- JOHN M. EVANS, M.D., SR. This old and experienced physician
of Evansville is one of the
- elder settlers of Rock County, and has a history that is
interesting, not only for its personal element, but because it
has to deal with a period in Wisconsin that is closed to all
but a few survivors. He is a good physician, and an honorable
and upright man.
- Dr. EVANS was born in Addison, Addison Co., Vt., Feb. 12,
1820, a son of Calvin R. and
- Penelope (GOODRICH) EVANS, also natives of that State, who
had five children, of whom Dr. John M. is the only one living.
The father was a farmer. He came West with his second wife, and
about 1850 located in Evansville, Rock Co., Wis., where they
died, he in 1866, at the age of sixty-nine, she in 1870, at the
age of seventy-one. The first wife, the mother of Dr. EVANS,
died in Vermont about 1833. They were Congregationalists in the
East, but in Wisconsin Mr. EVANS and family were associated with
the Free-Will Baptist Church. Gilbert EVANS, the father of Calvin
R., was a native of New York, and of Welsh descent. He was a
farmer, and died at a very advanced age. Allen GOODRICH, the
father of Mrs. Penelope EVANS was a native of Connecticut, and
went to Vermont with a colony when it was a wilderness. Two of
his brothers went with him and all three settled in the town
of Benson, Rutland County, and cleared three farms in the midst
of the mighty forests. Allen GOODRICH was the father of five
daughters and three sons. He died at the age of eighty years.
He was a deacon in the Congregational Church, and was an upright
and honest man.
- Dr. John M. EVANS, Sr., is a leading physician in Evansville,
and the proprietor of the "pioneer
- drug store", is a well-known old settler of Rock County.
When he was a lad his mother died, and he was an inmate of his
maternal grandfather's home until about nineteen years of age.
Mr. GOODRICH gave him every care, and treated him as a son. He
attended the public school, and had a good preliminary training
for life. In 1838 the young man went to La Porte, Ind., where
his father was living. There he learned the trade of a carpenter,
and followed it for three years, but was obliged to abandon it
on account of hip disease. In 1843 the invalid youth took up
the study of medicine, with Dr. MEEKER as preceptor. About this
time a medical college was organized at La Porte, and Mr. EVANS
was a member of its first class, and was in its first graduating
class, receiving the degree of M.D. in 1846. The La Porte College
continued a few years and was then merged into Rush Medical,
at Chicago. The young doctor came to what was then known as "The
Grove," a small frontier settlement, and flung out his sign
to the world in 1846. The name of this community was soon afterward
changed in honor of the young physician, and perpetuates the
name of EVANS to posterity. Several years later the parents of
Dr. EVANS came to Evansville, as above related.
- Our subject has passed his entire professional life in his
present home, covering a period of fifty-
- four years. Dr. EVANS was postmaster in Evansville from 1852
to 1855, and was the first mayor of the city. He was elected
to the Legislature in 1853, and again three years later, serving
with honor and credit both times. In 1861 he was commissioned
surgeon of the 13th Wis. V.I., entered the field with his regiment,
and continued in active service until 1865, when, his health
failing, he resigned and returned home. On June 1, 1854, in La
Porte, Ind., Dr. EVANS was united in marriage with Miss Emma
CLEMENT, a native of New York. She was a daughter of Richard
and Chloe CLEMENT, and moved with them to Indiana when she was
a child. The union of the Doctor and his wife was blessed with
three children, two living: Elizabeth Emma and John M. Elizabeth
E., born April 7, 1855, married D. C. GRISWOLD, and has one son,
Ray C. John M., Jr., was born Nov. 14, 1858, and married Miss
May JOHNSON; they have three children, Adelaide Emma, John Clement,
and Richard Donald. He is a physician and surgeon, having graduated
form Rush Medical and had special instruction in Europe. He has
an office in Evansville, and has won a wide patronage.
- Dr. EVANS, Sr., is one of the oldest and most zealous Masons
in this part of the State. He
- joined the order in 1841, at La Porte, and is a member of
La Porte Lodge, No. 41, A.F. & A.M. In 1851 he joined the
Janesville Chapter, No. 5, R.A.M., and six years later he united
with the Janesville Commandery, No. 2, K.T. On Oct. 24, 1882,
he became a member of the H.A.S.V., Orient of Wisconsin, Valley
of Milwaukee, and on the 27th of the same month was advanced
to the 32d degree in that body. He has also been inducted as
an honorary member of the "Oriental Order of the Palm and
Shell," an honor that has been conferred upon very few in
the State. During these many years he has filled various official
positions in the fraternity. He was worshipful master of Union
Lodge, No. 32, for twelve consecutive years, and was high priest
of Evansville Chapter, No. 35, for the fist six years of it existence.
In 1882 and 1883 he was grand high priest of the State. Dr. EVANS
is also a member of Tripoli Temple, Milwaukee, Mystic Shrine.
- Dr. EVANS and his family are members of the Episcopal Church
at Evansville, in which he has
- been senior warden since its organization. He was active
in the formation of the parish. Mrs. Emma EVANS died Feb. 6,
1899, at the age of seventy-eight. She was an active worker in
the Episcopal Church, widely known and greatly beloved for her
good works.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin"
(c) 1901, pp. 8-9.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|