Childs, John Wesley

Childs, John Wesley, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, was born in Calvert Co., Md., in 1800. In 1814 he went to Richmond, Va., where he was employed as a clerk. In 1826 he received license as a local preacher; in 1827 he entered the Baltimore Conference on probation; and in 1829 he was admitted into full connection. In 1844, when the Methodist Episcopal Church was divided on the slavery question, he adhered to the Southern 'Church, and continued to serve in important appointments up to the year of his death. He died May 9, 1850, at Norfolk, Va., in great peace. "His highest distinction lay in his extraordinary spirituality, his deadness to the world, his devotion to Christ; and in this respect it may reasonably be doubted whether he has had his superior in modern times." — Sprague, Annals, 7:729.