FORT CHISWELL CHAPTER OF THE NSDAR

The Fort Chiswell Chapter was organized February 22, 1924, in Bristol, Virginia, with Mrs. A. Pierce Pepper as Organizing Regent.  The chapter currently has a membership of 65 ladies.  Members live in Virginia and Tennessee, as well as Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

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The chapter was named for Fort Chiswell which was a frontier fort built as an outpost during the French and Indian War.  It was constructed about 1758 by Colonel John Chiswell, his son-in-law, Speaker John Robinson, and Colonel William Byrd III.  The fort was situated at the junction of the Great Trading Path and the Richmond Road.  Fort Chiswell was to protect lead mines near the New River, in the valley, and the settlers who had come to work in the mines.  As much as 300 pounds of lead was sold at a time. When the American Revolution broke out, these mines proved of great value to Virginia.

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It was at Fort Chiswell that a declaration of independence for the colonies - the first- was written and signed by the men of the "West Augusta."  On January 21, 1775, this declaration was submitted to the General Assembly.

A pyramid-shaped historical marker 

of sandstone, which is dedicated to the original Fort Chiswell, is situated 200 yards northwest of the fort's original location.

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Website last updated 24AUG2018

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