Capt. George Child (1832-1904)

CHILD, HALL, STEVENS, LAWRENCE

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 7/31/2017 at 22:33:02

From Nevada Representative March 16, 1904

DEATH OF CAPT. GEORGE CHILD.

Captain George Child died at his home in this city about noon on Thursday, March 9, 1904, aged 71 years, 2 months, and 23 days. his death was a surprise to no one; for in his weakened condition the wonder to those about him was that he held out so long. He had been in his usual good health until last June, when he developed serious stomach trouble, and from that time on he was unable to retain and assimilate a sufficient amount of food. With the progress of the disease the difficulty of securing nourishment increased, and in the last few weeks of his life he was able to practically nothing. As a consequence he lost steadily and rapidly in weight and in the end was very greatly reduced. His last trip uptown was about six weeks before his death, up to which time his hope of ultimately getting better was strong; but after this time his trouble grew so steadily that in the view of all there should be but on outcome and that not very much delayed.

George Child was the third son of Mr. and Mrs. David Child, and he was born at Bath, New Hampshire, on December 15, 1832. He grew up near his birth place; but in 1850, when he was still a lad, he set out by himself for the west and settled first at Peoria, Illinois, where he remained until 1854. In the meantime he was married at Mt. Morris, Illinois, on October, 1853, to Miss Lovina A. Hall, who died after nearly thirty years of wedded life a their home in Nevada in 1881. He came to Nevada in the fall of 1854, being the first of the Child family to come here but being followed in a very few years by his father and the rest of the family. he made friends rapidly in the new settlement, and in the following August he was a candidate for sheriff, being beaten by a few votes by John J. Zenor. However, he was not discouraged, nor did he lose any of his friends, for he ran again in 1857 and was elected easily. Again, in 1859 he was reelected by a narrow margin in the hottest general fight known in the early days of the county; and he continued to hold the office until he resigned to go into the army. This he did in the summer of 1862, when Colonel Scott was organizing the 23d Iowa. Company K of this regiment was raised in Story and Marshall counties, and Mr. Child went out as its second lieutenant. Soon after Captain Cadwallader was transferred to the chaplaincy, First Lieutenant Wheeler was promoted to the captaincy and Lieutenant Child to the first lieutenancy. The latter position he held practically through the war. The exception was for period when he was detailed as brigade quartermaster, from which service he gained the title of "Captain," by which in later years he was known. During the years in the army he served in garrison at Columbus, Island No. 10 and Fort Pillow, was through the Meridian, Red River, Nashville and Mobile campaigns, and in the chase after Forrest through Mississippi and after Price through Missouri. He was in the battles of Pleasant Hill, Cuple, Nashville, Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. At the close of war he was a Montgomery, Alabama, and thence he came home with his command, arriving in Nevada in the late summer or fall of 1865.

After his return home he engaged in the livery business, having his barn a block east of the present site of the Court House and for many years he was mush the best known liveryman in the county. In the early nineties he sold out his business and from that time on was not actively engaged save that from 1896 to 1900 he was deputy sheriff and as such, gave his attention to the desk work of the sheriff's office. Throughout his active life and the years of his old age he continued to display the qualities that had won him popularity in his young days when he came to the new county and made himself from the first a factor. Real ability, kindliness and integrity were notable in all his life and for them he is and will be affectionately remembered.

Mr. Child had family of seven children who grew up and four who died in infancy. The former all survive him and are Mrs. Hattie Stevens of Boone, Wm. W. of Ames, George C. of St. James, Minn., Harry F., Bert B. and Mollie of Nevada, and Fred of Redwood Falls, Minn. he also leaves eight grand-children, his brothers Smith and Roy and sister, Mrs. Lawrence, who is critically ill at her home in Peoria, Illinois. His children were all with him in his last days and they and his brothers were all present at the funeral.

The funeral was conducted from the Presbyterian church on Saturday afternoon by Rev. W. D. Sandford, assisted by Rev. C. L. Nye and Dr. Bunce. The attendance was large and the services were most fitting and comforting. He was laid beside his wife in the family lot in the Nevada cemetery.