History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Evans Family - CHARLES F. EVANS, JR Biography

No city in Lycoming county or indeed in Pennsylvania has greater reason to congratulate itself upon the excellence of its executive force than has Williamsport, and in point of capability for the duties of his position and promptness and fidelity in discharging them, no official of the city ranks second to Charles F. Evans, the present chief of police. Mr. Evans comes of Pennsylvania stock and is the grandson of Charles and Eliza (Fether) Evans. The family name would seem to indicate a Welsh ancestry.

Charles Evans, son of Charles and Eliza (Fether) Evans, was by trade a country shoemaker. In December, 1846, he enlisted at Danville, Pennsylvania, as sergeant in Company C, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for service in the war with Mexico. In August, 1848, the war having ended, he was discharged at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The following year he went to Buffalo, New York, and on October 18, 1849, enlisted for five years' service in Company E, First United States Infantry. In December, 1849, he was sent to Fort Brown, Texas, and continued to serve in the regular army until April 16, 1852. By a special order, No. 34, of the adjutant-general's office, Washington, District of Columbia, dated March 6, 1852, he was discharged at Ringold Barracks, Texas.

Upon the breaking out of the Civil war Mr. Evans was again mustered into the service of the United States. April 18, 1861, he enlisted, at Camp Curtin, Pennsylvania, as a private in Company A, Third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three months' service. After his enlistment he was appointed sergeant-major of the regiment, and was discharged at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1861, by reason of expiration of tern of service. October 1, 1861, he re-enlisted at Camp Cameron, Pennsylvania, as corporal of Company F, Seventy-sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three years' service. September 6, 1864, he was discharged near Petersburg, Virginia, by reason of promotion to the rank of first lieutenant in Company K, Seventy-sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was finally mustered out of the service by a special order No. 113, department of North Carolina, at Raleigh, July 18, 1865, " by reason of the war having ended." He retired from the service with a captain's commission dated July 1, 1865, abundantly earned by the years of faithful military service which had incontestably proved his devotion to his country.

Captain Evans married Sarah Klapp, and the following children were born to them : Charles, mentioned at length hereinafter; Thomas, who lives at Los Angeles, California, is married and has a family; Clarence; and Maud, who is the wife of Henry Rich.

Charles F. Evans, eldest child of Charles and Sarah (Klapp) Evans, was born April 5, 1859, in Hartleton, Union county, Pennsylvania, and was but eight years of age when his parents moved to Russellville, East Tennessee. They remained there six years, and it was therefore in the schools of that town, as well as in those of his birthplace, that the boy received his early education. In 1873 Charles F., our subject, returned to Pennsylvania, and he then went into the lumber woods in the service of Samuel Hartman, an uncle of his mother. Mr. Evans' field of labor was in the forests of Union county, and there he remained until 1877, when he transferred himself to the woods on the West Branch. He labored in these forests until 1889, when he obtained a position with the Standard Oil Company as superintendent of construction on the southern pipe line. While thus engaged he studied stationary engineering, and on the completion of the line took charge of one of the company's stations, remaining in their service until 1896, when he retired from active life on account of ill health. After a few years, his health being restored, he obtained a position with the Deemer Lumber Company, resigning at the end of three years in order to become the proprietor of a hotel, an occupation which he soon abandoned.

In 1903, when John Frederick Laedlein was elected to the mayoralty, Mr. Evans, who since 1892 had made Williamsport his home, was tendered the appointment of chief of police for a term of three years, and in 1905 was reappointed by Mayor Seth T. Foresman for a term of three more years. As the incumbent of this office Mr. Evans has displayed marked executive ability. He has under his command a force of twenty men with which he covers eighty-eight miles of streets. For so small a force this is one of the most efficient in the state. Mr. Evans has been asked many times to assist other cities in the capture of noted criminals. He has never refused his aid and has extended many courtesies in that direction. He is a member of all the Masonic bodies of his city and of Irem Temple, Wilkes barre. In politics he is a strong Democrat.

Mr. Evans married Lydia E. Bentz, and they have one child, Elsie Blanche. Mrs. Evans is a daughter of John Adam and Elizabeth (Fisher) Bentz, who came from Germany and settled at Lockport, Pennsylvania. Their other children are : 1. George, who married Christine Harmon and has two children; 2. Frank, who married Jennie Cripps and has five children : William, Alice and three others; 3. Mary Elizabeth, who is the wife of George Anderson and has five children : Charles, William, Emma, Harry and Merrill; 4. Elizabeth, who married Samuel S. Yoder, and is the mother of five children: Blanche, Elsie, Lurline and two others.


Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.










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