Abraham Childers

Abraham Childers V (November 15, 1750 – May 6, 1849) was an American pioneer, planter, politician, and Continental Army soldier who served as the personal cook to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he served in the Kentucky Senate from 1804 to 1806.

Born into the American gentry in colonial Virginia, Childers was raised on a slave plantation in western Virginia. In 1777, he enlisted in the Continental Army and was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. After serving as a cook, he fought in the Battle of Guilford Court House and was discharged in 1781. In 1797, Childers traveled the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and settled his family in Kentucky. From 1801 to 1804, he served as Justice of the Peace of Perry County and was later elected to the Kentucky General Assembly.

Early life Abraham Childers V was born on November 15, 1750, in Buckingham County (later Albemarle County), Colony of Virginia, British America, to Abraham Henry Childers and Susannah Goolsby. His paternal ancestors descend from Abraham Childers I, an English immigrant who settled along the James River, near Curles Neck, in the mid-1600s. Childers was raised at his father's plantation on the Tye River in Amherst County, Virginia. He served in the 5th Virginia Regiment of the Virginia Line under Captain Samuel Jordan Cabell. Childers was wounded in action at the Battle of Brandywine while fighting alongside his brother, Moseby Childers, who was killed in action.

During the war, Childers served as a military cook to General George Washington, assigned to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief. Elizabeth was the daughter of Cornelius Roberts, a prominent militia leader who was later killed by Native Americans in 1788. In July 1797,

In 1801, Childers was elected as Justice of the Peace of Perry County, serving until 1804.

Personal life and death

Childers was Protestant. He married his wife, Elizabeth Roberts, in 1786; she died in 1833. They had at least ten children; one of their sons served in the Confederate States Army.

Childers died on May 6, 1849, at the age of 98, in Letcher County, Kentucky. He was interred at the Breeding Creek Cemetery in Knott County, Kentucky.

On April 24, 2008, local historical preservationists and the Colonel Ben Caudill Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans installed an official military tombstone at his gravesite to honor his contributions to American independence.