WINFIELD S. EVANS
After
many years of close and influential association with the
agricultural interests of Wayne county Winfield S. Evans is
living in retirement in Seymour, enjoying the comforts earned
during a long period of honest and zealous labor. He is a native of
Iowa, born in Lee county in December, 1850, a son of Hiram and
Sarah Jane (Robison) Evans.
The family can be traced back through successive
generations from the father of our subject, who is a son of
James Evans to Evan Evans, a native of Wales, who came to
America prior to the year 1753 and settled in what is now
Geigertown, Pennsylvania.
He served in many of the Indian and Colonial wars and
upon the outbreak of the American Revolution joined his forces
with those of the new country, serving in the Continental army
as a member of Captain John Robeson’s Pennsylvania State
Militia. His
grandson, who was the grandfather of the subject of this
review, married Rachel Blankley, whose father, George
Blankley, served as sergeant in Captain Huffman’s company,
First Regiment of Pennsylvania Riflemen, in the War of 1812.
The
father of our subject kept up the splendid military record of
his family. He
enlisted for the Mexican war but was not mustered in in time
to see active service. However,
in 1862 he joined Company D, Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, entering the service as lieutenant and gaining rapid
advancement through his period of enlistment, resigning on
account of disability with the rank of captain. He had been a
resident of Iowa since the year 1845 when he came to Lee
county and purchased land.
Later he bought government land in Davis county and in
1856 settled in Wayne county, where he took up a claim of four
hundred and eighty acres of government land, upon which he
resided until his death.
He was eminently progressive and public-spirited in his
citizenship and for six years was a member of the board of
county supervisors. Twice
he was a candidate for the office of state representative but
was defeated both times.
He had extensive fraternal relations, holding
membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was
also prominent in Masonry, belonging to the lodge, chapter and
commandery. His
death occurred on the 21st of March, 1903. His wife, who was
in her maidenhood Miss Sarah Jane Robison, was a daughter of
James and Rachel Robison, natives of Morgantown, West
Virginia. This
family is also of old American foundation but is of Scottish
origin, James Robison, an early representative, having been
born in Scotland. However,
he afterward went to Ireland, where he married and later
crossed the Atlantic to America, settling in Virginia prior to
the year 1800. The
mother of our subject passed away on the 7th of
April, 1905.
Winfield
S. Evans of this review came to Wayne county with his father
on the 13th of April, 1856, and grew up on his
father’s farm. He
acquired a common-school education in Wayne county and began
his active career in 1876, when he moved upon one hundred and
sixty acres of land in Walnut township which was presented to
him by his father. With
characteristic energy he carried forward the work of
improvement, adding to his holdings from time to time until he
was the proprietor of three hundred and sixty acres of fertile
and productive land. Because
his activities were always progressive and his standards of
integrity high his labors were attended with a gratifying
measure of success and eventually he was able to retire. In October, 1909, he
moved into Seymour, where he has since resided, his useful and
well directed work in the past enabling him to enjoy all the
comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
In
1884 Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Miss Annie Lewis, a
daughter of John B. and Susan (McMillan) Lewis, the former a
native of England. The
paternal branch of this family was founded in America by Mrs.
Evans’ grandfather, who in early times purchased land in Iowa,
locating first in Henry county and then in Wayne county, where
he cultivated the soil until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Evans
are the parents of six children: Sylvia, who married B. A. Whitmore, who
is operating the farm belonging to the subject of this review;
David Glenn, a farmer in Wayne county, who married Miss Eupha
Fisher; Angie, Hattie, Hiram and Winnifred, all of whom reside
at home. The
family are devout adherents of the Methodist church.
Mr. Evans gives his allegiance to the republican party but although active and progressive in all matters of citizenship, never seeks political preferment. In Masonry he has attained a place of distinction, holding membership in the lodge, chapter and commandery. He stands high in business and social circles of his community, exemplifying in his life the fine qualities of character and the honorable and upright principles which are traditions in his family and which have won for him the respect and confidence of the community.