Tompkinsville in Monroe County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)

James & Mary Howard Chism

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 5, 2012

1. James & Mary Howard Chism Marker

Inscription. James Chism, married Mary Howard, the daughter of Obadiah Howard. Born in Virginia, James enlisted as a Private in the 2nd Virginia Regiment and served until the end of the Revolutionary War. Shortly thereafter, he moved his family to Kentucky where he had been given a land grant of 100 acres on Peters Creek in the part of the state known as the Great Barrens, near the present-day Mt. Hermon, in Northeastern Monroe County.

Nathan Breed, a relative who was serving as a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War under General John Sevier from Green County, Tennessee, joined Chism. These two men were close friends and neighbors. Three of James Chism's sons married three of Nathan Breed's daughters. James' seven children were Jacob, William (married Priscilla Breed), Michael (married Mary Breed), Elizabeth, John, James T. (married Phoebe Breed), and George. Chism died in his home on July 7, 1819. He and his wife, Mary, and her father, Obadiah Howard, are buried here.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Revolutionary.

Location. 36° 40.684′ N, 85° 42.457′ W. Marker is in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, in Monroe County. Marker can be reached from Old Mulkey

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Park Road, 0.2 miles west of Old Mulkey Road (Corinth Church Road) (Kentucky Highway 1446), on the right when traveling west. Marker is located in the church cemetery at the Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 38 Old Mulkey Park Road, Tompkinsville KY 42167, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. William & Jane Hart Howard (here, next to this marker); African Americans and Mill Creek, Baptist (here, next to this marker); Back in the Woods (a few steps from this marker); William & Jane (Hart) Howard (within shouting distance of this marker); Ephraim Dicken (within shouting distance of this marker); The Meetinghouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Five Generations of Gospel Preachers (within shouting distance of this marker); Revolutionary War Veterans (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tompkinsville.

Also see . . . Rev Obadiah Howard (Find-a-Grave). (Submitted on August 19, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Additional commentary.
1. Fautly Genealogical Research
This is a fictitious couple who originated with faulty 1922 SAR & DAR membership applications. PVT. James Chisam of the 2nd VA. Regt. wasn’t the father of the Chism siblings first found

James Chism & Mary Howard Chism Gravesites image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 5, 2012

2. James Chism & Mary Howard Chism Gravesites

(located in front of marker)(left)James Chism
PVT. 2 VA. REGT.
Rev. War(right)Mary Howard
Born 1760 • Married 1778
to James Chism
PVT. 2 VA. REGT.

in Barren CO., KY. In 1784 he obtained 100 acres of first rate military bounty land on Flat Lick Creek, on a branch of the Cumberland River for his Rev. War Service in Virginia. This land was then located in Lincoln County, then in Virginia. This location became part of Pulaski Co., Kentucky, when it was formed in 1798.

There’s no evidence to show PVT. James Chisam ever occupied this his bounty land, but Pulaski Co., Ky. Court records show a Thomas Chisham was occupying this land from 1804-07. There’s no evidence this PVT. Chisam was ever in Kentucky, or even left Virginia. He most definitely is not found in any of the records of Barren or any of its parent Kentucky counties.

The only other James Chisholm to serve in Virginia during the Rev. War and receive bounty land for his service was PVT. James Chizham, who died at Valley Forge in March of 1778, while in the service of the 10th VA. Regt. His bounty land was was awarded to his heir, William Chizham in an Orange Co., Va., court on April 19, 1785. No other James Chisholm by any spelling of the surname received bounty land in Kentucky for there Virginia service during the Rev. War

The PVT. James Chism tombstone located in the Old Mulkey Church Yard was an “honorary” tombstone placed their in 1932 by the local Edmund Rogers DAR Chapter. It and similar Rev. tombstones were placed to honor

Obadiah Howard & Priscilla Avery Breed Gravesites image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 5, 2012

3. Obadiah Howard & Priscilla Avery Breed Gravesites

(located near marker)(left)Obadiah Howard
S.C. MIL.
Rev. War(right)Priscilla Avery Breed
Wife of Obadiah Howard
1742-1808

Rev. War soldiers earlier to have believed to have lived in the area. No one is buried beneath these “honorary” tombstones, and in the case of PVT. James Chism, he never existed in the context of living in Barren Co., Ky. or being the father of the Chisms first found there. As for Mary Howard, her “honorary” tombstone was placed there by the Chism Family Assc, James Chism Chapter, in 1970. In the same context as PVT. James Chism, she may have existed, but she wasn’t PVT. James Chism’s wife, or the mother of the Chisms first found in Barren Co., Ky.

John Chism, Sr., b.Aug. 1, 1738, and his wife, Mary Gum, b.Aug. 10, 1748, were the parents of Chisms first found in Barren & its parent Kentucky CO.,s. While John Chism, Sr. served in various Virginia militia companies on expeditions against the Indians, including the Battle of Point Pleasant, no evidence has been found proving he served during the Rev. War. He did have cousin PVT. James Chizham who died at Valley Forge, and cousin James Chisham who served in the Virginia militia during the Rev. War. 2nd VA. Regt. James Chisam may or many not have also been his cousin. Cousin James Chisham married Catherine Raines in Orange CO., VA. in 1791. He and his brother George Chisham, another Rev. War. veteran, both migrated to Scott CO., KY. from Orange CO., VA. circa 1808-09.

While it’s quite probably

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Obadiah Howard and his wife Priscilla Breed had a daughter named Mary Howard, there’s no proof of her existence. In any case she wasn’t the mother of the Chisms of Barren CO., KY., one of whom married Priscilla Howard, who was a daughter of Obadiah Howard and Priscilla Breed.

Primary records disprove much of the amateur genealogy compiled during the 1920s and 30s, this being a good example of how not to conduct genealogical research.

— Submitted November 28, 2020.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 10, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 18, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 557 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 19, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.