was born on September 18, 1886, in San Francisco, California, the second child and eldest son of John Samuel Mitchell and Florence Standish Mitchell (born Mowatt). Mitchell attended
Los Angeles High School where he played
basketball and
baseball. Later in 1907, Mitchell joined the Stanford rugby team for a season that would be highlighted by a 21–11 victory over the
University of California in the
Big Game. Mitchell began serving as captain of the Stanford rugby team in the 1909 season. Mitchell graduated from Stanford with a
degree in economics in May 1910. By 1914, his work as an official was well-regarded. Mitchell returned to Stanford for
graduate studies and rejoined the university's rugby team in 1913. (Mitchell was injured during the match and replaced by a substitute.) In 1913 and 1914, Mitchell played rugby for the
Los Angeles Athletic Club team. In 1915, alongside fellow Stanford and United States rugby player
Louis Cass, Mitchell was a member of a Southern California
All-Star rugby team that played a series of matches against university and
Northern California All-Star opposition in October and November of that year. Mitchell was a strong proponent of Stanford University continuing to play rugby instead of
American football; in spite of this, the University would ultimately revert to football. On June 5, 1917, Mitchell enlisted with the
United States Army. Mitchell served with the
American Expeditionary Forces during
World War I. Later in life, Mitchell married Simone Debruyn, with whom he had two children. Mitchell's brother, Stan, was also a rugby player and Stanford University attendee. Mitchell's older sister,
Ruth Comfort Mitchell, was an author, playwright, and poet. Mow Mitchell died on February 18, 1980, in
Santa Clara, California, at the age of 93. ==References==