OBED CHILDRESS, a farmer of Anderson county, Texas, located near Blackfoot, is the subject of the present sketch.

He is a good and worthy man, well known in his neighborhood, and one who took an active part in the late war. Mr. Childress was born in the State of Mississippi, December 17, 1846, and is the son of John and Narcissa (Barron) Childress, both of whom were residents of Alabama before removal to the State of his birth. The grandfather Childress was a native of South Carolina, as was also the grandfather on his mothers side. Both were well known people in their own States. Grandfather Childress was a slave-owner, and kept a tavern which was known far and wide. The father of our subject was also a prominent farmer and slave owner, and well known as a member of the Masonic order. The mother was a daughter of Ezekiel Barron, who removed first to Alabama from South Carolina and later to Mississippi, where he died, a prominent planter of the days before the war. Our subject was the second son of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Childress, as follows: A. G.; our subject; Ezekiel, now in Brown county; William, who was found frozen to death on the frontier of Texas in 1871; Mary married Lane Baskin, but both are now deceased; Sally married W. M. Huffman, and lives in Wilson county; and J. T., a farmer of Brown county. The father of the family died in 1860, and Mrs. Childress married J.L. Bell and removed to Texas, dying about 1887. In the fall of 1866 our subject came to Texas with his mother. He was then nineteen years of age. The first stop was in Smith county, and there he attended, school for one year and. then taught one term of five months, and later went into Hamilton county, where he taught a term and then returned to Smith county, where he rented a farm for one year, and in 1869 he bought an improved farm, which he kept for two years, and then moved to Huffrnan county, having first sold his place. Here he

married, and then bought a tract of raw land, which he improved for two years, and then sold and moved on Trinity river, in Henderson county, but later moved to Anderson county, where he bought the land he now owns, that being in 1875. To this he has added until now he owns 260 acres, with 100 under cultivation, and has enough stock to run a fine farm, and has engaged in the raising of cattle and sheep. In 1861 our subject answered the call for soldiers, and enlisted for three months and served during that time in Kentucky, but at the end of that time he re-enlisted in Company A, Bergans battalion and Harrisons command, and was sent to the Army of the Gulf, and later to the Army of the Tennessee, and took part in the siege of Vicksburg, where he was taken prisoner, hut was paroled and returned home. Determined to do what seemed to him his duty, he entered the service again as an independent scout, and so remained until the close of the war. He saw considerable skirmishing with colored troops, but was never wounded nor captured after Vicksburg. After his return home he made one crop and then came to this State, as above stated. Our subject was first married to Miss M. O. Baskin, the daughter of Samuel Baskin, a settler of Texas in 1852. He lived in Smith county where he owned a large number of slaves and carried on extensive farming before the war. He died about 1861. Mr. and Mrs. Childress had a family of six children, four of whom are yet living: Lulu B., at home; John A. has been for five years a foremost teacher of the county, and at present is the candidate for Superintendent of County Schools; Lena A. is a talented young lady, a graduate from the Normal School; and Lutilus E. is at home. The mother of this family was called from earth in 1880, having been a devoted member of the Missionary Baptist Church. In 1881 Mr. Childress married a sister of the first Mrs. Childress, and from this marriage five children have been born, as follows: Leffa, Obed, Effa, Claude and Maud. Our subject is a prominent man in his church, and has long been recognized as an important and active member of the Democratic party of the county. He is a member of the Masonic order. The whole family are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and are valued members of society, being well educated and exceedingly intelligent. One of the great desires of Mr. Childress has been to give his children a good education, and he has been gratified to see how the advantages have ben appreciated by his children. Among all the residents of the county our subject and family are held in highest esteem. Lewis Publishing Company. A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas, Book, 1893;, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Palestine Public Library, Palestine, Texas.