Henry S. Evans
{{Short description|American politician (1813–1872)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Henry S. Evans
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| state_senate = Pennsylvania
| district = 5th
| term_start = 1870
| term_end = February 9, 1872
| predecessor = H. Jones Brook
| successor = William Bell Waddell
| state_senate2 = Pennsylvania
| district2 = 4th
| term_start2 = 1851
| term_end2 = 1854
| predecessor2 = H. Jones Brook
| successor2 = James J. Lewis
| state_house3 = Pennsylvania
| district3 = Chester County
| term_start3 = 1847
| term_end3 = 1849
| predecessor3 = William Price, William D. Thomas, George Ladley
| successor3 = David J. Bent, John S. Bowen, John Acker
| alongside3 = George Ladley, Thomas K. Bull, David J. Bent
| birth_name = Henry Sebastian Evans
| birth_date = {{birth date|1813|4|1}}
| birth_place = Doylestown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1872|2|9|1813|4|1}}
| death_place = West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place = Oaklands Cemetery
West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| party = Whig
Republican
| spouse = {{marriage|Jane Darlington|1841}}
| children = 4
| relatives = Columbus Evans (brother)
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|newspaper publisher}}
| signature =
}}
Henry Sebastian Evans (April 1, 1813 – February 9, 1872) was an American politician from Pennsylvania. He served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County from 1847 to 1849. He served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1851 to 1854 and as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1870 to his death in 1872.
Early life
Henry Sebastian Evans was born on April 1, 1813, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to Septimus and Catherine (Haupt) Evans.{{cite web |title=Henry Sebastian Evans |url=https://www.library.pasen.gov/people/member-biography?ID=4601 |website=www.library.pasen.gov |publisher=Library of the Senate of Pennsylvania |access-date=7 November 2023}} Evans worked as a printer's apprentice under Edward Darlington. At the age of 14, he left school and was apprenticed in printing at the office of the Village Record published by Charles Miner in West Chester. He continued the apprenticeship until May 11, 1833.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/wilmington-daily-commercial-henry-s-eva/134769305/ |title=Henry S. Evans |date=1872-02-12 |newspaper=Wilmington Daily Commercial |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924005813518/page/540/mode/2up |title=History of Chester County, Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches |last1=Futhey |first1=J. Smith |last2=Cope |first2=Gilbert |year=1881 |publisher=Louis H. Everts |pages=540–541 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-11-30}}{{Open access}}
Business career
He worked as a journeyman in Philadelphia and Germantown Township. Around 1833, he published a paper in Waynesburg (now known as Honey Brook) in Chester County. He returned to West Chester in 1835. Evans then purchased the Village Record from Charles Miner. In 1854, he bought the Register and Examiner from John S. Bowen and James M. Meredith.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchester00heat/page/80/mode/2up |title=A History of Chester County Pennsylvania |editor-last1=Heathcote |editor-first1=C. W. |editor-last2=Shenk |editor-first2=Lucile |year=1932 |publisher=National Historical Association, Inc. |pages=80–81,170,180 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}}
In 1848, Evans published an editorial in the Village Record expressing his outrage at Maryland slave catchers crossing over the border into Pennsylvania, breaking into a magistrate's house in Downingtown, pointing a gun at the owner and capturing a sixteen year old girl they claimed was an escaped slave.{{cite book |last1=Longley |first1=Max |title=Quaker Carpetbagger - J. Williams Thorne, Underground Railroad Host Turned North Carolina Politician |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-1-4766-6985-4 |pages=30–31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29nKDwAAQBAJ |access-date=7 November 2023}}
Political career
Evans served as chief burgess of West Chester in 1861.{{cite book |last1=Cope |first1=Gilbert |title=Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania |date=1904 |publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company |location=New York |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ns0wAQAAMAAJ |access-date=7 November 2023}} He was a Whig candidate for the Pennsylvania Senate, but lost. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County from 1847 to 1849. He was chairman of the printing and education committee. He was defeated in the election for house speaker in 1849 by William F. Packer.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chestercountyits00thoms/page/440/mode/2up |title=Chester County and Its People |editor-last=Thomson |editor-first=W. W. |year=1898 |publisher=The Union History Company |page=440 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}} Evans served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 4th district of Chester and Delaware counties from 1852 to 1854. He won the Whig party nomination for governor of Pennsylvania but withdrew from the race possibly due to an illness in the family. He continued his editorial work for a time and traveled to Europe in 1869. He was elected as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate in 1870 to represent the 5th district.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lancaster-examiner-death-of-henry-s/134769711/ |title=Death of Henry S. Evans |date=1872-02-14 |newspaper=Lancaster Examiner |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}} He remained in the senate until his death.
Personal life
In 1841, he married Jane Darlington, the daughter of William Darlington and granddaughter of John Lacey. They had four children, including Barton, William and Henrietta S. His daughter Henrietta married baseball player Joe Borden. His brother Columbus Penn Evans was publisher of the Delaware Republican.{{cite web|title=Joe Borden (Early Baseball Player)|url=http://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&context=hist_wchest|work=West Chester University|last=Weatherby|first=Charlie|year=2015|access-date=2023-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107183849/https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&context=hist_wchest|archive-date=2023-11-07|url-status=live}} He lived in a mansion on South Church Street in West Chester.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/westchesterpastp00dail/page/n59/mode/2up |title=West Chester, Past and Present; Centennial Souvenir |year=1899 |publisher=Daily Local News |page=48 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}}
Evans died of pneumonia on February 9, 1872, at his home in West Chester.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-evening-express-death-of-henry/134769514/ |title=Death of Henry S. Evans |date=1872-02-10 |newspaper=The Daily Express |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/reading-times-hon-henry-s-evans-12/134769600/ |title=Hon. Henry S. Evans... |date=1872-02-12 |newspaper=Times and Dispatch |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}} He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-funeral-of-sta/134769797/ |title=Funeral of State Senator Evans |date=1872-02-14 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-07}}{{Open access}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{find a Grave|84780861}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Henry S.}}
Category:19th-century American newspaper editors
Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
Category:Burials at Oaklands Cemetery
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Pennsylvania
Category:Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers
Category:Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators
Category:Politicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania
Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly