My Genealogy Hound

HON. SAMUEL A. CHILDS, ex-member of Assembly, ex-supervisor of the town of Scott, and one of the most favorably known men of Cortland County, N. Y., is a son of Charles and Mary (Hemstraught) Childs and was born in the town of Owego, Tioga County, N. Y., January 25, 1830.

The original name was spelled “Child,” but finally the “s” was added. The family is of English extraction, and Ephraim Childs, who was born in England and who emigrated to the United States in 1630, was the first of the name to come to America. He settled in Roxbury, Mass. Subsequently his nephew, Benjamin Childs, emigrated from England to Roxbury. Seven sons of Benjamin Childs left Roxbury and settled at Woodstock, Conn. One of these sons is the lineal ancestor of our subject.

The grandfather of our subject was Harba Childs, who was born in Woodstock, Conn., April 28, 1764; after his marriage in 1786 to Polly Lee of Pomfret, Conn., he moved to Hartland, Vermont, where all his children were born, except the youngest, Dr. Seth Childs. In 1805 he moved to the town of Barnston, Canada, where he passed from this life in 1814. He followed agricultural pursuits from early manhood and was very successful. He was the father of seven children, one of whom was the father of our subject, Charles Childs.

Charles Childs was born in Hartland, Vermont, in 1798. He was a carder and cloth dresser by trade, and followed that craft all his life in Tioga, Tompkins, and Cortland Counties. During his early life he taught school in the town of Owego, Tioga County. In 1847 he came to the village of Scott, this county, where he spent his remaining days, dying in 1861. He was always a Democrat in politics, but was opposed to the extension of slavery, and cast his last vote for Abraham Lincoln. He married Mary Hemstraught, in the town of Owego, Tioga County, and they reared five children. The eldest, Charles, Jr., was born in Owego in 1821, and died in 1896 at Cleveland, Ohio, where he had lived since the Mexican War, having been a soldier under Gen. Cassius M. Clay; the regiment of which he was a member was ordered to reinforce the assaulting columns at Mexico, and immediately started for that place, but arrived just after the conquest of the city of Mexico in time to see the “Stars and Stripes” wave over the captured city; upon his return from the war he accepted a position as baggage master on the C. & P. R. R., which position he continued to hold until the time of his death. The record of the four other children is as follows: Lucy, widow of the late David H. Whitney, is a resident of Campville, Tioga County, N. Y.; Elias Waldo lives in Janesville, Wisconsin, where he is engaged in the marble and granite business — he married Diadama Hawley, sister of Gen. Joseph Hawley, United States Senator from Connecticut and a distinguished statesman; Samuel A., who heads this personal sketch; and Marcus, who lives in the town of Owego, where he has been engaged as a teacher for the past thirty years.

Hon. Samuel A. Childs obtained his education in the public schools and Cortland Academy, which was supplemented by general reading and study. He left school at the age of twenty years and engaged in teaching, and taught seven or eight winters; he also taught five terms in the Scott public schools. Subsequently he operated a farm, and now owns 120 acres of the best improved land in the vicinity of the village of Scott. In 1886 he moved to Scott village, where he has retired from active life. Politically, he has been an untiring and consistent Republican, laboring zealously and conscientiously in behalf of that organization, and has devoted much labor and considerable sums of money towards its advancement. He has filled the office of supervisor for ten years, and was chairman of the board in 1877, and has filled many other town offices. In 1879-80 he represented Cortland County in the State Assembly. While in the Assembly, he was instrumental in having passed the “Oleo-margarine Bill,” supporting the bill in conjunction with Maj. Oscar H. Curtis. The bill is now in force as a law. He was also active in the support of many other measures, calculated to promote the interest of the county. He served on the Committee of Public Education, being the only member on that important committee. He served also on the Committee of the Affairs of Villages, Charitable and Religious Societies. He has been chairman of county conventions a great number of times, and represented his party frequently in caucuses and conventions. He is a man of good judgment, and his advice is frequently sought by others in matters of business. He was chairman of the town war committee all through the war, and was enrolling officer for the towns of Scott and Preble.

On April 9, 1853, he was united in marriage with Miss Lucelia O. Whiting of Scott, and they reared the following children: Earnest W., a resident of Scott; Henry Ward, who resides in Syracuse, N. Y., and is representing the American Book Co.; and Harold, who died at the age of sixteen. Mrs. Childs died September 24, 1879, aged fifty-six years. Our subject was again united in marriage with Mrs. Elizabeth Niver of Scott, March 25, 1893.

The character of Mr. Childs has secured for himself both the respect and affection of his associates. While of the quick and impulsive temperament that makes leadership, he is sympathizing and generous. He is a man of wonderful resources, great executive ability and untiring energy. His portrait* appears in connection with this biographical notice on a preceding page.

*A portrait was included in the original printed volume.