Robert A. Childs, was born at Malone, Franklin County, N. Y., March 22, 1845, the son of an itinerant Methodist preacher, who settled near Belvidere, Boone County, Ill., in 1852. His home having been broken up by the death of his mother, in 1854, he went to live upon a farm; In April, 1861, at the age of 16 years, he enlisted in the company of Captain (afterwards General) Stephen A. Huribut, which was later attached to the Fifteenth Illinois Volunteers. After being mustered out at the close of the war, he entered school, and graduated from the Illinois State Normal University in 1870. For the following three years he was Principal and Superintendent of public schools at Amboy, Lee County, meanwhile studying law, and being admitted to the bar. In 1873, he began the practice of his profession at Chicago, making his home at Hinsdale. After filling various local offices, in 1884 he was chosen Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket, and, in 1892, was elected by the narrow majority of thirty-seven votes to represent the Eighth Illinois District in the Fifty-third Congress, as a Republican.

Contributed by Kim Torp. From the Historical Encylopedia of Illinois, 1901

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