"William Thomas Childers was born April 28, 1872 in Clarksville, TX. He was the son of Alfred Maloy Childers, a Civil War soldier from North Carolina. Alfred was mustered out of the Confederate Army in 1865 and was sure his hopes of a bright future was out West in Texas. He joined a wagon train in NC bound for the West. In Tennessee the Osburn family joined the wagon train with their lovely young daughter Lucinda Elvira. Alfred and Lucinda Osburn were married and left the wagon train in Red River County, TX. Alfred bought a farm near Clarksville. He and Lucinda had seven children. William Thomas Childers was the third child. He was always called Bud as a young boy, and later in his life, in Oklahoma, he was known as Uncle Bud Childers. William married Amanda Alice Smith in Clarksville, TX in 1893. She was known as Mandy. She was once asked by granddaughter Paula (daughter of David Childers) if she believed in love at first sight. Mandy replied, "I sure do! When I first saw Bud he was about thirteen years old and I told my girlfriend there is the boy I am going to marry. He had beautiful auburn red hair." It was eight years later when Bud was twenty-one that he and Mandy were married. They rented a farm near Bud's family and began to farm. After the death of their first son, when he was five years old, Bud and Mandy dedicated their lives to God. They joined the Free Will Baptist Church and in time Bud bacame an ordained Baptist minister. He served as a circuit riding preacher. The ministry was always his first priority in life, although farming was necessary to provide for his family. Mandy's brother, John Smith, had taken a job with the railroad in the Creek Indian Nation. His reports of the country there came back to Bud and Mandy. They sold their farm in Clarksville and with five of their children, Evaline, Peraline, Wesley Marvin, Leroy, William and two sons of Bud's brother, Jim Childers, which they had taken to live with them when their mother died, they boarded the train in Texas for their new home in Wetumka, Indian Territory. Bud and Mandy farmed and preached in the area around Weleetka and Wetumka, later moving to Prague. In 1932 they moved into Okmulgee County. They rented the Gordon farm about five miles north of Okmulgee. Reverend William Thomas Childers became the pastor of the Free Will Baptist Church near their farm. These were the years of the great depression and money was scarce. It took long hours of work to provide the bare necessities for a family. Some people worked from sunrise till sunset for a dollar a day. Many families bacame destitute. Uncle Bud and Aunt Mandy never turned away a needy family. Their children remember the years of the depression as a time when their home was very much like the Salvation Army. There were always extra people at mealtime and most of the time they stayed all night. Some would stay a month at a time. Others were given work as share croppers on the farm. Most of the burden of work for these extra families at mealtime fell on Mandy. She had to be industrious and well organized. Along with the usual work in the house and cooking three large meals a day, extra work was added as the seasons changed. Spring was the time for a large garden and in the summer it was canning and soap making time. In the fall they made sorghum syrup. In winter they butchered and cured bacon and hams. Mandy would always try to save the last ham for Bud's birthday on the 28th of April. She spent most of her evening piecing quilts and telling stories of times she remembered from her childhood. Her daughter in laws remember her singing many old ballads from the hill country of Kentucky and Texas. Mandy served as mid-wife at the birth of many Okmulgee citizens and proud to have attended at the birth of all her grandchildren. Aunt Mandy helped bring them into the world and Uncle Bud married them and buried them. Uncle Bud Childers was well known in Oklahoma for his special talent of making sorghum. Many people brought their sorghum cane to the Childers farm every fall to have it made into syrup. He became a very prosperous farmer. Their Christian work with needy families around Okmulgee during the depression and dust bowl years caused Bud and Mandy to lose their farm. They retired to a small farm on Salt Creek, later moving to Phoeniz, Arizona to be near their chileren, William (Bill), Wesley (Red), Leroy (Roy) and two daughters Evaline (Evie) and Peraline (Pearl) and David, who later moved to California. Reverend William Thomas Childers died December 30, 1945. He is remembered in Okmulgee as a true servant of God who was always ready to help a neighbor. Descendants of William Thomas Childers and Amanda Alice Smith Childers were: Evaline Childers, married Henry Weaver, two daughters and a son, Lottie Weaver Kenney, Vivian Mae Weaver McCormack, Thomas Weaver. Pearline Childers married Lonnie Parker, two daughters and four sons, Alma Parker Wentela, Elsie Mae Parker Perry, Vernie Parker, Lonnie Parker, Elray Parker and J.D. Parker. Wesley Marvin Childers married Buelah Crosby, one daughter and three sons, Mildred Childers Mahan, Volney Childers, Harlan Childers, John David Childers. Leroy Childers married Iva Starkey, three daughters, Gwen Childers Tipton, Dorlis Childers Anderson, Gail Childers Brooks. William Thomas Childers Jr married Alice Davis, two daughters, Lois Childers Williams, and Billie Jo Childers Wyler. David Childers married Oma Reed, two daughters and one son, Norma Jean Childers Pruitt, Paula Childers Spolyar and Troy Jimmy Childers. A great grandson once told me that William Thomas Childers changed the last name from Childers to Childress due to a run in with revenuers. Seems Uncle Bud made home-brew from some of the cane he raised. I have had other relatives absolutely refute this. However, my grandfather, Luther Zachariah Childers, was raised by Uncle Bud and he once told me he learned the business from Uncle Bud. What we have to understand is that in those days making moonshine was not as frowned upon as it is today. Many folks make moonshine to supplement their living. Jack Childers in OKC The Clan Childers: http://hometown.aol.com/jchild8629/genealgy/index.htm Index of Surnames: http://mccserv.com/genealogy/genelist.htm