Individual Details

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
According to "Early Families of Choctaw County," Obediah Childress "was a giant of a man according to tradition. He weighed in excess of 300 pounds and was six feet and six inches tall. He owned and operated a farm in the area of present day Ackerman, Mississippi."

MARRIAGE BOND, 1849
Winston County, Mississippi, Marriage Bonds and Certificate #515, Book 2, page 323
Obed Childress and Jemima Barron...$200 was paid over by Obed Childress to the state of Mississippi which would be forfeited if the marriage did not take place, dated October 5, 1849.

PURCHASED LAND, 1852
Smith County, Texas Deed Records, Vol D., p. 367
Obediah Childress, Jr. bought 390 acres for $500 from Caleb Barron on 1/27/1852. Vol. Z, p. 41. Aforementioned land sold on 11/4/1879 after Obe and Jemima Childress died and defaulted on the loan.

MOVE TO TEXAS, 1860
Letter from John Hunt to Mrs. A.B. Horn, Certified letter dated August 12, 1942 from John Hunt.
"John Hunt was born in 1861, one year after Obed Childress left Mississippi for Texas." Minerva Childress was the mother of John Hunt and the sister to Obed Childress. "Minerva spoke often of her brother Obed and corresponded with him regularly."
(Note: According to the 1860 census, this date does not seem correct. Caleb Childress is shown as being born in Texas in the census records, and this would suggest that Obediah and family left Mississippi prior to 1856, the year of Caleb's birth in Texas.)

1860 SLAVE SCHEDULE
The 1860 Slave schedule for the Canton beat of Smith County reflected the fact that Obed Childress owned nine slaves.

1860 CENSUS
Smith County, Texas, Canton (Omen) beat August 27, 1860. pages 1034-1029 ("Childress" misspelled "Childres")
Childress O., 35 (AL); Jemima, 30 (AL); William, 9 (MS); Caleb, 4 (TX). Farmer with real estate value of $5,000; personal value of $7,000.

1870 CENSUS
Smith County, Texas, Canton Beat, pages 354-356
Childress, Obed, 45, retail merchant, real estate value of $10,000 and personal value of $1,200 (this put Obediah virtually at the "top of the heap" in terms of net personal worth - only two other individuals in the Canton Beat area of about 4,000 total population exceeded Obediah Childress' net worth); Jemima, 42; Caleb, 14, Student ; Frank, 7; Elizabeth, 2. Also living with the Childress family was Jemima's brother, Thompson Barron, a physician; and Sallie Barron, 76, whom I cannot trace, but believe may well be the aunt of Jemima and the wife of Jemima's uncle, Ezekiel. This existence of Sallie Barron, widow of Ezekiel, gives us another link to the fact that Caleb Barron is the son of James and Gemima Barron, and the brother to Ezekiel.

PERSONAL EFFECTS
Archives, Jackson, Mississippi, Mrs. A.B. Horn and Mrs. R.L. Wheelock visited John Hunt's home in June, 1944 and saw these things: A child's chair made in East Texas for Obediah, Jr. in 1844. Used by Obediah for his children, then given to his nephew Billy Hunt who brought the chair back to Mississippi in a covered wagon. Billy gave it to his brother John Hunt, who then gave it to his son Eugene. (See notes on Obediah, Sr. for more on this chair.)

MASONIC LODGE MEMBER
O. Childress is shown as a member of Masonic Lodge #98 of Canton (Omen), Texas in 1856. In 1860, this same lodge lists O. Childress.

WITNESS TO WILL
Obediah Childress was one of two witnesses on the last will and testament of Joseph L. McKay on November 14, 1860.

Birth	17 Jan 1825	Alabama, United States
Marriage	3 Oct 1849	Winston, Mississippi, United States - Jemima Barron
Residence	1850	Choctaw, Mississippi, United States
Miscellaneous	27 Jan 1852	purchased land from Caleb Barron - Smith, Texas, United States
Residence	1860	Canton, Smith, Texas, United States
Residence	1870	Smith, Texas, United States
Burial	1878	Arp, Smith, Texas, United States
Death	12 Jan 1878	Smith, Texas, United States

Spouse	Jemima Barron (1828 - 1880)
Child	William Thomas CHILDRESS (1851 - )
Child	Caleb CHILDRESS (1856 - 1885)
Child	David Franklin CHILDRESS (1862 - 1937)
Child	Lelah Elizabeth CHILDRESS (1867 - 1876)

Father	Obediah CHILDRESS (1792 - 1852)
Mother	Sarah Selah Celia Ayres (1794 - 1867)
Sibling	Elizabeth CHILDRESS (1816 - 1882)
Sibling	William Carter CHILDRESS (1816 - 1893)
Sibling	John CHILDRESS (1816 - 1859)
Sibling	Edmond CHILDRESS (1827 - 1904)
Sibling	Minerva CHILDRESS (1830 - 1904)
Sibling	Mary Jane CHILDRESS (1832 - 1906)
Sibling	Eliza/Elvira CHILDRESS (1835 - )