William Henry Evans (November 3, 1842 – January 5, 1923) was an American lawyer and farmer from Yankeetown,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

who spent a single one-year term as a Liberal Reform Party member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

from Crawford County. Although a native of

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, he fought as a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

soldier in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Background

Evans was born in Petersburg, Virginia on November 3, 1842, son of Joseph and Mary (Hall) Evans. His father was a

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...

, and moved the family to several cities in the south and west in search of work. William received a common school education. He had lived at one time or another in Philadelphis,

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, and

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, before coming to Wisconsin in 1860 and settling in Yankeetown.

Civil War and after

Evans enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

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'D' of the

31st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 31st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 31st Wisconsin was organized at Prairie du Chien and Racine, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal ser ...

August 15 of 1862. He suffered a gunshot wound on the skirmish line outside

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on July 30, 1864, and was sent to a hospital in

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. Evans was assigned as a mounted courier for the

provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

's office in December, and remained in that post until May, 1865, when he was relieved and sent home to be

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(Company 'D' was mustered out on June 20, 1865). Back home in Wisconsin, he farmed while

reading the law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

, got married, and was admitted to the bar in the Wisconsin Circuit Court at Prairie du Chien in May 1873.

Legislative service

In 1873, Evans was elected to the Assembly's Crawford County seat as the candidate of the Reform or Liberal Reform Party, a short-lived

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

of Democrats, reform and

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, and

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formed in 1873, which secured the election of a

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and a number of state legislators. (Incumbent Peter Doyle, who had served as a Democrat, was the uccessfulReform nominee for

Secretary of State of Wisconsin The Secretary of State of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and is second (behind the Lieutenant Governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Wiscon ...

). Evans won with 1,059 votes, to 720 for Republican J. D. Jones. He was assigned to the standing committee on enrolled bills. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1874, and was succeeded by Republican Zenas Beach.

Later career and personal life

Evans practiced law in the Town of Clayton, Wisconsin until he was elected Crawford County's

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

in 1876. In January 1877 he moved to Prairie du Chien, the better to discharge the duties of his office. Evans was re-elected to the same office repeatedly. In

Rising Sun, Wisconsin Rising Sun is an unincorporated community in the town of Utica, in Crawford County, Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. ...

, in May 1867, Evans married Mary J. Flannagan, a native of Ireland who had come to the United States with her family while a child. As of 1884 the couple had seven living children, five sons and two daughters. In 1912, he is described as being in Prairie du Chien "from

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on his annual visit to relatives and old time neighbors and friends," accompanied by his son Frank and wife. He is reported on

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to have died January 5, 1923 in

Ryan, Iowa Ryan is a city in Delaware County, Iowa, United States. The population was 350 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Ryan is located at (42.350648, -91.482986). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , a ...

. The entry for him asserts that he and Mary had a total of ten children.William H. Evans listing on ancestry.com
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, William Henry 1842 births Farmers from Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Politicians from Petersburg, Virginia People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Union Army soldiers Wisconsin lawyers Wisconsin Reformers (19th century) 19th-century American politicians 1923 deaths American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law People from Crawford County, Wisconsin 19th-century American lawyers