Childsw
Transcribed from "An Illustrated History of The Big Bend Country, embracing
Lincoln, Douglas, Adams and Franklin counties, State of Washington",
published by Western Historical Publishing Co., 1904.
WILLIAM H. CHILDS is one of the
best known men in the eastern part of Lincoln county and he is as highly
esteemed as he is well known and has hosts of friends. His residence
is about four miles north from Reardan, where he owns eight hundred acres
of the choicest wheat land and from which in addition to supporting his
large numbers of stock, he sold last year over ten thousand bushels of
first class wheat and oats. Mr. Childs has made his estate not only
one of the valuable producers but one of the best places in the county
by wisely laying out and improving it with everything that could be needed
on a first class grain and stock farm. His barns, windmill, fences,
corralls, outbuildings and other conveniences are well arranged and built
and his modern seven room residence is one of the best in the neighborhood.
In addition to superintending this property, Mr. Childs has bought grain
for a good many years in Reardan and is well known all over the country.
William H. Childs was born at Saratoga Springs,
New York, on June 17, 1856. His parents were Edward and Henrietta
(Munn) Childs, natives of New York and Rhode Island, respectively.
They were married in New York city and there lived until 1901, in which
year the mother came to her son, the brother of our subject. The
father was descended from the old Childs family of Connecticut, among the
first colonists to arrive in America, early in the seventeenth century.
The first members of the family which we have record of were two brothers
born in Carmarthen, Wales. They migrated to America and bought the
township of Stockbridge, Connecticut and were prominent people. One
brother died without issue and the other is consequently, the progenitor
of the American branch of the family. H. W. Childs, a member of the
family, was a colonel under General Washington in the Revolution.
The father of our subject was engaged in general farming at Saratoga Springs,
and hardware merchandising in New York city. He died in 1856.
There are five children in the family, Edward, Helen L., deceased, Pauline,
Hattie, and the subject of this article. William H. received
his education in New York and when fifteen came to Lawrence, Kansas, and
for twelve years thereafter was riding the range in Kansas, Wyoming, Nebraska,
Oregon and Washington. Then on November 10, 1881, he married Kate
Hamilton, a native of Oskaloosa, Kansas, and quit the range. Her
father, Samuel H., was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio, then to
Kansas where he joined the Fifth Kansas Cavalry at the beginning of the
war. He was discharged in 1863, on account of disability and later
came across the plains to Lincoln county, where he died in 1901.
Mr. and Mrs. Childs are the parents of five children, John, Kate, William,
Emila and Nina. Mr. Childs took a pre-emption on Crescent Prairie
in 1880 and since that time has constantly given his attention to farming
and he has certainly made a magnificent success of his labors in this country.
He has raised some excellent shire horses, having taken the first premium
at the Lincoln county fair. Some of the colts he has sold as high
as five hundred dollars each.
Mr. Childs is a member of the W. W. and his
wife of the Women of the Woodcraft. They are highly respected, have
an untarnished reputation, and have shown marked uprightness and industry
as well as wisdom in their labors.
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