The name says it all. This is as far back as we can go on our Childress ancestral search. Try as we may, this has always been the end of the trail for locating ancestors. Until now, we were of the opinion that Tom was delivered to earth by some alien spaceship from some far away place. DNA research has proven otherwise and now we have a untold numbers of distant cousins to contact about our direct link, whoever that may be. This is the story of family lore that we have always been told and the truth of some of it may be questionable. This is our family story.
Thomas Cameron Childress, b. 1869, AL, was the only child of parents whose identity has eluded us for years. Tom told of how his parents left Alabama and headed west to Texas. Tom’s mother reportedly died during childbirth with Tom’s sibling when Tom was about 4 years old. This occurrence happened at Ft. Phantom Hill, just north of Abilene, Tx. I am more inclined to believe that the death occurred at Ft. Griffin, a little farther north. Ft. Phantom Hill was just an outpost, while Ft. Griffin was on the trail west and catered to the needs of travelers. Anyway, after the death of his mother, Tom and his father headed back east and stopped at some relatives for a while. The exact location is unknown, but it has been told that the relatives lived in De Queen, Arkansas. Tom’s father died while there leaving Tom as an only child. Tom was taken in by Dr. William Treadwell and his wife, Cynthia. We don’t know if the Treadwell’s were kin or not, but I am inclined to think that they may have been blood kin. Another story that isn’t passed along as much as this one relates that Tom’s father died in Milam County while at the Treadwell’s. That could be how Tom came to be in the care of the Treadwells. We can’t verify this, so we don’t know which story is true or if either is true. The Treadwells settled in Cameron, Milam Co., Tx where Dr. Treadwell had his medical practice. Tom ran away from home when he was about 12 years old and became a jockey. Tom eventually married Antonia Hock in Milam Co. in 1890. They settled in Bosque Co., Tx and raised their family.
An interesting note is that in 1881 the Bosque County judge was Rufus Green Childress. (I have some background information on Rufus Green Childress if anyone needs it.) There is a very strong family resemblance with Rufus and I have a cousin in Deleon, Tx who could pass as a twin of Rufus.
Some information on the Treadwell’s shows that they resided in Benton, AL in 1850; Cherokee, AL in 1860; St. Claire Co., AL in 1870; and in Milam Co., TX in 1880. In 1870, next door to them was R.D. Treadwell who had a 22 year old male living in the household named Talor Childress. It seems that Treadwell’s and Childress’ were connected on some way.
This is our story and we desperately need help in connecting to our ancestors.
Rex Childress
