William Mitchel was a resident of Bertie County. In 1777 he served as a grand juror in the fall session of the Bertie County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions during a period when the State was investigating various members of the Gourd Patch Conspiracy. In November of that year however, he was ordered to leave the state within sixty days, presumably because he refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the State of North Carolina.