Thomas S. (Thomas Spencer) Childs

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1825, Thomas Spencer Childs studied at the University of the City of New York and then at Princeton Theological Seminary, finishing there in 1850. He went on to a long career in the Presbyterian ministry, including fifteen years as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Hartford, Connecticut.

After Hartford, he also served in Norwalk, Connecticut, and later in Washington, D.C. Contemporary records describe him as an active preacher and author of sermons, addresses, and religious works, and he remained connected to church life well into his later years.

Childs died in 1914 at Chevy Chase, Maryland, and was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington. For listeners interested in older religious writing, his work offers a window into the language, beliefs, and public debates of American Protestant culture in the nineteenth century.