Donald G. Mitchell

Donald Grant Mitchell (1822 – 1908) was an American essayist and novelist who wrote under the nom de plum of Ik Marvel. Born in Norwich, ConnecticutMitchell was the grandson of Stephen Mix Mitchell, a politician and jurist . He was a member of the Skull and Bones fraternity at Yale College and graduated in law in 1841, but soon went into literature. He was an enthusiast of agriculture and landscape gardening, and served as U.S. consul in Venice, Italy, from 1853 to 1854, and in 1855 settled near New Haven, Connecticut.