Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/639

Rh to be placed in Westminster Abbey, in commemoration of the poets William Cowper and George Herbert, and he also caused a monument to be placed over the hitherto unmarked grave of Leigh Hunt in Kensal green. He rendered a similar service to the memory of Edgar Allan Poe, and was the largest subscriber to the fund, collected in this country by Gen. Wilson and in England by Samuel C. Hall, for the purpose of placing a me- morial window for the poet Thomas Moore in the church at Bromham, where he and " Bessie " are buried. In 1868 he gave to the Philadelphia typo- graphical society the printers' cemetery. Wood- lands, with a liberal sum, the interest of which is to be expended in keeping the grounds in order. He presented a Shakespeare laeniorial fountain to the city of Stratford-on-Avon, England, which was dedicated in 1887, the ceremonies including a poem written by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Mr. Childs's residence in Philadelphia is one of the finest in the city, and his generous hospitality is well known. He was an intimate friend of Gen. Grant.

CHILDS, Orville Whitmore, engineer, b. in Stillwater, Saratoga co., N. Y., 27 Dec, 1802 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 6 Sept., 1870. He was engaged in the survey and construction of the Champlain canal improvement in 1824-'5, and in building the Oswego canal in 1826-'8, and in 1829-'30 made the survey and plans for the improvement of the Oneida river, which were subsequently adopted, the work being finished in 1850. He aided in the construction of the Chenango canal in 1833-'6, and in 1836 began his labors on the enlargement of the Erie canal, acting as cliief engineer of the middle division, which extended from Syracuse to Roches- ter. He was chief engineer of New York state works in 1840-'7, and in 1848 was the unsuccessful democratic candidate for the office of state engi- neer, then first created. He was chief engineer in the survey and construction of the New York cen- tral railroad, from Syracuse to Rochester, in 1848-'9, and in the latter year accepted a like position at the instance of the American Atlantic and Pacific ship canal co., of which Com. Cornelius Vander- bilt and others were the promoters, and which had a grant of land from the government of Nicaragua to build a ship canal across that country. Mr. Childs's reports, maps, surveys, and estimates for this work, made in 1850-2, attracted much atten- tion in this country and in Europe, and have been of much use in subsequent surveys. His route is still regarded by many as the most feasible one for a ship canal across that isthmus. It extended from the harbor of Greytown on the Atlantic, through Lake Nicaragua, to Brito on the Pacific coast." Mr. Childs was chief engineer of the Terre Haute and Alton railroad in 1855-'8, and was afterward employed by the state to fix the bounda- ries of the city and county of New York. At the beginning of the civil war he was chairman of the board of commissioners for providing proper har- bor defences for New York. He removed in 1860 from Syracuse, which had been his home up to that time, to Philadelphia, where he was interest- ed in the manufacture of sleeping-cars, and in other railroad enterprises. He was president of the Central transportation company and of the Philadelphia car-works. Mr. Childs contributed much to the literature of his profession, and pre- pared most of the canal reports during his time.

CHILDS, Timothy, physician, b. in Deerfield, Mass., in February, 1748; d. 25 Feb., 1821. He entered Harvard in 1764, but was obliged from poverty to leave in 1767, and, returning to Deer- field, studied medicine, and in 1771 began practice in Pittsfield. He was commissioned in a company of minute-men, with which he marched to Boston in April, 1775, and was soon after appointed surgeon of Col. Patterson's regiment, with which he went to New York, and in the expedition to Montreal. In 1777 he left the army and resumed practice at Pittsfield, where he continued till his death. In 1792 and for several years after he was a repre- sentative and also a senator in the general court, and was a member of the executive council. In 1811 he was granted several honorary degrees by Harvard. He was a warm supporter of the demo- cratic party. — His son, Henry Halsey, phvsician, b. in Pittsfield, Mass., 7 June, 1783; d. in Boston, Mass., 22 March, 1868, was graduated at Williams, studied medicine with his father, and was in part- nership with him till Dr. Timothy's death. He early introduced the practice of vaccination into Pittsfield although meeting with much opposition. Dr. Childs labored earnestly in 1822 to secure from the legislature a charter for the Berkshire medical institute at Pittsfield, the establishment of which he had advocated for years, and when it was incor- porated in September, 1823, he became professor of the theory and practice of medicine. He gave himself zealously to the work of obtaining an en- dowment, erecting buildings, and procuring a cab- inet and library for the institution. It was at first connected with Williams college, and when it was detached in 1837 Dr. Childs became its presi- dent. On his retirement in 1863 he was elected professor emeritus. During all this time he had a large medical practice, and for many years was a member of the faculty of the medical colleges at Woodstock, Vt., and Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, where he annually gave courses of lectures. He was a Jefferson ian democrat through life, and as such represented Pittsfield in the legislatures of 1816 and 1827, Berkshire county in the constitutional convention of 1820, and was elected lieutenant- governor in 1843. — Another son, Tlioinas, soldier, b. in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1796; d. in Fort Brooke, Fla., 8 Oct., 1853, was graduated at the U. S. mili- tary academy in 1814, and was assigned at once to the 1st artillery. He was distinguished at Fort Erie and Niagara in 1814, and made first lieuten- ant, 20 April, 1818. He became captain on 1 Oct., 1826, and planned the attack on the Seminoles at Fort Drane, Fla., 21 Aug., 1836. He was brevetted major for his conduct in this affair, and lieutenant- colonel, 1 Feb., 1841, for his repeated successes in the Florida war of 1840-2. In the Mexican war his gallant conduct at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma gained him the brevet of colonel, 9 May, 1846, and he was also engaged at Monterey, where he led the storming party, at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, La Hoya, and the defence of Puebla. He was given his commission as major of the 1st ar- tillery, 16 Feb., 1847, and was brevetted brigadier- general, 12 Oct., 1847, for his gallantry at Puebla. He was military governor of Jalapa from April till June, 1847, and of Puebla from September till Oc- tober, and was in command in east Florida from 11 Feb., 1852, till his death. Gen. Scott spoke of him as the " often distinguished Col. Childs."

CHILOMACON, Charles, chief of the Piscataway Indians. The principal town in his territory was Kittamaqundi, near the present village of Piscataway, fifteen miles south of Washington, D. C. When Father White arrived there in 1639 he was cordially received by the chief, who entertained him hospitably and consented to content himself with one wife at his request. At a general meeting of his tribe, Chilomacon announced his determination to become a Christian. He then went to