George Lee Chrisman was
born in Independence, Missouri, in 1851. His father, William
Chrisman, was one of this county's pioneers, and was firmly
established as a commercial factor in the community at the time of the
young Chrisman's birth. The boy was sent to the public schools
of Independence, and after passing through the allotted courses of
these schools went to William Jewell College at Liberty, Mo., to the
Kemper Military Academy at Booneville, Mo., and later to the Forest
Hill Academy in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
After graduating
from the latter institution, Mr. Chrisman returned to Independence,
where he entered his father's office to begin the study of law.
Failing health caused him to give up the study, however, and he went
into the Chrisman-Sawyer Bank, which his father had organized, in a
clerical position. This, too, was too confining for him, and he
settled on a farm near Lee's Summit, Mo.
In 1896 he was elected
Judge of the Eastern District of Jackson County, and at the conclusion
of his first term was nominated and elected Presiding Judge of the
County Court by the Democratic party. This place he filled with
distinction, and was again placed in nomination in 1902, and
elected. While all of his life has been passed in the
communities suburban to this city, his business interests have not
been confined to his places of residence, and he has been an important
factor in the commercial life of this city. The most important
of these was his connection with the Kansas City Times as
president and majority stock-holder at the time of its absorption by
the Star in 1902.
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