Bidspirit auction | Important Athens Ga. Asaph Childs

Important Athens Ga. Asaph Childs Coin Silver Lot - Important Athens Georgia, Asaph Childs Coin Silver Lot Decorated with Oak Leaf and Acorn decorations. Ties into the Civil War story as well. In 1846 A.K. Childs took charge of his brother's store in Athens Georgia, A.K. Childs had been born in Springfield MA, the son of Joshua & Susan King Childs. At the age of fifteen he journeyed from Springfield MA to Milledgeville GA by himself, arriving in September of 1836. While in Milledgeville he joined his brother Otis, a jeweler and silversmith. There he was trained in the craft becoming an accomplished silversmith. By April 1846 he had established himself in Athens Ga. purveying watches and jewelry and silver at Mr. Richards” Book and fancy goods store” Athens would be Childs home for the rest of his life. He was noted as a fine silversmith, but his entrepreneurial interest went far beyond that craft. By 1849 he was chief engineer of the Hope Fire Company still maintaining his jewelry business at the familiar downtown Athens Georgia building, the Franklin House. On Jan, 17 1856 he married Susan Baker Ingle (1831-1881). He served in Capt. James White's Confederate Company, the 48th Battalion Clark Co. Georgia Militia. After the war he did not re-establish his jewelry business but moved in other directions. He helped begin the National Bank of Athens in 1866 serving as the president from 1881-1900. He founded the major hardware business in Athens and was a major real estate developer as well. He became president of the Northeastern Railroad which connected Athens with communities all the way to Clayton Ga. providing outlets and expansion for the businesses in Jackson, Hall, and White Counties. His oldest daughter, Frances Ingle Childs (1857-1940), married David Crenshaw Barrow Jr. (1852-1927) who served as Chancellor of The University of Georgia, and which Barrow County was named for him. For all A.K. Child's accomplishments, he still revered for his silver and its fine quality of southern silversmith. Whether its coin silver-flatware or much rarer examples of hollowware. His wonderful tea service honoring Dr. Alonzo Church, president of University Of Georgia, was made in 1856. It became part of the collection of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation. Despite Child's prominence as a silversmith, his work is quite scarce in the marketplace, rarely turning up for sale or auction. When it does, it almost always a random piece of flatware. Offered here is a fine example of fiddleback teaspoon, hallmarked ”A.K. Childs ”PureCoin” and engraved ”EPL” made prior to the Confederate Troup Artillery and sons of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Henry Lumpkin. Also a rare 3” Tall highly decorated Child's Cup, a superb example of southern silver, of exceptional rarity with and Athens connection. Its hallmark is crisply stamped ”A.K. CHILDS” and an engraving reading ”S.H.H. to H.E.H.” The S.H.H. most probably is Sarah Herndon Harris(1786-1870), widow of prominent Georgia politician Stephen Willis Harris & grandmother of Atenian civic leader Sampson H. Hardeman. The ”H.E.H.” has not been specifically identified but clearly is a family member. This is circa mid 1850's as well -known tea service for Dr. Church. Its a remarkable fine and noteworthy of any museum. Private Georgia collection. Condition: VG+