386 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1909. 



of works of art whicli is regarded as one of the best in the 

 country. His interest in art led to his election in June, 1907, as a 

 trustee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. By way of recreation 

 Mr. Evans was interested also in yachting and horsemanship, 

 and he was a member of a number of clubs. 



This item will be found in The Indi.\ Rubber World, June 

 15, 1890 (page 201) : "R. D. Evans, president of the American 

 Rubber Co., has purchased a summer residence at Beverly, 

 Massachusetts." From that time Beverly was the summer home 

 of Mr. Evans and his family. The estate there was greatly 

 improved by him and became one of the finest on the Massa- 

 chusetts coast. To his home he gave the name Dawson Hall. 

 Later he purchased the neighboring Stetson estate on which is 

 the cottage illustrated in The Indi.\ Rubber World, June i, 

 1909 (page 314), as having been leased from Mr. Evans as the 

 summer home of the President of the United States. It was 

 while riding through a bit of woods attached, with a view to 

 getting the place in readiness for President Taft, that Mr. Evans 

 met with the accident which proved fatal. 



Mr. Evans married Marie Antoinette, a daughter of David 

 Hunt, once prominent in the rubber footwear trade. At one time 

 Mr. Hunt was a partner of Elisha S. Converse, in Converse & 

 Hunt, a firm organized as selling agent for all the rubber shoe 

 factories. Later Mr. Hunt was selling agent for the Meyer Rub- 

 ber Co., the connection with which Mr. Evans has been men- 

 tioned already. Mrs. Evans survives. Her mother and her two 

 sisters, unmarried, have made their home with her for many 

 years. 



Funeral services were held at the late residence of Mr. 

 Evans on July 9, conducted by the Rev. Charles Towne Billings, 

 of the First Unitarian Church, of Lowell, Massachusetts. The 

 interment in the family lot at Forest Hill Cemetery was private. 



Mr. Evans was temperamentally a fighter. He was built for 

 battle both physically and mentally.' He was a much larger and 

 heavier man than he appeared to be. Apparently he was a trifle 

 over medium height, but really he stood over six feet, but was 

 so proportioned and heavily muscled that he appeared short 

 and smaller than he really was. It has often been remarked 

 that it was a wonder that a man of his ability could have served 

 in the ranks as a soldier and not risen to be at least a colonel. 

 It was explained in part, however, by his impatience of restraint. 

 Like a high-mettled horse, he fretted constantly under the curb 

 and would not be broken. This same impatience and resent- 

 ment at opposition was more or less present in his business 

 life, but as he grew older he grew more lenient and more 

 tolerant. 



He was wonderfully sincere in his friendships and generous 

 in his charities. Outside of business his great passion was his 

 love of art. Indeed, he was a connoisseur of no mean ability, 

 and his beautiful home in Boston had gathered many of the gems 

 of old masters. He was always a striking figure and one of 

 such pronounced individuality that he attracted attention in 

 any circle. 



A friend of Mr. Evans is quoted by a Boston paper as saying: 

 "He was a direct descendant of Lord Dawson, at one time 

 premier of England, and his beautiful Beverly estate was 

 named Dawson Hall in honor of his ancestor. His art collection, 

 which was his great pride, will probably go to the Museum of 

 Fine Arts as an Evans memorial." 



Tribute of the New England Rubber Club. 



Death having removed from our midst our friend and Honorary Vice 

 President, Robert D. Evans, we, a committee representing the New Eng- 

 land Rubber Club, herewith record our profound grief through the medium 

 of the following resolutions; 



Resolved, That in the passing away of Robert D. Evans the rubber trade 

 at large and the world of American business lose one who was a great and 

 successful leader. Biirn in humble circumstances, with no aid other than a 

 talent for organization and unflagging industry, he fought his way upward, 

 overcoming obstacles that would have daunted a less courageous soul, until 

 at middle life he was successful, rich, and free from business cares. In 

 perfect health, with the promise of years of well earned enjoyment before 



him, an untimely accident closed a career that is woven into the fabric of 

 the great industry with which his name is most intimately associated. 



Resolved, That in his death we have lost one of the notable figures in 

 our trade, and one of the most respected officers of our organization. 

 Alert, aggressive, vital, full of the spirit of American progress, a firm 

 friend, a discriminating yet enthusiastic patron of art, his place in our 

 hearts and in our industry must long remain unfilled. 



Resolved, That this brief tribute be spread upon our records, and a copy 

 be engrossed and presented to his family, to whom we extend our pro- 

 found sympathy. 



G. P. WHITMORE. 

 E. E. WADBROOK, 

 A. M. PAUL. 



Committee on Resolutions. 



JOSEPH DAVOL. 



Joseph Davol, president and treasurer of the Davol Rubber 

 Co., and for a quarter of a century a prominent figure in the 

 business and financial life of his home city. Providence, Rhode 

 Island, passed peacefully away at his home, No. 48 Parkis avenue, 

 on July 5. Death was caused by a complication of diseases 

 directly afifecting the heart, from which Mr. Davol had been 



suffering for some time, but which only obliged him to cease 

 active work four months before the date of his death. 



He was born in Warren, Rhode Island, June 28, 1837, and had 

 therefore just passed his seventy-second birthday. He was the 

 son of Joseph Bowen and Mary Little (Saunders) Davol, 

 both natives of Warren. He was educated in the public schools 

 at Warren, and was graduated at an early age from the War- 

 ren High School. After completing his education at the Warren 

 school he went to New York, where with his brother he became 

 associated with one of the largest and best known wholesale 

 dry goods houses in New York city in its day. While con- 

 nected with this house Mr. Davol made his home in Brooklyn. 



Possessed of remarkable business acumen for so young a man, 

 Mr. Davol was one of the first to forsee the possibilities in the 

 rubber manufacturing business, this being then in its infancy, 

 and presenting a broad field for developtnent. The opportunity 

 presented itself in 1870, in which year Mr. Davol formed a 

 partnership with Daniel C. Perkins, of Providence, and estab- 

 present plant of the Davol Rubber Co. The business had only 

 lished a small factory on Point street, near the site of the 



