William A. Childs was born in 1844 in Constable, New York. His mother died when he was quite young and in 1853, he came to Michigan to live with his uncle, Daniel D. Brockway in Copper Harbor. In 1862, Childs enlisted at Houghton as a private in Company B, 27th Infantry. In 1865 he was brevetted captain for valor at the storming and holding of Fort Mahone during the Third Battle of Petersburg, a decisive Union assault on the Confederate Army. Childs was mustered out in July, 1965. __After the close of the war, Childs took a business course in Detroit, shortly after which he returned to Michigan's Copper Country. In 1866, he was employed by the mining company, Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, where he was employed until his death in 1916. Childs assisted the Alexander Agassiz survey in laying out the Hecla and Torch Lake Railroad, of which he later became the general manager. Childs was a charter member of the Miscowaubic Club in Calumet, a director of the Merchants and Miners Bank of Calumet, a probate judge in Houghton County, and a captain of the Calumet Light Guard.