(1846-1919) US entrepreneur who described himself on census returns as "inventor" or once as "electrical inventor", holder of many 1890s patents, mostly for improvements on existing inventions. In his modestly fictionalized Utopia, The Inhabitants of Mars [for subtitle see Checklist] (1895), the "Professor" interviews a man who has visited Mars in a hypnotic trance. Mars is run mostly by electricity (see Power Sources), and the inhabitants profess a Christianity-like Religion. The author's claim to a professorship has not been confirmed; it may be have been a nickname. [JC]

Willis Mitchell

born Washington, Maine: December 1846

died ?Maine: 1919

works

• The Inhabitants of Mars: Their Manners and Advancement in Civilization and their Opinion of Us (Malden, Massachusetts: C E Spofford and Co, 1895) [hb/]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

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