The son of Esther Chiswell and her husband Charles Chiswell was born on about 1678 and was raised at Scotchtown, his father's plantation in Hanover County.
13 Facts About John Chiswell
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When his father died in 1737, John Chiswell inherited the Scotchtown plantation, and the following year he became the colonel of the Hanover County militia.
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John Chiswell would continue to operate Scotchtown using overseers and enslaved labor until selling it to his political ally, business partner and son-in-law, Speaker John Robinson his father's land speculation westward, accumulating tens of thousands of acres.
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John Chiswell began representing Williamsburg in the House of Burgesses in 1756, after Armistead Burwell died circa 1754 and was briefly replaced by the scholarly lawyer George Wythe.
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Also by 1752, John Chiswell was operating an iron furnace near Fredericksburg, Virginia, miles north of Scotchtown.
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In 1762, John Chiswell traveled to England to have the ore analyzed as well as hire miners to work alongside enslaved laborers.
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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.
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John Chiswell was closely aligned by marriage and family with many of the landed gentry and upper classes of Virginia.
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The Fort John Chiswell Site is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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When he refused, John Chiswell killed him by stabbing him in the heart with his sword.
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John Chiswell was later conveyed to the public gaol in Williamsburg.
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Nonetheless, John Chiswell was released and allowed to return to his home.
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John Chiswell's body was taken to his home at Scotchtown.