My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Benjamin B. Chism, Secretary of State, is a lifelong resident of Arkansas. He was born in Logan County, in 1845, being the son of Dr. S. H. Chism, a native of Tennessee, who, when an infant, was taken by his parents to Missouri. He received a good education at Jefferson City, and early chose the medical profession for his occupation through life, finally coming to Arkansas in 1840, and locating in what was Scott (now Logan) County, where he practiced until his death. He was a highly respected citizen and successful physician, and was State senator from 1848 to 1852. He died in 1863, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was married to Miss Jennatte Logan, a daughter of Col. James Logan, of Missouri, who was appointed one of the commissioners to locate the State capital at Jefferson City, and who came to Arkansas in 1823. He was a descendant of the Logan family, who were contemporaneous with the Boone family of Kentucky. The county of Logan was named for him after his death. Mrs. Chism died when our subject was an infant. B. B. Chism was reared in Logan County and educated in the schools of Charleston. When sixteen years of age, he enlisted in the Seventeenth Arkansas Infantry, Confederate army, in which he served from May, 1861, to May, 1865, being engaged in the battles of Oak Hills and Elkhorn, and he commanded a company at the battle of Corinth when only eighteen years of age. Following this, he served on the brigade staff of Col. Griffith. After his return from the army, Capt. Chism engaged first in farming, and next in the mercantile business. In 1874 he was elected to the State constitutional convention, and in 1876 to the State senate. In 1874 he was made colonel of the State militia by Gov. Baxter, and in 1887 was tendered an honorary appointment by Gov. Hughes, as a member from Arkansas on the staff of Gov. Gordon, of Georgia, to meet President Cleveland at the Georgia State Fair. In the summer of 1888, he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for secretary of State, and was elected by a large majority. Capt. Chism is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is a modest man, of dignified habits, but sanguine in disposition, and a friend whom it is one’s good fortune to know. His highly complimentary vote is a fitting testimonial of his great popularity among the rich and poor of the citizens of Arkansas.