Evans, Henry B.

Born: 1814-XX-XX Virginia

Flourished: Fulton County, Illinois

Henry B. Evans was an attorney, miller, sutler, and Democrat. He came to Illinois in 1828 or 1829, settling in Lewistown. Evans married Rhoda Hand in December 1835, and the couple had at least one child together. In August 1836, Evans began purchasing land in Fulton and Knox counties, acquiring over 450 acres of federal land. He purchased an additional eighty acres in 1844. Evans ran unsuccessfully, as a Democrat, for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives in 1838. However, in 1839, he won election as clerk of Fulton County, a position he held until 1847. While serving as clerk, Evans encountered Abraham Lincoln at least once in the U.S. Circuit Court, District of Illinois. In 1850, Evans was practicing law and owned $4,000 in real property. He was employed as a miller in 1860. In 1861, Evans joined the Union army as a sutler but lost all of his goods in a Confederate raid. By 1870, he was living in Chicago.

History of Fulton County Illinois (Peoria, IL: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 403, 775, 977; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Fulton County, 24 December 1835, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; For an exhaustive list of Evans’ land purchases, search "Evans Henry B," https://www.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 323; Moore v. Nelson & Ashworth, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137578; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Lewistown, Fulton County, IL, 188; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Lewistown, Fulton County, IL, 21; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Ward 5, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 185.