George W. Childs

George W. Childs

Childs, George William, 1829-1894

While not a family member by blood, George W. Childs (1829-1894) and Anthony J. Drexel were the closest of friends for decades. Childs came to Philadelphia as a young teenager without money, status, or much education, and worked his way into publishing. He partnered with Robert E. Peterson and married Peterson’s daughter Emma Bouvier Peterson (not to be confused with Emma Bouvier Drexel, Francis A. Drexel’s second wife). In 1864, Anthony and his brothers financed the purchase of the Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper. Childs left his publishing firm Childs & Peterson to take control of the paper, building circulation up to the second highest in the country within six months.

The Childs and Drexel families were closely entwined, sharing a vacation home in Long Branch, New Jersey, next to Childs’ good friend, then General Ulysses S. Grant. The George and Emma Childs had no children. Anthony named his youngest son after his best friend. A sort of surrogate son, namesake George W. Childs Drexel took over the Ledger after George W. Childs’ death in 1894. Childs was a partner and advisor to Anthony in many aspects of their lives, including in the planning and creation of the Drexel Institute. Childs took over as board chair after Drexel’s death.

His childhood of poverty may have influenced his charitable giving, and he was a frequent donor to a wide range of causes and institutions including Fairmount Park, the Typographical Society, and the Zoological Society in Philadelphia. He built a memorial fountain honoring William Shakespeare at Stratford-Upon-Avon and funded a monument for Edgar Allen Poe in his hometown of Baltimore. Childs and his widow donated their extensive manuscript collection to the Drexel Institute, however, the school auctioned many of the pieces during a period of financial stress in the 1940s.

May 12, 1829

February 3, 1894

Baltimore, Md.

Editor

Publisher

Portrait of George W. Childs (1829-1894)
Constant, Jean Joseph Benjamin
1893
Gift of Mrs. George W. Childs, Philadelphia
Drexel Founding Collection, Drexel University
27

Public domain, digitized by Drexel Founding Collection. Please contact the Drexel Founding Collection for image use and reproduction.