The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-02-21

z. Thomas and james W. P8ul, OF the nrm
OF Drexel 4 Co., Mr.. and Mrs. John Drexel,
Miss Peterson, niece OF Mrs. Childs, and
Stanley. companion to Mrs. Childs, and Col
onel Edward De V. Morrell. The Drexels
own 'one-half Of the Ledger property. In
future the Ledger will be managed by A. j..
Drexel's youngest SON, George W. Childs
DrexeL d.
Sketch of His Life.
George William Childs was born in Balti-
more Md, on May r., 1929. His parents
were poor, so poor that when q tiny lad he
was forced to shift for himself. Before he
was fourteen he served q year In humble
capacity in the United States Navy.
and then went to Philadelphia. He
was nearly penniless, and knew but one fam.
lily In thstcity. Within few days after his
arrival this family removed, and thus he was
left entirely alone and friendless. He OBJ
tatned employment at once, however, as
errand boy In book store at q weekly
salary OF S3. It was not long before
he was clerk and right hand man at
tending the evening auctions and rapidly
becoming familiar with books and their
value. Nevertheless his salary remained very
small. At the end Of three years service it
only amounted to about S6 a week. From
this small sum, however, eked out with for.
account, the lad managed to save money and
adopted as his early motto. Industry, tenn.
perance and frusality."
a At eighteen he had saved up sufficient
capital to enter into business on his own ac
counr, and set up q modest book store in the
Ledger Building, then at the corner Of Third
and Chestnut streets. The venture was
very uncertain one, for his capital was very
small. Nevertheless, he began to make
money almost from the start.
In 1849 he entered the publishing firm oil
Z. e. Peterson 6 Co., the Arm being shortly
afterward changed to Childs & Peterson
Robert Evans Peterson, who later b.
came Mr.. Childs's father-in-law, I'm.
like Mr.. Childs, a bookseller. In cccs1
Mr. Peterson retired from the firm, and Mr..
Childs entered into partnership with j. f.
Lippincott & Co., business connection which
continued about year. Mr.. Childs then
commenced business for himself. In 1868 he
purchased the Publishers Circular, an ad-
He remodeled and edited this paper, and
Issued the'fir number under the title Of the
American Publishers Circular and Library
Gazette on May I, 1868. The Circular was
great success from the start, and continued
under the charge Of Mr. Childs until 1869,
when the increasing cares of the publication
ofthe Public Ledger forced him to part with it.
Mr.. Childs had now become man OF note.
His name afterward became almost as we'll
known In England as in this country. He
had taken place In this country as public
benefactor because OF his large iberality in
gifts to worthy institutions and persons,
and every year gave away much Of the
large income derived from his news
paper. In England his liberalty took
the form Of doing honor to the poets George
Herbert and William Cowper by memorial
window In Westminster Abbey; of paying
homage to Milton by one in st. Margarets,
Westminster, and by erecting fountain to
Shakespeare In Stratford-on-Avon. He also
contributed to monument to Leigh Hunt in
Kensal Green Cemetery, and memorial win
dow to Moore in the church at Browham. In
this country he built a monument to Edgar
Allan Poe and had given orders to provide
one for Richard A. Proctor, the astronomer.
Among the latest OF his public gifts was the
erection OF the prayer Book Cross" near
San Francisco, to mark the spot where Sir
Francis Drake landed and where tho re-
Hgious services in the English language were
first held on the western shores Of America.
But his llberality In this country took
chiefly the form of benevolence, not merely
in the shape OF charity. He paid his printers
more than union rates, and his employees
generally shared in sense in the profits OF
his paper, which was estimated at $3.50, 600 to
$500, 900 year. All who worked for him re-
cetved liberal salaries he paid the doctors
bills Of the sick, pensioned the superanuated,
and often buried the dead.
In 1868, Mr.. Childs and Mr.. A. J. Drexel
Jointly gave SIC, ,000t the international Typo
graphical Union, which was the nucleus OF the
fund out of which the home for aged and in
erected In 1892. To increase the fund printers
east Of the Mississippi each SGT a thousand
ems for its benefit on Mr.. Childs's following
birthdays, and those west OF the great river
did the same thing on Mr.. Drexels, Septem-
- ber IS. The list of Mr.. Childss benevolent
deeds is long one, and the amount of bis
benefactions was immense. In addition to
giving to public and private charities in
Philadelphia and elsewhere, he educated al
least 500 young women. No serving
stranger ever appealed to him in vain for
aid.
Mr.. Childs was known the world o"ar as a
host, and distinguished people from every
country were entertained by him at his home
In Philadelphia, his country house at Wooten
and his seaside cottage at Elberon. He
corresponded with Washington Irving
Prescott, Hawthorne, Bryant, Greeley, Will
lam q. Seward. G.. P. K. James. Edward
Everett. and many other well-kno. men.
Mr.. Childs was an industrious collector OF
literary curioS. He owned. among Otnet
things, the original manuscript OF Dickens's
"Our Mutual Friend" en- autograph sermon
by Cotton Mather, the original manuscript OIL
part of drama by Schiller, and autograph
letters OF Samuel Pepys. DR.. johnson.
Hume, Burke, Coleridge. Wordsworth. Lord
Byron, Thackersy. Sir Walter Scott, Charles
Lamb, and many others. He had also col
lection OF clocks which was perhaps unr:'
vailed. In spite Of his not being classica!ly
educated, Princeton College conferred upon
him the degree Of Master Of Arts. In 1885
he printed ''Some Recollections Of Genera
Grant" and in 1890 his own ''Recollectiens.
After establishing the Ledger on firm
basis, Mr.. Childs took in 1868 the first and al
most the onTy rest or his busy life He trav.
eled in England and on the Continent for
several months. In England he was the
guest of Charles Dickens, Mr.. Walter. Of the
London Times, and Of the Duke Of Bucking-
ham.
Mr. Childs was very intimate with General
Grant. but his chief friend was the late A. J.
Drexel. For quarter Of a century they
lunched with each other at noon.
Philadelphia itself naturally shared Mr..
Childs's liberality. n was foremost in Sc
curing Fairmount Park for her, and was one
or the largest contributors TO the Zoolog lcal
Garden, the Pennsylvania Museum, and the
School OF Industrial Arts. His vas one Of the
first subscriptions OF $40 900 toward the Cen
tennial Exposition.
The only public Office Mr.. Childs aver
Aas,ld ho ipduoad m hold w fha hOnorarC