My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM H. EVANS, physician and surgeon, P. O. Hiett. Dr. W. H. and Abraham F. Evans were born Oct. 8, 1835, in Huntington Township and were twin sons of the late Hon. Andrew Evans, to whose sketch the reader is referred. The boyhood days of each were passed on their father’s farm and together they attended the neighborhood school which afforded them the advantages of a common school education which was developed by a course of study in a local grammar school, which completed their literary education. They took a part in the performances of the labor on the farm, and during the winter season were engaged in a flouring mill then operated by their father. Thus their boyhood passed until they arrived at the age of maturity. At this period, they separated, W. H. remaining in the mill, where he continued his labor as before, and A. F. began the study of medicine. September 23, 1857, W. H. was united in marriage to Amanda, the daughter of Robert and Johanna (Cooper) Scott, of this county. The avocation of milling and farming he followed until 1860, at which time he removed to West Point, Tippecanoe Co., Ind., where he following farming one season. During this time (November 1, 1860), he lost by death his wife, aged twenty-two years five months and thirteen days. Two children had been born to them, namely, Samuel W., born July 12, 1858, and Andrew, born October 19, 1860. After the death of his wife, he disposed of his effects and with his two motherless babes, returned to his former home. The following year his two children died — Samuel, October 6, 1861, and Andrew A., September 19, 1861. Taking up the study of medicine with Dr. Guthrie, a physician of Aberdeen, he prosecuted his research in the science of medicine until his enlistment August 12, 1862, in Company E, of the Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In the organization of the regiment, he was appointed a duty Sergeant. Soon after, the regiment moved to the front, and he followed the fortunes of the same in all of the marching and countermarching, and was a participant in the numerous engagements of the regiment up to August 14, 1863, at which time he was commissioned Hospital Steward of his regiment. This dates prior a few days to the memorable and sanguine battle of Chickamauga, during which he was engaged in carrying from the field of carnage those of our wounded boys who fell in that frightful holocaust of death. His knowledge of surgery enabled him to be of inestimable value to many whose wounds were of such a character that would admit of no delay in dressing and careful attention. For his heroism and strict attention to the performances of his dangerous and arduous labors upon this field and many other of a like character, he received from many of his superiors, valuable testimonials for meritorious conduct and unflinching bravery that carried him into the most dangerous places in the discharge of duty. At Chickamauga, his regiment was fearfully decimated, coming from out the conflict with its banners scarred and tattered by the leaden missiles of death which laid many of its rank and file in a soldier’s grave in a field they so nobly fought to win. Many more only escaped the instant death of bullet and saber thrust, but to fall into the hands of merciless and ungenerous foes, and to suffer incarceration in the awful prison pens, whose torture was worse than the inflicted punishments of the old inquisition. Following in the wake of this battle came the hotly contested actions of Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face, Tunnel Hill, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Sherman’s march to the sea, in all of which the regiment was engaged. December 24, 1864, he was detailed Hospital Steward of the Fourteenth Corps, and remained in Savannah until the following March, when the war closed. He joined the army at Goldsboro and was discharged near Washington, D. C., June 7, 1865. Upon his return to civil life, he read medicine with John W. Guthrie, of Aberdeen, until October following, when he went to Cleveland, Ohio, to Charity Hospital Medical College, and attended lectures there under the tutorship of Prof. R. N. Barr, then Surgeon General of Ohio. He received a unanimous vote for the degree of Doctor of Medicine and was graduated February 21, 1866, and honored with a diploma. He returned to this township and began the practice. He married Maria, the daughter of Hon. John T. Gaines, December 5, 1867. He moved to Hiett September 30, 1868. To them five children have been born — W. T. Sherman and P. H. Sheridan, twins, born October 1, 1868; Esther Early, born August 22, 1874; Minnie Myrtle, born February 16, 1876, and Wylie Weber, born November 30, 1878. He has a house and a lot of six and one-half acres; he joined the Christian Church at Bethlehem, in 1856, and was the first of his family to join the church; he was a licentiate minister of the Ohio Christian Conference for twelve years, when he resigned; he was the Republican nominee for Sheriff in 1870, and was defeated, the county being largely Democratic; he was the Republican nominee of his (Fourth) district for State Senator in 1881, and was defeated by a reduced Democratic majority; he has practiced his profession successfully and was always temperate. Dr. A. F. Evans, deceased, twin brother to Dr. W. H. Evans, was a graduate of the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio. March 7, 1860, he was married to Eliza, the daughter of Charles Kimble, of this county, after which he established himself in the practice of medicine at Pleasant Hill, Ind., till the spring of 1861, when he was taken sick and was greatly reduced physically. His brother, W. H. brought him to Aberdeen, Ohio, where he died May 14, 1862. Two children were born to them — Luna and Anna F. He was connected to the order of Masonry, and was an accepted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.