Yolo County CA Archives Biographies.....Evans, Edward J. 1852 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com January 13, 2006, 10:22 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

EDWARD J. EVANS

    Long identification with Yolo county and close observation of material
conditions enabled Mr. Evans to exercise sound judgment when in the autumn of
1908 he invested in the property he now owns in the neighborhood of Yolo. While
the farm is quite small, containing only twenty acres, it has been made to
produce a large annual income through an abundance of water for irrigation. The
pumping plant comprises two wells equipped with a gasoline engine of thirty-five
horsepower and enables the owner to raise large crops of alfalfa, the average
annual yield being eight tons to the acre. Ample facilities for the storage of
the hay are afforded by the barns, which also afford shelter for the stock kept
on the place. A specialty is made of the dairy business and of the raising of
Berkshire hogs of excellent quality. In both of these departments of
stock-raising and agriculture the owner has gained a local reputation for care,
skill and sagacious judgment.

    It was during the year 1876 that Mr. Evans came to the west from Ohio and
settled in Yolo county, where ever since he has made his home. He was born in
Portage county, Ohio, March 17, 1852, the son of Evan and Ann (Morris) Evans,
natives of Wales, whose family comprised five children, namely: Mary, Jennie,
David, Edward J. and Robert. The years of his boyhood were uneventfully passed
in study at the country schools and in work on the home farm, and the lessons of
patient industry he learned while tilling the soil were no less valuable than
the knowledge acquired from text-books. Much he learned also of trees and birds
and plants and soil as he worked in the open and studied nature with a boy's
eager thirst for information. December 14, 1873, he was united in marriage with
Miss Sarah Ann Thomas, who was born and reared in Portage county. The Thomas
family is of Welsh origin and one of its first representatives in America was
William S. Thomas, who in early life migrated from his native Wales to Ohio,
where he married Miss Mary Phillips, who was born in the same locality as
himself. They settled upon a farm in Ohio, reared their children at the old
homestead and remained there until death ended their activities.

   For about two seasons after his marriage Mr. Evans lived upon a farm in Ohio,
but in 1876 he brought his family to California and settled in Yolo county.
During the first four years here he worked on a ranch near Dunnigan and later he
purchased one hundred and sixty acres west of the railroad, where he cleared the
land, brought the soil under profitable cultivation and engaged in raising grain
and stock. Ten busy years were spent on that farm and he then sold, after which
he operated leased land for some time, again becoming a property owner in 1908,
when he bought a small farm near Yolo. The place contained fair improvements,
including a house and barn, and he since has built another barn, thus giving him
all needed facilities for the storage of hay and shelter of stock.

    The family of Mr. and Mrs. Evans comprises three sons and two daughters. The
eldest son, William S., a rancher of Yolo county, is married and has four sons,
Myron, Milton, Edward and Robert. The eldest daughter and second child, Harriet
C., is the wife of William S. Stetson, a farmer near College City. Mary married
Herbert Hewlett and has three children, Alberta, Evan and Mary Elizabeth. Edward
M., a business man of Sacramento, has three children, Edward, Howard and
Marcele. Seth Evert studied civil engineering in the California State University
at Berkeley, where he was a member of the class of 1911. Always steadfast in his
refusal to hold office, Mr. Evans nevertheless maintains a warm interest in
public affairs and is well informed concerning governmental problems. At the
national elections he votes for Republican nominees, but in local issues he is
independent. For many years he and his wife have been earnest church workers.
While living near Dunnigan he acted as superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal
Sunday-school in that village and after moving near Yolo he served for several
years in a similar capacity with the school at this point. In addition he has
officiated as steward and trustee and has been generous in his contribution
toward the maintenance of the church, as well as toward its missionary
enterprises.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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