1890 Buchanan and Delaware Counties History pgs. 499-500
NAYLOR CHILD was born in Jefferson county,
N.Y., December 25, 1815. He is the youngest and only
surviving member of a family of six
children born to Cadwallader and Elizabeth (Rea)
Child, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. His father was born in Bucks county, in the Keystone State, where his mother was also born.
The father was born August 18, 1776, received a good education, was a
farmer and surveyor, was four years a teacher, and died April
3, 1851.
The subject
of this notice was reared in his native place, growing up on the farm and
passing his youth in industrial pursuits of one kind and another, and receiving
what education fell to his lot by his attendance, at intervals, at the country
schools where he was brought up. He engaged in the mercantile business in 1836,
in Morley, N. Y., and remained in that business until 1856. Closing out his
interests at that date, he decided to move West, and in October of that year
came to Iowa, and in the spring of the next year bought eighty acres of
land lying in Coffin's Grove township, Delaware county, on which he settled, and to
which he moved his family the same spring from New York State. Here he has resided ever since. He
has devoted his entire life to agriculture except the twenty years spent in
mercantile pursuits in New York, and he has met with a fair degree
of success. He now owns a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Coffin's
Grove township, which he has well improved, and which
yields him a reasonable return for his time and labor expended on it. He has
placed most of his improvements on his farm himself, and some of his
improvements are, for the locality and farm, purposes, rather valuable. He has
met with some misfortune in the destruction of his buildings, having lost his
residence at one time by fire and his barn at another by a wind storm, and by
these two losses suffered heavily financially, as well as being at the time
much inconvenienced otherwise.
In addition
to farming, Mr. Child has also been considerably interested in stock growing
and in buying and shipping stock, at which he has made some money. But his
success at this, as well as everything else he has undertaken, has been the
result of his industry, perseverance and close economical management. August
22, 1864,
Mr. Child married Miss Julia Rogers, daughter of Samuel and Rachel Rogers, then
of Philadelphia, Jefferson county, N. Y., Mrs.
Child being a native also of that state, born January 27,
1835.
Mr. and
Mrs. Child have had four children, three of whom are living and all grown. The
eldest, W.
Stanley,
resides in Syracuse, N. Y., and is connected with the
publishing house of Hamilton Child, publisher of Child's County Gazette, and has been with it for five
years. He is now
twenty-six years of age. Frank H. is still with his parents. Mary Nellie died
at the age of eleven, and Irving H. is still at home.
In politics
Mr. Child is a republican. His wife is a member of the Friends' church, and he
himself is a frequent attendant at church and a liberal contributor to
charitable purposes.
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