Chism Family

Information for family and interested friends

Chism Family Genealogy

Links to genealogy data -- see below and the Navigation Guidelines before accessing this information:

  • Pedigree Chart (Last updated: 27 June 2015) - This is a graphic family tree showing the ancestors of Jessie Chism. Clicking on text, including names, shown in blue color or clicking on arrows moves back and forth through the data per the Navigation Guidelines.

  • Narrative File (Last updated: 27 June 2015) - This text file lists information about Jessie Chism ancestors by generation. Names of direct ancestors are shown in brown color. This file contains more details than included in the Pedigree Chart. This Adobe PDF file can be downloaded and printed but does not have any links for navigation and is currently over 300 pages long.

Overview

  • We encourage everyone to read through this page and the Navigation Guidelines before beginning to navigate the Chism family genealogy information that we have gathered over the past 20 years.
  • While we have focused on direct ancestors of Jessie Lee Chism (b. 1911, d. 1986), we have also gathered some information on familiies that Chism family members married into.
  • Suggested improvements and corrections are encouraged and should be sent to us at whf@acm.org.

Comments and Observations

  • So far we have only been able to trace direct Chism / Chisholm ancestors of Jessie Chism back to the late 1500s in England but there is sufficient evidence, including the original Chisholm surname, that the family originally came from Scotland. However, we have traced families that Chism family members married into as far back as 500 BC and beyond, which is shown in the published data.
  • Two key members of Jessie Chism's direct Chism / Chisholm ancestors to be aware of are:
    • Richard Josiah Chisholm / Cheesome (b. ca 1613, d. ca 1670) - This is the first direct Chism / Chisholm ancestor of Jessie that we can determine came to North America, from England. He seems to have been overlooked by some family researchers because his name was recorded as "Cheesome" on the list of passengers on the ship that brought him to North America in 1643. This was the same spelling the English seemed to often use for this Scottish surname. He settled in Virginia and lived there all his life.
    • "Blind John" Chisholm (b. 1756, d. 15 Jun 1829) - John was born in Virginia but spent much of his life in South Carolina. His nickname comes from the fact that he lost most of his sight in his later years because of wounds he received from enemy fire while serving in the South Carolina militia during the Revolutionay War. His siblings and his children had a falling out as he got older and he moved to Tennessee near where his father had settled. Of significance for later generations, the key result of this falling out is that many of his siblings and his children stopped spelling their name "Chisholm" and most of them began using "Chism". On a deed that John signed in 1807 he was still signing his name as "Chisholm". John died in northern Alabama.
  • Unfortunately, we have been unable to find any information on the ancestors of Jessie Chism's wife, Zelma Dewdrop Ringer (b. 1914, d. 1995). Anyone having information is encouraged to contact us.
  • "We are all cousins." How often have you heard this? Well, in our genealogy research, we have certainly found it to be true - Betty (Chism) Floyd, Jessie's daughter, and William Floyd, her husband, are distant cousins. We have determined this to be true multiple times through the Chism and Floyd lines as well as through the lines of the Chism and Gann (William's mother's maiden name) families and the lines of the Chism and Bolton (William's paternal grandmother's maiden name) families. The closest relationship found so far is 16th cousins - this is through Richard Neville (or de Neville) (b. 1469, d. Dec 1530) and his wife Anne Stafford (or de Stafford) (b. 1470, d. 1520) in England. Betty's ancestor through marriage into the Chism family is Richard's daughter, Dorothy Neville (b. 27 Mar 1496, d. 23 Oct 1532), and William's ancestor through marriage into the Floyd family is Richard's daughter, Susan Neville (b. 28 Apr 1501, d. 14 Jun 1571). Click on this link to see or download the PDF file showing this ancestral relationship.
  • Note that the family information in the files published here will change over time as more unformation is added to the genealogy database and corrections are made. Most of the information has been checked against multiple sources to ensure correctness. However, there is a lot of incorrect information published online and in books, some of it simply wishful thinking when including connections to famous figures. While the genealogy database includes details on current generations, this information will not be published online for everyone to access. However, this will be made available to family members so please make sure we have up-to-date information on your family members.
  • For those family members who are history buffs, note that some famous persons are included in the index of names of direct ancestors. These include: Kings Henry I through III of England, Kings Malcolm I through III of Scotland, King Alfred the Great, Emperor Charlemagne, Eleanor of Aquitaine and even the Viking King, Ragnar Lothbrok (full name Ragnar "Lothbrok (Hairy Breeches)" Sigurdsson), who is the main character in the recent History channel series, "Vikings".
  • For those interested in going back in the Pedigree Chart as far as we currently have information, follow these steps:
    1. Click on the arrows to the right of the Chism ancestor boxes until "Anne Carter" appears as the spouse, then click on the arrow to the right of the box for "Anne Carter".
    2. Click the arrow to the right of the box for "Thomas Benion".
    3. Click the arrow to the right of the box for "Anne Neville".
    4. Click the arrow to the right of the box for "Alice FitzAlan".
    5. Click the arrow to the right of the box for "Edmund Plantagenet".
    6. Click the arrow to the right of the box for "Henry II of England".
    7. Click on the only arrow that will appear on the right side of the display on each chart to go as far back as we currently have information, which is about 700 BC.