George William Evans was the son of William Spratley Evans, M.D. (1808-1904) and Martha Ann Moore (xxx-1924). He was born October 1, 1848 in Logan County, Kentucky.
His father William S. Evans was the son of Benjamin Moseley Evans, a tailor of Murphysboro, North Carolina and was born July 18, 1808 in Southampton County, Virginia. His first wife was Mary J. Moore. They lived first in Henry County, Missouri and after three to five years they moved to Ashley, Washington County, Ill. Two years later they moved to Marion, Illinois. He graduated from Eclectic Medical College, Cincinnati and studied under Dr. Beach of New York. He began his practice of medicine in 1846. He was nearly 70 when he quit practicing medicine. He was also a licensed preacher from an early age in Virginia. William Spratley Evans died on April 26, 1904.
William S. and Mary J. had four daughters: Fannie, Martha F., Sarah F., and Mary E. After the death of his first wife, he married her sister, Martha A. Moore on May 6, 1845. They had George W., Virginia, Ella, Adda, and Emma. He left the following children when he died at the age of 96: Mrs. C. H. House, Marion; Mrs. Fannie Preston, Tennessee; Dr. George W., Marion; Mrs. W. M. Davis, Marion; Mrs. Joseph Fozard, Marion; Mrs. G. T. Clawson, Odin, Illinois; Mrs. L. W. Carpenter, Blairstown, Missouri.
In 1850, our subject, George W. Evans, was 2 years old, living with his parents and 3 half-sisters in Christian County, Kentucky where he got his primary education and learned to follow in his father’s footsteps.
In the 1860 census, they were living in Grand Rivers, Henry County, Missouri. George W. was 12 years old. His parents, William and Martha, had five children, including George W., living at home plus William’s daughter, Sarah, by his first marriage. Sarah’s husband’s name was William F. Carpenter.
By the 1870 census, William S. was 62 and Martha was 47. They were living in Rose Hill, Johnson County, Missouri. George W. was 21 years old. Jennie, Ella and Emma were there but Adda was absent. Another little girl was in the household, Maggie, 6 years old. George’s sister, Emma, would later marry Joseph Fozard on August 26th, 1879. Fozard was a Marion Alderman, contractor and active in the Illinois National Guard; Fozard Street in Marion is named for him.
Around 1873, George W. married Mary Louise Harrison. Mary Louise was the daughter of Joseph Patton Harrison and Eveline Simpson Seamands of Herrin’s Prairie.
In 1877, George and his father’s family briefly moved from Missouri to Herrin’s Prairie to live for several months before returning to Missouri where George could finish out medical school. The couple’s first child, William Harrison Evans, was born in Herrin’s Prairie in September, 1877.
George attended medical school at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and graduated with the class of 1878 from the St. Louis Medical College. Following graduation from medical school, in 1879, Evans and his wife moved to Marion, Illinois.
By the 1880 census, George and Mary were living in Marion and George was a practicing physician. He and Mary Louise had three children, Grace Lee (1874-1972), William Harrison (1877-1942) and Harry Howard (1882-1900?). They had another daughter, Georgia Evans, who died at one month on May 20, 1880.
An article in the Evening Post dated January 22, 1880 stated that G. W. Evans, W. B. Pace, L. A. Goddard and E. C. Pace had dissolved the banking firm of Evans, Pace and Company.
George’s wife, Mary Louise, died on February 1, 1882 at the young age of 27.
From 1883 to 1886 George served four terms as an Alderman in the city of Marion under Mayor James C. Jackson.
On July 1, 1885, George married a second time to Dora Vick. Dora was the daughter of Samuel Smithton Vick and Martha Jane Newton; she was a school teacher. Dora’s father S.S. Vick was a prominent Marion citizen and also an ex-Kentucky native. Vick owned a drug business in Marion that, generations later, would combine with the Cline descendants to form the Cline-Vick drugstore chain.
Dr. Evans served as Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge #89 in Marion in 1893.
The Leroy A. Chapter 350 of the Eastern Star was chartered in Marion on October 14, 1896. Dora and George were both charter members of the organization.
By 1900, George was 51 years old and Dora was 35. They had Harry, his son with Mary Louise, and Helen V., 7, his daughter with Dora, at home. Harry was a “private soldier” and does not appear in the records after 1900. George’s father, William S., aged 91, was also living with them. George owned his own home but it was mortgaged.
In July, 1902, the medical profession in Marion found it necessary to organize a Physicians’ Protection Association and Dr. G.W. Evans was among the charter members. Additionally, the Williamson County Medical Association, which was formed around 1884, having declined and fallen into neglect, was re-organized on October 26, 1913 with Evans as a continuous member.
Dr. Evans was listed in the 1907 Marion business directory as having an office located at 205 S. Market Street which was occupied at the turn of the century by S.S. Vick, his brother-in-law. This location would later house Samuel Dunaway’s real estate and insurance office and even later, the Bradley Insurance House business, as it is now in 2014.
In 1910, George and Dora were living at 1400 W. Main Street in Marion. They had their 17 year old daughter Helen V. home with them. George was 62 and Dora was 45 and they had been married 24 years. George was still a medical doctor, an allopath, working for himself. An allopathic doctor is an M.D. as opposed to an osteopathic doctor, D.O. By then, they owned their home free of mortgage. He was a Democrat and belonged to the Southern Methodist Church (M.E. church on S. Market, later called Aldersgate).
George died on January 27, 1913 in Anna, Union County, Illinois and was buried in Marion’s Old Rose Hill Cemetery next to his father. Evans was a devout Democrat.
His second wife, Dora, died on March 26, 1916, and rests beside George in Old Rose Hill Cemetery.
Notes on the Children:
William Harrison Evans was born Sep. 10, 1877 on Herrin’s Prairie, Illinois. He married Elizabeth Mann Oct 5, 1916 in Washington State. They had Grace E., Marian Virginia, and Ellen. He died Jan. 19, 1942 in Washington. During the years his occupation in the census records was always related to decorating: store windows, department store, interior decorator, and in 1940 a contractor.
Grace Lee Evans was born on Mar. 4, 1874 in Missouri. She married David J. Albert on Jan. 17, 1894. They had a son Paul Albert. She and David were divorced by 1910. She died on Jan. 26, 1972 in Sequim, Clallam, Washington.
Georgia Evans died in infancy at one month on May 20, 1880.
Harry Howard Evans was born Nov. 4, 1882. His occupation in 1900 was “private soldier”. No records could be found on him after 1900. He is listed as dying in one publication in 1914, but no corroboration could be found.
Helen Virginia Evans was born on July 24, 1892. She was in the 1910 census.
(Sources: Historical Souvenir of Williamson County, Illinois, Events in Egypt, U.S. Census Records, Family Histories on the Internet, 1905 Souvenir History and Marion Illinois History Preservation website, compiled by Colleen Norman)