Edward Evans
His great-grandfather, Hugh Evans, was a Quaker, came over with William Penn in 1682, and located near Philadelphia. He had a son, Edward, who located in Chester County. His son, Hugh, became a school teacher in Chester County, and Mad Anthony Wayne, when a boy of twelve years, was one of his pupils, and a very mischievous and unruly one. Hugh Evans also had a trade, as that was thought necessary in those days. He was a weaver as well as a school teacher.
Hugh Evans, the father of our subject, removed to what was then Cumberland, but is now Bedford County, Pennsylvania, about ten miles above Bedford borough on the Juniata River.
Edward Evans was born April 27, 1760, an only son. He had two sisters older than himself who died in young womanhood, but not before they had made themselves some reputation for attainments in vocal music. The family attended the commencements of Princeton College, and they sang in the commencement exercises.
Edward Evans spent his boyhood as the boys of his time did. He was fond of fishing in the Juniata River, and from the time he was twelve years of age, often made trips alone to Hagerstown, Maryland, to obtain salt. In these trips, he usually took a train of twelve pack horses. He would carry the horse' feed in the packs in going over and leave it at stopping places where it would be used on his return. The salt, when brought to Bedford, was sold for as high as twelve dollars per bushel. In his sixteenth year, the Revolution began. Till that time, the family had been Quakers, but King George did away with that, and father and son abandoned that faith. Hugh Evans went into the war in 1776, and served two months, but he was lame and had to give it up. Then Edward determined to go and did go, and became a member of Captain Samuel Dawson's Company of Col. Richard Humpton's Regiment, 11th Pennsylvania. He spent that dreadful winter in the cantonments of Valley Forge. There he saw Mrs. Washington, where she visited the camp, knitting and sewing for the soldiers. He was at the Battle of the Brandywine, September 11, 1777. At Brandywine, the British had retired over a bridge across the creek. They did not have time to destroy the bridge, but filled it full of wagons, carts and debris to prevents immediate pursuit. Edward Evans was one of twelve detailed to clear the bridge under muskety fire of the enemy. The bridge was cleared, and not one of the twelve were struck, though the splinters flew all about them. The Continentals immediately charged across the bridge. He was at the affair of Paoli, September 11th, and at Germantown, October 4, 1777. Here his colonel had his horse shot from under him, but he took off the saddle, put it on another horse, and went on with the fight. In this battle, he was in the left wing, and claimed that the troops he was with were compelled to fall back, when it was not necessary because the officer in command was intoxicated. He was near the battle of Monmouth on that hot Sunday, June 28, 1778, but having been on the sick list, his Captain ordered him to remain with the baggage, which he did, but he was in sight and hearing of the battle. He left the service for a time soon after the battle of Monmouth, and settled in Rostaver Township, Westmoreland County, Virginia, called the Neck, lying between the two rivers, the Youghiougheny and the Monongahela. He lived near Devore's Ferry on the latter river. There he married Jemima Applegate, daughter of William Applegate, recently located there from the State of New Jersey. The wedding was a grand affair for the time and one hundred persons sat down to the dinner.
Directly after his marriage, he and his wife went to housekeeping in the house of John Right, a Scotchman and a bachelor. Wright liked the young couple and made them many household utensils on his anvil. Among them was a fire shovel, now in the possession of the writer hereof.
Edward Evans, in 1785, emigrated to Kentucky, descending the Ohio River on a flat-boat with his wife, two children and household goods. He landed at Limestone, now Maysville, but went back to Washington, where he rented land of a Presbyterian minister. While residing there, he acted as an Indian scout and spy, from time to time, until the treaty of Greenville. In 1799, he removed to Adams County, near its western line. He lived near Red Oak and rented land until he could be suited in a purchase. In 1803. he bought 109 acres of land all in the unbroken wilderness, in what is now Jefferson Township in Brown County. He paid for this land in horses. When he went over the land, after purchasing, he was unable to find any springs on it. He then went to his wife and wanted her consent to rescind the trade. She said, "No, it would make them a home and they must hold on to it," which they did. Afterward, seven good springs were discovered on the tract. Edward Evans built him a pole cabin and went to housekeeping, and as soon as he could, he built him a two-story hewed double log house and moved into it. He made all the chimneys he thought necessary and hauled a hundred loads of stone to do it. He resided on this farm until his death, November 3, 1843. He at one time weighed three hundred pounds, but his ordinary weight was one hundred and eighty-five pounds. He was five feet, ten and a half inches tall, and in youth, had black curly hair. He had high cheek bones, broad forehead and regular features. He always carried himself very erect. In his youth, he had learned the art of distilling liquors, and at times, operated a stillhouse. He was the father of twelve children, six sons and six daughters. His wife had four sisters, -all of whom married. Two of their husbands were Revolutionary soldiers, John Dye and Robert Wright, and they two and Edward Evans used often to sit together and recount their expeiences in the Revolutionary War. Each had served in different places during the war, one at sea and two on land.
When Edward Evans was about to die, he requested to be buried in the old-fashioned shroud, to be laid on a flat-topped cherry coffin and buried on his farm. All his wishes were complied with. In his family from 1862 to the present time, there were in alternate generations, a Hugh and an Edward. Hugh came over with William Penn. He had a son Edward. His son Hugh was in the Revolution. His son Edward was the subject hereof. He had a son, Hugh, who was a Mississippi River pilot. There was an Edward among his grandsons and a Hugh among his great-grandsons. His wife, Jemima Applegate, died January 7, 1844. Her father, William Applegate, emigrated from New Jersey to Penn sylvania, and from there to Corydon, Indiana, where he died at the ripe age of one hundred and five years. When one hundred years old, he walked into the woods with his rifle, and, without glasses, shot a squirrel in a tree. The descendants of Edward Evans were once numerous in Brown County, but are now scattered in many States of the Union. A great-grandson is one of the editors of this work.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900