Searching for the family of Angeline EVANS

Angeline (EVANS) WADE, surrounded by her husband and children

She was part Injun, see. Us kids was close to Grandma. And when she’d get through eating, she had a clay pipe and a little sack of tobacco. And she’d get up and go out in the backyard under a big old oak tree... 

-Ormond Brosius, Aug 1979

That is the only oral history about Angeline (EVANS) WADE that has been passed down to my generation. I have heard it all my life, but have yet to see any documentation to support the idea that my great-great grandmother had any Native American heritage.

After years of vain search, I finally stumbled upon a clue that led to the probable discovery of her antecedents.

Up to that point, I had a half-dozen census records, a marriage record, a xeroxed page from the Family Bible (which has, unfortunately, since been misplaced), and a family group sheet from a cousin. The only clue to her parents contained in these records was the recording of her maiden name: EVANS. Her birth was variously given as Kentucky, Indiana, or Illinois. In one place, her first name was recorded as Evangeline, and in another simply as Anna. She also appeared as Angelina or just A. Given all those possibilities—and the commonness of the names—searching for her by name in the three possible states of her birth was not very effective. I was at a dead end.

Here I must pause and give thanks to the good people at GenealogyBank, for scanning the Sedan, Kansas newspapers and putting them online, and to my local library, for having a subscription to said service. For it was in the Sedan Times-Star that I found the article that gave me the first clue. On page four of the 6 Jan 1910 edition, to be precise:

Dr. and Mrs. M.T. Evans gave a very enjoyable Christmas dinner entertaining Mrs. Angeline Wade, D.K. Wade, Miss Artie Evans and Mr. and Mrs. A. Evans. All are relatives and the occasion was a very pleasant one.

I almost hate to admit it, but this was the first time it had occurred to me that Angeline might have some relatives of her own nearby. I knew that the area was full of her husband Allen’s relations, so I had figured they went with his family to Kansas, leaving hers behind. But here was proof that some of hers had come, too!

The question, of course, was how they were related to one another. D.K. Wade, I knew, was Angeline’s son, and a very little research showed that Dr. M.T. Evans and Artie Evans were siblings, their parents being Mr. and Mrs. A. Evans, who turned out to be Alfred and Matilda EVANS.

I found an obituary for Alfred EVANS on page four of the 3 Nov 1910 Sedan Lance:

Obituary of Mr. Evans

A Long and Useful Life Was Ended Here Last Week.

Alfred Evans, one of the pioneers of Sedan, died October 26, 1910, at his home in Sedan, after an illness of several weeks, the cause of his death being old age and heart trouble.

He was one of the good men of Sedan, having no enemies and esteemed by all who knew him. Quiet, unassuming, always attending strictly to his own concerns, and never interfering with others in matters in which he was not concerned, his whole life was an exemplary one. He was a devoted member of the Christian church, and when not prevented by sickness, or some unavoidable occurrence was always in his place at the church services.

He was born in Indiana, principally raised in Kentucky, and when 18 years of age moved with his parents to Illinois, and in 1865, he moved to Nebraska. He removed to Kansas and to Sedan in 1873, where he lived till the date of his death.

He had been a member of the church for forty-two years, and was one of the most consistent and faithful members of the congregation.

At the time of his death he was 77 years, 5 months and 22 days old. He had always been a hard working man, industrious, sober and a peaceable citizen.

The funeral services were held at the residence in Sedan Oct. 28 at 10 o'clock, conducted by the Rev. J.D. McBrian, and the funeral sermon was delivered from second Timothy, 4th chapters, 6th, 7th and 8th verses. A large number of the people of the community accompanied the remains to Greenwood cemetery where the body was buried.

He leaves a widow and three children surviving him: the children being Dr. M.T. Evans of Sedan, Mrs. Laura Waters of Elk City, and Miss Artie Evans of Macon, Missouri.

Although this obituary does not explicitly state the relationship between Alfred and Angeline, it is a valuable document. I already had Angeline’s birth date: 8 Sept 1834; and with a little math, I arrived at a birth date of 4 May 1833 for Alfred. The two are clearly around the same age. Perhaps they were brother and sister? The movements described in the article align with Angeline’s three claimed birth places and would explain the confusion of whoever reported her place of birth to the census in the various years. Furthermore, according to the obit, Alfred moved to Nebraska in 1865 and Kansas in 1873. This also roughly coincides with Angeline’s movements. I continued combing the newspapers for clues.

Alfred EVANS appeared in another obituary, surprisingly not belonging to one of his immediate family. Rather, it belonged to a Mrs. Henrietta DAVIS:

Mrs. Davis Dead.

Mrs. Henrietta Davis, wife of M. V. Davis, died at the home of the family at Leeds Sunday, August 2. Her death followed a sudden attack of sickness lasting three or four days. The funeral was held Monday, short service being held at the grave by Rev. J. I. Smallwood. The remains were buried in Greenwood cemetery.

Mrs Davis was well know in Sedan where the family has lived for many years, Mr. Davis, during most of the time being engaged in the blacksmith business. Several months ago he took charge of the blacksmith shop at Leeds and moved to that place.

Mrs. Davis was a half sister of Alfred Evans of Sedan and had other distant relatives here. Two sons and a daughter are left to mourn the loss of a kind and loving mother, namely Mrs. Clayton McGill and Nelson and Ben Davis, all of Sedan.

Here was an explicit statement of relationship between Henrietta DAVIS and Alfred EVANS! If Alfred EVANS was Angeline’s brother and Henrietta was his half-sister, then clearly Henrietta was also Angeline’s half-sister. (One of the times when the mathematical property of transitivity applies to human relations!) However, Angeline also was living in Sedan, and Henrietta’s obituary, apart from her immediate family, mentions only Alfred and “other distant relatives.” If she had more than one sibling in the town, it seems odd that her obituary would mention only one by name.

Another previously unknown relative popped up in two brief items in the Sedan Times-Star, both in June of 1910:

Mrs. A.C. Wade went to Niotaze Monday to visit her niece, Mrs. Anna Kilpatrick.

and

Mrs. A.C. Wade of Sedan is visiting her niece, Mrs. Kilpatrick.

Since I already had a pretty extensive family tree drawn up for her husband, Allen WADE, I knew that this was not a niece by marriage. It had to be a niece from Angeline’s side of the family. Figuring that she must, therefore, have been born an EVANS, I was quickly able to discover a marriage record for an Anna J. EVANS and a William K. KILPATRICK, who were married on 24 Nov 1902.

Anna KILPATRICK was residing in the 1905 Kansas state census in the home of Dick M. and Henrietta DAVIS. This census unfortunately does not identify relationships within a household, but the evidence tying together the various members of the EVANS family was mounting.

Even more exciting, on the line just below Anna KILPATRICK was an Ella EVANS. Looking at other census records of the DAVIS household, Ella also appeared (as Ella B. DAVIS) in 1900, listed as a “neice,” and in 1895 as Ella IVANS. I also found a newpaper article announcing her marriage in 1909:

Ziegler—Evans.

William Ziegler of Dewey, Okla., and Miss Allie B. Evans of Niotaze were married here Saturday at the home of Alfred Evans. Rev. Cummings officiated and only relatives were present. The young couple will make their home at Dewey.

Their marriage license is reported on the same page:

William Ziegler, Dewey........25

Ollie B. Evans, Niotaze........18

When I looked up their marriage record, her name was recorded, probably more accurately, as Ella B. EVANS. The marriage record I found was a secondary source: a list of all the marriages listed in Book J of the county clerk’s marriage certificate books. Often I am able to use the transcribed record books at this Kansas Trails website as a starting point, and look up the original document on FamilySearch, but in this case, the marriage record books at FamilySearch only go up through 1906. So until I am able to view the original, this secondary source will have to suffice.

Ella and her husband William ZIEGLER appear in the 1920 census living in Neodesha Twp, Wilson, Kansas. What is most enlightening about this census record is that the household also contains a father-in-law. Alva EVANS, we learn from this, is Ella’s father. Since Ella is Henrietta DAVIS’ and Alfred EVANS’ niece, and her father shares the EVANS surname, Alva EVANS must be a brother to Henrietta and Alfred. But I still didn’t know if I could extend that relationship to Angeline (EVANS) WADE.

I found the answer when I found Alva EVANS in the 1885 Kansas census. He appears with his wife, Lottie, and daughters Myrtle and Annie. The circumstances all added up to this Annie EVANS being Anna J. (EVANS) KILPATRICK. Therefore, she and Ella were sisters. Plus, since she had been explicitly identified as Angeline’s niece, her father must have been Angeline’s brother. I doubt if this line of reasoning would quite stand up to the Genealogical Proof Standard (I haven’t managed to get my hands on the BCC GenealogicalStandards Manual yet), but it is reasonably satisfactory for the time being.

So I now had a list of four siblings to look for in a household. Henrietta had been identified as a half-sister, but was she a daughter of the same father, therefore having the surname EVANS, or by the same mother, therefore with an unknown surname? That question was easy to solve. The “Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995” index at FamilySearch included a marriage for Martin V. DAVIS and Henrietta E. EVANS on 5 Jan 1868. She was an EVANS.

Finding the proper family in a census turned out to be much more challenging than I had anticipated. When all was said and done, I had come up with only two good possibilities, neither of which contained all four children. The first was the 1850 household of James EVANS in Wayne, Clinton, Ohio, and the second was the 1860 household of David P. EVANS in Mt. Auburn, Christian, Illinois.

The James EVANS household caught my attention first, because it contained an Alfred, an Angeline, and a Henryetta. Their ages didn’t match up perfectly with the ages I had, but they were fairly close. Comparison with Alfred’s obituary created problem, though. This family was in Ohio, while his obituary placed them in Kentucky at this point in time. The birth places for the children, when compared to the birth places I had on record, also didn’t seem quite right.

Tracing the James EVANS family farther forward in time revealed more inconsistencies, and eventually proved that this was not my EVANS family.

I moved on to the David P. EVANS household. By the time of this census, Angeline and Alfred were both married, so of the four known children, this household contained only Henrietta and Alva. But their ages and birth places did make sense. Moreover, this family was living in Christian county, Illinois, and both Angeline and Alfred had married in Christian county just a few years before.

However, I could not trace this family in the census records in either direction. It seemed that David P. WADE had somehow managed to be enumerated in only a single census in his entire life. I knew, though, that Angeline, Alfred, and Henrietta had all made their way to Richardson county, Nebraska by 1870, so I focused my search there. Richardson county genealogy has only a small presence on the internet, which rather hampered my efforts, and continues to hamper them, but I was able to make some discoveries.

The David P. EVANS household of 1860 included, in addition to Henrietta and Alva, three other children: Polly A, Bluford, and one that is indexed as Aurinda J, but on personal inspection, the “Aurinda” might also be read “Amanda.”

In the 1880 census I found an Amanda J. EVANS, identified as a sister-in-law, residing with the family of Joshua KINSEY in Falls City, Richardson county. Joshua’s wife is Mary A. KINSEY. Amanda and Mary’s ages and birthplaces fit perfectly to make the Amanda J. EVANS of 1880 coincide with the Aurinda F. EVANS of 1860 and the Mary A. KINSEY of 1880 coincide with the Polly A. EVANS of 1860. (Most genealogists know that “Polly” was a common nickname for “Mary.”)

Returning to the “Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995” index at FamilySearch, I found a record for the marriage of Joshua KINSEY and Mary Ann EVANS on 25 Sept 1870. The 1880 household also contained a stepson named Townley B. RAMSEY, which would seem to imply that Mary had previously been married to a RAMSEY, but I was unable to find a record for such a marriage in Nebraska. In the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, however, I found an 1865 marriage for a Mary EVANS and a William RAMEY in Piatt county, which is not immediately adjacent to, but not far from, Christian county. The date fits Mary’s age and Townley’s birth well. It’s not conclusive, but it is a possibility.

The 1885 Nebraska census finds this family still in Falls City. Amanda is no longer living with them, and, as one would expect, the oldest child has moved out and a younger one has been born. Most interesting to me, though, is that the stepson is now named as Bluford RANEY. Presumably the B in Townley B. RAMSEY stood for Bluford. This is more circumstantial evidence for this family being the family of the Polly EVANS in David P. EVANS’ 1860 household. The coincidence of the name Bluford helps to suggest a family relationship. Incidentally, I have been unable to trace with any certainty Mary’s brother, the Bluford EVANS who appeared in 1860.

I could not trace Mary (EVANS) KINSEY any farther forward. I have seen some assertions that she next married an Ephraim STANDIFORD, but have found no evidence to prove the two Marys to be the same person.

Likewise, Amanda disappears after 1880, Bluford disappears after 1860, and the later records I have found for Henrietta, Alva, Alfred, and Angeline have shed no light on the matter of their parents. Therefore, it was time to again try to work my way backwards. I had already searched the census indices and discovered nil. In the “Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941” on Ancestry I found a marriage record for a David P. EVANS and Rosana PENNELL in Harrison county, Indiana. If this were the right couple, the date of marriage—30 July 1840—matched up correctly to make Angeline and Alfred children from an earlier marriage and Henrietta and Alva their stepsiblings. (You can view the original document here.)

For a while, this was as far as I got. I included my findings in my Ancestry tree, and then moved on to another branch of the family. A few months ago I revisited this branch and found that another Ancestry member had been able to take it farther. Janine Eller Porter had pulled together and compiled a large number of sources. Her compiled research pointed me to a number of primary records, some of which can be viewed on FamilySearch. I am still in the process of accessing and evaluating these records, so I am not yet ready to lay it all before you. The research is still greatly circumstantial, but the circumstances are piling atop one another so neatly that it is rather convincing.

I will not go into much detail, but I will tell you that it seems that David P. EVANS’ first wife, Alfred and Angeline’s mother, was Rosana PENNELL’s older sister Elizabeth. Their parents were John PENNELL and Amelia HUNTER, and it may be possible to trace even farther back. The parents of David P. EVANS remain a mystery.

Citations and Selected Sources:

1850 U.S. census, Clinton, Ohio, population schedule, p. 394B, dwelling 1065, family 1065, Household of James Evans; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432_668.

1860 U.S. census, Bates, Missouri, population schedule, Spruce Township, p. 158 or 206, dwelling 1090, family 1100, Household of Alen C. Wade; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Oct 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_607.

1860 U.S. census, Christian, Illinois, population schedule, Mount Auburn, p. 244, dwelling 1862, family 1755, Household of David P. Evans; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Jul 2013); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_161.

1870 U.S. census, Richardson, Nebraska, population schedule, Salem, p. 5 (handwritten) or 113 (stamped), dwelling 35, family 36, Household of Allen C. Wade; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Dec 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll M593_832.

1880 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Summit, enumeration district (ED) 076, p. 3 (handwritten) or 400 (stamped), dwelling 42, family 42, Household of Allen S. Wade; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 Nov 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 375.

1880 U.S. census, Richardson, Nebraska, population schedule, Falls City, enumeration district (ED) 314, p. 12 (handritten) and 430 (stamped), dwelling 117, family 119, Family of Joshua Kinsey residing in the George W. Battreall household; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Jul 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 754.

1885 Kansas state census, Elk, Kansas, population schedule, Elk Falls, p. 15, dwelling 1, family 1, line 1-4, Household of Alva R. Evans; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing Roll KS1885_43; Microfilm reels K-1 – K-146, Kansas State Historical Society.

1895 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 3 (handwritten), dwelling 5, family 5, line 18-19, Household of A. C. Wade; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012); citing Roll v115_17; Microfilm reels K-1 – K-169, Kansas State Historical Society.

1895 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 6, dwelling 4, family 4, line 18-23, Household of D. M. Davis; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing Microfilm reels K-1 – K-169, Kansas State Historical Society.

1900 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 11, sheet 6B, p. 292 (handwritten), dwelling 115, family 116, Household of Dick M. Davis; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 473.

1900 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 0011, sheet 14, p. 108 (stamped), dwelling 295, family 298, Household of John S. Brosius; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Oct 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 473.

1905 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 55, dwelling 2, family 2, line 6-10, Household of Buchanan Wade; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing Microfilm reels K-1 - K-181, Kansas State Historical Society.

1905 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 66, dwelling 8, family 8, line 22-26, Household of Dick M. Davis; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012); citing Microfilm reels K-1 - K-181, Kansas State Historical Society.

1910 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 10, sheet 8A, p. 223 (stamped), dwelling 124, family 125, Angeline Wade; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll T624_433.

1920 U.S. census, Wilson, Kansas, population schedule, Neodesha, enumeration district (ED) 235, sheet 3A, p. 220 (stamped), dwelling 53, family 55, Household of W. M. Ziegler; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll T625_554.

“Billie and Smoke”: a recording of family reminiscing during the visit of Ormond “Smoke” Brosius and Billie Gardner to Portland, Oregon, in Aug 1979; recorded by “Sugar” Brosius at the home of Vinis and Aileen Brosius, cassette tape and partial transcription in the possession of Amber Brosius.

Clerk of the District Court. Chautauqua County, Kansas. Marriage Records, Book J. 9 Jan 1909-12 Mar 1914. Chautauqua County Marriage Records. Kansas Trails, 2011. Web. 19 March 2012. <http://ksgennet.org/ks/cq/marr/cqmarrj.html>.

“County News: Niotaze.” Sedan Times-Star 16 June 1910:5. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

“General News.” Sedan Times-Star 9 June 1910:5. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society, “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900,” database, Cyber Drive Illinois (http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com : accessed 13 Jul 2014), entry for the 1865 marriage of William Ramey and Mary Evans; citing original county clerks' marriage records.

Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society, “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900,” database, Cyber Drive Illinois (http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com : accessed 13 Jul 2014), entry for the 1857 marriage of Alfred Ivins and Matilda Hollingsworth; citing original county clerks' marriage records.

“Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XXLD-RZP : accessed 13 Jul 2014), David P Evans and Rosanna Pennell, 30 Jul 1840; citing Harrison County; FHL microfilm 001404750.

Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp., “Illinois, Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Feb 2014), entry for marriage of Alfred Ivins and Matilda Hollingsworth, 31 Dec 1856; Film # 0987611.

Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp., “Illinois, Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Feb 2014), entry for the marriage of Allen C. Wade and Angeline Evans, 22 Sept 1855; Film # 0987611.

“Kansas, County Marriages, 1855-1911.” Index and Images FamilySearch. [https://www.familysearch.org]: accessed 19 Nov 2011. Entry for William K. Kilpatrick and Anna J. Evans, married 24 Nov 1902; citing Marriage records, Chautauqua, Marriage licenses, 1902-1906, image 45.

“Marriage License.” Sedan Lance 19 Mar 1909:1. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 12 July 2014.

“Mrs. Davis Dead.” Sedan Lance 7 Aug 1908:1. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 20 Nov 2011.

“Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X583-12B : accessed 13 Jul 2014), Joshua Kinsey and Mary Ann Evans, 25 Sep 1870; citing Richardson, Nebraska, reference cn448; FHL microfilm 1705172.

“Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X583-B4T : accessed 12 Jul 2014), Martin V. Davis and Henrietta E. Evans, 05 Jan 1868; citing Richardson, Nebraska, reference cn252; FHL microfilm 1705172.

“Obituary of Mr. Evans.” Sedan Times-Star 3 Nov 1910:4. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 20 Nov 2011.

“Social Affairs.” Sedan Times-Star 6 Jan 1910:4. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

Works Progress Administration; Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research, "Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014), entry for David P. Evans and Rosanna Pennell, married 30 July 1840.

“Ziegler—Evans.” Sedan Lance 19 Mar 1909:1. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 12 July 2014.