William Thomas Childress (1874-1959)
Great Grandson of Obediah Childress, Sr.
(Obediah Childress, Sr. > son Obediah Childress, Jr. (1825-1878) > grandson Caleb Childress (1856-1885 > great grandson William Thomas Childress)

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William "Will" Thomas Childress (1874-1959), shown in the top photo,  was the oldest child of Caleb Childress (1856-1885) and wife Mary Elizabeth Overton (1855-1883).  Will and his sister Mary were orphaned during their pre-teen years and ultimately were placed under the guardianship of their maternal grandfather, Dr. Sam Overton.  Will was a strapping young man, and made his life as a truck farmer on the family farm near Arp, Texas.  The above group photograph (abt. 1910) is of one of the first homes in which Will and his family lived.  From left, the subjects are Will, daughter Metta (1900-1994), wife Mary Frances "Fannie" Speer (1875-1957) and Will's sister, Mary Elizabeth Childress (1879-1940).

William Thomas Childress' uncle, David Franklin Childress and David's son-in-law, Robert Wheelock, Jr.

The fellow on the left and above this verbiage is David Franklin Childress (1862-1937), Will's uncle and brother of Will's father Caleb.  "Uncle Frank" Childress lived on a farm just south of the Will's farm in Arp, Texas.  Frank married Willie Moore (1870-1944) and they had two daughters, Martha (born 1890 but died 1891) and Maude Childress (1894-1947).  Maude Childress married Robert Lloyd Wheelock, Sr. who was a well known capitalist, oil operator and Corsicana, Texas mayor (shown in the clipping above).

The first four entries below are close-ups of the same subjects as featured in the top photograph of the family standing in front of the house.  First photo, Will, followed by wife Mary Frances "Fannie" Speer (click here to go to the Speer family photo page), then Metta Childress and her mother Fannie, and Mary Elizabeth Childress, spinster sister of Will Childress.  Mary died of breast cancer in 1940.  The last photo below is my father, John Franklin Childress, Sr. (1918-1977), the second child and only son of Will and Fannie.  John was born late in life as both parents were in their mid-forties at his birth.  Fannie used to state that people would "come from miles around just to look at such a pretty baby."

(Click on the thumbnail sketch below to see enlarged view.)

Metta (Childress) Stephenson (1900-1994) is shown in the left photo below, along with the Childress twins, Lloyd Michael and Joel Patrick (b. 1945).  The second photo features a birddog, Will Childress, his son John Franklin Childress, Sr. (1918-1977) and daughter Metta Childress.  The third photograph is of Metta's husband Edward Lindsey Stephenson (1895-1960) and his two sons, James William Stephenson (1925-1991) and Robert Lindsey Stephenson (b. 1918).

More Childress Ancestor Photos:

• Obediah Childress, Sr. (1792-1852) and Enon Cemetery, Ackerman, Mississippi
• Levi Childress (1805-1879) brother of Obediah Childress, Sr. 
• Minerva (Childress) Hunt (1830-1904) daughter of Obediah Childress, Sr.
• Tabitha (Childress) Grayson (1822-1868) daughter of William Childress, Jr., granddaughter of William Childress, Sr. and niece of Obediah Childress, Sr.
• Obediah Childress (1846-1936) grandson of Obediah Childress, Sr.
• Ezekiel Childress (1847-1901) grandson of Obediah Childress, Sr.

For additions, corrections or comments, please send an e-mail to Patrick Childress