Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A Standard History of Starke County, Indiana McCormick, Joseph N. - 1915 [243-245] SIDNEY J. CHILDS. Starke County is signally favored in the person- nel of its officials at the time of this writing, and in the admini- stration of the multifarious details of the office of county recorder MR. CHILDS is proving most conclusively that the public confidence in his eligibility for the position was amply justified. He is now serv- ing his second term of four years, his first election having been in 1908 and his second in 1912. He was a resident of Davis Township at the time he was called upon to assume this important and exacting county office and he is there the owner of one of the finely improved farms of this section of the state. MR. CHILDS claims the old Buckeye State as the place of his nati- vity and in both the paternal and maternal lines is a scion of families that were founded in America in the colonial era, the genealogy of each tracing back to sterling English origin. MR. CHILDS was born in Erie County, Ohio, on the 8th of February, 1860, and in that section of the state he was reared and educated, there continuing his residence, latterly in Huron County, until he had attained to the age of twenty-six years, when he came to Starke County, Indiana, and became one of the energetic farmers of Davis Township, where his in- dustry and well ordered efforts gained to him success worthy the name. From 1895 to 1901 he served as township assessor, and his ability and civic loyalty, as combined with his invincible integrity of purpose, marked him as specially eligible for higher official preferment, the result being his election to the position of county recorder in the autumn of 1908. He was re-elected in 1912 and in November, 1914, again appeared as the republican candidate for the office, with a resultant victory at the polls, so that he will have three consecutive terms of service. MR. CHILDS is well known to the citizens of Starke County and his circle of friends is virtually coincident with that of his acquaintances. He is a staunch supporter of the cause of the repub- lican party and has been one of its zealous workers in Starke County. He is affiliated with the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows in the Village of Hamlet, near which his farm is situated, and he is affiliated also with the Loyal Order of Moose, at Knox, and with the Knights of the Modern Maccabees, in which he is a members of the tent at Hamlet. His wife and daughters are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and are popular factors in the social activities of Knox, the county seat, where the family home has been maintained since MR. CHILDS assumed his present office. In the year 1889 was solemn- ized the marriage of MR. CHILDS to Miss MARY R. HALL, who was born in Whitley County, this state, but the major part of whose life thus far has been passed in Starke County, the date of her nativity having been February 17, 1860. Mr. and Mrs. CHILDS have three children, all of whom remain at the parental home: GRACE V., who was born August 14, 1890, made good use of the advantages of the public schools and later attained skill as a typewriter operator, with the result that she has proved her father's efficient assistant in the office of county re- corder, her devotion to her duties being such that she has taken but few holidays during her incumbency of her position in this county office; GLADYS A., who was born July 7, 1892, acquired her early education in the schools of Davis Township, and in 1913 was graduated in the Brown Business College, at Valparaiso, her proficiency having gained to her her present position as a clerk in the Farmers' State Bank of Knox; BLANCHE J., who was born August 24, 1893, received the advantages of the high school at Knox and the business department of Valparaiso University, and she is now engaged as stenographer in the law offices of OSCAR B. SMITH, a prominent attorney of Knox. MR. CHILDS is a son of HORACE J. and ELIZABETH (JOHNSON) CHILDS, both natives of the State of New York. HORACE J. CHILDS is a son of HORACE J. CHILDS, who served as a valiant soldier in the War of 1812, in which he took part in the Canadian campaign and was wounded in action. Thereafter he was a farmer in the old Empire State until his removal to Ohio, where he followed the same basic vocation for a number of years, having been a pioneer settler of the Buckeye Common- wealth, and his death occurred while he was visiting kinsfolk in Indiana. He passed away on the 4th of July, 1840, and his remains were interred at Crown Point, Lake County, as were also those of his widow, who survived him by several years. HORACE J. CHILDS and his wife continued their residence in Ohio until after the birth of all of their children, — seven sons and three daughters, and he is now living retired in the Village of Hamlet, Starke County, after having devoted his entire active career to agricultural pursuits, of which he was a successful exponent both in Ohio and Indiana. He celebrated his eighty-sixth birthday anniversary on the 19th of June, 1914, his cher- ished and devoted wife having been summoned to eternal rest in April, 1910. He has ever been a stalwart supporter of the principles of the republican party and is a member of the Universalist Church, as was also his wife. MRS. ELIZABETH (JOHNSON) CHILDS was a daughter of SIDNEY and MARY (HUGHES) JOHNSON, who removed from the State of New York to Ohio in an early day and who continued to reside in the latter state until their death, when venerable in years. Of the children of HORACE J. and ELIZABETH CHILDS five sons and three daughters are living, and all are married and well established in life. One of the two deceased children, both sons, was SIMEON, who was a twin of SIDNEY J. of this sketch and who was fifteen years of age at the time of his death. The other twins of the family were HEMAN W. and HORACE J., Jr., both of whom are living. ===========================================================================