Barton County, Missouri Biographies-Lee CHISWELL

History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties, 
Missouri, 1889.  Published by Goodspeed. Pages 869, 870

Lee Chiswell, of the firm of Chiswell & Brandon, editors and owners of 
the Lamar Democrat, was born in Frederick County, Md., October 11, 1848, 
and is the son of Capt. Joseph N., and Eleanor (White) Chiswell, natives
of Montgomery County, Md., where they spent the principal part of their 
lives, the mother dying in 1862, and the father in 1883.  She was a 
member of the Baptist Church.  Mr. Chiswell was of Scotch-Irish descent;
was a farmer by occupation, and was one of the prominent men of the 
county.  He was captain of the militia before the war, and held various
official positions in the county, being treasurer of the Grange for the
States of Maryland and Delaware at the time of his death.  The maternal
grandfather, Benjamin White, was of Irish descent, and died in Montgomery
County, Md.  Lee Chiswell, the fourth of six sons and five daughters, 
grew to manhood on the farm, and attended the common schools until 
thirteen years of age, when he attended two years at Frederick Academy,
one year at St. James College, and graduated at Columbia College, at 
Washington, D. C., soon after the war.  He then studied law with Judges
John A. Richie and John Lynch, two of Maryland's brightest and ablest 
jurists.  Mr. Chiswell was admitted to the bar in 1869, and the next 
year he came West, locating at Lamar, and was soon thereafter elected 
prosecuting attorney, which position he held with marked ability until 
1882, when he refused further honors. He then purchased the Progress, 
which he changed to the Lamar Democrat, and this he has owned partly 
ever since.  Mr. Brandon has been his partner since 1888.  Since his 
connection with journalistic work Mr. Chiswell has spared neither energy
nor means to make his paper the equal of any in Southwest Missouri, and
much of the improvement, intellectually, morally, and financially, of 
Lamar and vicinity, is due to the energetic measures taken by him.  
Although quite young at the breaking out of the war, he saw something 
of the hardships of war, both in the field and in prison. Two elder 
brothers, Benjamin and William, where in the Confederate Army; the 
former died at home during the war from exposure in service, and the 
latter served all through the war.  Mr. Chiswell has been a Democrat 
all his life, and an active politician from youth.  He is Past Master 
of Lamar Lodge No. 292, A. F. & A. M., and is also a member of Lamar 
Chapter and Commandery, and the A. O. U. W.  He was married in 1873 to 
Miss Ann B. Hall, a native of Ohio, and the daughter of A. and Martha 
Hall, natives of Ohio, who came to Lamar in 1871, and are still living 
there.  To Mr. and Mrs. Chiswell have been born four children, a son 
and three daughters.

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