John Chiswell

Elizabeth Randolph

His father was Charles Chiswell (born about 1678) and Esther (Dabney?) Chiswell. Charles Chiswell was once Clerk of the General Court of Virginia.[1] He married Elizabeth Randolph, daughter of William Randolph, on May 19, 1736, and they had four children: Elizabeth Chiswell, b. 24 May 1737; Susanna Randolph Chiswell, b. 1740, Williamsburg, VA; Mary Chiswell, b. About 1748, Hanover Co., VA; Lucy Chiswell, born 3 Aug 1752. His wife died in 1766: "Mrs. ELIZABETH CHISWELL, relict of the late col. John Chiswell, at William Nelson, esqr's, in Caroline. She died in her 54th year, and was a most amiable lady: From her door, the needy were never sent empty away."[2]

In 1752, he operated an iron furnace near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Circa 1756, John Chiswell discovered lead outcroppings in Wythe County, Virginia. This was operated by the Lead Mine Company, which was later involved in the John Robinson estate scandal. After Virginia declared its independence, the mines were operated by the state, and became an important lead supplier for the patriot cause.

The mines were so significant, that they became a landmark and part of a treaty in 1768 to establish the lands of Great Britain and the Native Americans in the Treaty of Hard Labour and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. "..the treaty at Fort Stanwix, John Stuart on behalf of Great Britain had negotiated with the Cherokee tribe the treaty of Hard Labor, South Carolina, October 14, by which the boundary line was continued direct from Tryon Mountain to Colonel Chiswell's mine (present Wytheville, Virginia), and thence in a straight line to the mouth of the Great Kanawha."[3]

John Chiswell was elected as a burgess from Hanover county from 1744 to 1755, when he moved to Williamsburg and represented the city from 1756 to 1758. He was closely aligned by marriage and family with many of the landed gentry and upper classes of Virginia.

A fort was established in 1758 by William Byrd and named for Colonel John Chiswell. It was used during the French and Indian War, but was later abandoned. The Fort Chiswell Site is on the National Register of Historic Places.

On June 3, 1766, "pretty early in the morning," Colonel Chiswell got into an argument with "...a Scotch gentleman" named Robert Routledge a merchant from Prince Edward County, at Mosby Tavern, Cumberland County, Virginia, now Powhatan County, Virginia. According to several eyewitnesses, Colonel Chiswell, who was a Loyalist, called Routledge "a fugitive rebel, a villain who came to Virginia to cheat and defraud men of their property, and a Presbyterian fellow…"[1][4] Both men were intoxicated, and when Chiswell was frustrated in attacking Mr. Routledge with a "bowl of Bumbo" or candlestick, called for his sword and demanded that Mr. Routledge leave the room. When he refused, Chiswell killed him by stabbing him in the heart with his sword. For causing the death of Routledge, a justice of the peace remanded Colonel Chiswell the county gaol. He was later conveyed to the public gaol in Williamsburg. However, three justices of the General Court at Willamsburg, William Byrd, III of Westover, John Blair, Sr. and Presley Thornton, met the sheriff on the outskirts of the town and held a brief examining court. The result was Chiswell was allowed to post a small bail of £2,000. In the 18th century, bail, in any amount, for the crime of murder was virtually unheard of. Nonetheless, Chiswell was released and allowed to return to his home. There was immediate public outcry of favoritism and special treatment. At least one of the justices, William Byrd, was, in fact, Chiswell's friend and also a business partner in the lead mining operation.

As the murder scandal of Robert Routledge at the hands of John Chiswell unfolded, Virginians were still reeling from another scandal involving John Chiswell's late son-in-law John Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer of Virginia. When Robinson died in May 1766 it was discovered that he had misappropriated public funds and his estate owed the Commonwealth of Virginia over £1,000,000.

John Chiswell is thought to have committed suicide on October 14, 1766. His body was discovered on the floor of his home in Williamsburg, Virginia on October 15. The coroner stated it was an attack from nerves.[5]

Because it is uncertain if he committed suicide, he was denied burial in the consecrated ground of Bruton Parish Church. His body was taken to his home at Scotchtown (plantation). When the wagon containing his coffin arrived, members of the murdered Robert Routledge family were there, and demanded that the coffin be opened so they could be sure he was dead, and the death was not a hoax.[6] His grave is unmarked.

• Fort Chiswell, Virginia is named in his honor.
• His home, The Chiswell-Bucktrout House on Francis Street in Williamsburg, Virginia, still stands.

• Kegley, Mary B. 2010. "Fort Chiswell and Chiswell's Lead Mines of Wythe County, Virginia: A New Perspective". Smithfield Review: Studies in the History of the Region West of the Blue Ridge. 14: 52-68.
• Lemay, J. A. Leo. Robert Bolling and the Bailment of Colonel Chriswell. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1971. (In Early American literature—Vol. 6, no. 2 (Fall 1971)).
• Shephard, William Hendy. Colonel John Chiswell, Chiswell's Lead Mines, Fort Chiswell. 1936.
• Trotti, Michael Ayers. 2008. "The Origins of Virginia Crime Sensationalism". Abstract: This chapter describes how, over the next three months, the Virginia Gazette published fifteen articles on the Chiswell case, some anonymous, others pseudonymous, still others penned above the names of some of the most prominent Virginians of the era, including the colony's most influential lawyer, George Wythe, and a leading member of the House of Burgesses, John Blair. In all, the Virginia Gazette printed slightly more than six pages on this case over the course of four-and-a-half months, or about one-quarter of a page in each issue. In volume, the coverage was significant, particularly for this era; in tone, it was moderate, even tentative. In October, this flurry of activity ended when John Chiswell died of "nervous fits, owing to a constant uneasiness of mind" shortly before he was to go to trial.
• Virginia Gazette October 17, 1766.