John Lewis Childs (May 13, 1856 – March 6, 1921)Weidman, B.S. and Martin, L.B. (1981)
Nassau County, Long Island, in Early Photographs, 1869-1940: In early photographs 1869-1940
'' Courier Dover Publications. p 49. was a

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

businessman and politician who founded

Floral Park, New York Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island. The population as of the US Census of 2010 is 15,863. The Incorporated Village of Floral Park is at the western border of Nassau County, and is ...

. In addition to a widespread reputation for being a zealous ornithologist, Childs is also credited with founding the first

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

seed catalog business in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

About

Childs was born in

Franklin County, Maine Franklin County is a county located in the state of Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,456, making it the second-least populous county in Maine. Its county seat is Farmington. The county was established o ...

, and grew up in Buckfield. His career in horticulture began in 1874, when he took a job with C. L. Allen of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Soon afterwards he began renting, then buying land in nearby East Hinsdale, Queens County, near other nurseries.

Business

Within five years of building his own seed and bulb business and starting America's first seed catalog business, Childs established a bustling business. The volume of his business is attributed with the expansion of the Floral Park Post Office and nearby village businesses. Additionally, Childs was responsible for building more than 20 buildings in Floral Park, including hotels, lumber mills and his own printing press. He also provided a public park for the community, built the first school in town, and served as the first village president, which later became the office of mayor.

Politics

He was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(1st D.) in

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

and

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

, and during his term he ferried a bill establishing a State Normal School in nearby Jamaica. He ran twice unsuccessfully for a seat in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

Land holdings

Childs bought a great deal of land in the area around Floral Park. His extensive land holdings related mainly to his seed catalog business, with more than used for that purpose near St. James, New York and eastern

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. Today, "Flowerfields" is an area within St. James that was founded by Childs around 1909.

Ornithology

Childs was an elected member of the American Ornithological Union and maintained one of the largest private

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

libraries in the United States. He possessed the largest privately held collection of over 1,100 mounted North American birds, most with nest and eggs. He personally collected more than 700 specimens of this collection. He was also a friend of

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

, who contributed articles on birds to Childs’ magazine, ''The Warbler''. Childs published the journal from 1906 to 1913.

Death

Childs died aboard a

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

train from Albany to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1921. His company continued to operate in the 1920s, only stopping in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. His wife sold the seed catalog operation to the Edward T. Bromfield Seed Company in the mid-1920s. Childs’ realty holdings were sold in the mid-1930s, valued by the broker at $2,000,000. Childs's ornate 18 room Victorian house in Floral Park was torn down in 1950.Laby, D. (2004
"John Lewis Childs, James D. Mooney, Flowerfield: Some historical footnotes"
. Retrieved 12/28/07.

References

External links

Historic photo
of Childs

of Childs' property and donations * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Childs, John Lewis 1856 births 1921 deaths People from Jay, Maine People from Floral Park, New York American horticulture businesspeople American ornithologists Republican Party New York (state) state senators People from St. James, New York People from Buckfield, Maine Scientists from New York (state)