BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



459 



Evan, John ap, (John Evan,) from 

 Trererigg, (llaniorgnnshire, Wales, emi- 

 grated with his family to Pennsylva- 

 nia, and settled in Radnor township in 

 ltJ84. He was in raembershi), with 

 Friends, and meetings were held at his 

 dwelling as early as 168G. David 

 Evans married his daughter Mary 

 Jones as his second wife. Another 

 John Evan from the parish of Nantmel 

 in Radnorshire, Wales, also settled in 

 Radnor township very early, and it is 

 difficult to distinguish between the 

 subsequent transactions of the two. 



Evan, Thomas John, migrated from 

 the neighborhood of Dolobran, Mont- 

 gomeryshire, Wales, in 1683, and was 

 among the earliest of the Welsh Friends 

 ■who settled in Radnor township. In 

 1(386 he married Lowery Johnes, of 

 Meriou, by whom he had four children, 

 which, after a prevailing custom, were 

 named as follows, viz : John Thomas. 

 Rowland Thomas, Joseph Jones and 

 Elizabeth Jones. He was himself 

 frequently known as Thomas Jones. 

 He died in 1707. 



EvA.N, David, the son of Evan, ap 

 Jiilliam Poicell, '' with his wife Gainer 

 and their younger children," came to 

 America about the year 1684, and set- 

 tled in Radnor. They were from 

 Glamorganshire, South Wales. His 

 wife could not have lived long after 

 their arrival, as " David Evan, u-idower," 

 was married to " Marv Jones, Spinster,'' 

 in 1C90. He died in 1710. His chil- 

 dren were, Caleb, Joshua, Evan, David 

 and Philip. They were all members 

 of the Society of Friends. 



Evan, Philip, brother of the above 

 named, David Evan, came from the 

 same place and at the same time, but 

 was unmarried. He was married to 

 Sarah Thomas of Merion, at a Friend's 

 meeting, held at the house of Hugh 

 Roberts, in 1690. 



Evans, John, was born in Radnor 

 township, Delaware County, on the 

 13th of the 2d month, 179U, and died 

 on the loth of April, 1862. He was 

 the son of David and Adah Evans. On 

 the side of his father his ancestors 

 were thoroughly Welsh, while on that 

 of his mother they were partly so. His 

 mother died in 1800, and his father six 



years later. His early education was 

 was limited, though he received rather 

 more than was usual at that time in 

 the neighborhood. Though there was 

 a mill on the patrimonial estate, he 

 preferred going to a larger establish- 

 ment to learn the business of milling, 

 which he had selected for an occupa- 

 tion in after life. After he had learned 

 the trade thorougiily he was employed 

 as manager of a large flour mill, then 

 (1812) recently erected on the Hudson 

 river, near the present city of Troy. 

 Here he remained three years much to 

 the satisfaction of his employers. 



With the exception of the town of 

 Troy, then a mere hamlet, the country 

 surrounding the mill was nearly in a 

 stale of nature, and, as is well known, 

 was highly romantic. Being almost 

 shut out from social intercourse, our 

 young miller, after having attended 

 closely to his business on week days, 

 spent much of his time on Sundays, in 

 rambling over the wild and romantic 

 country that surrounded his mill — in 

 traversing its streams, and in scaling 

 its precipices. It was in this state of 

 isolation from civilized society that the 

 habits and tastes of John Evans under- 

 went a change. It was in these soli- 

 tary rambles that he laid the foundation 

 of his character in after life. Here he 

 became a devoted lover of nature, ac- 

 quired the habits of close observation, 

 and fitted himself for the successful 

 study of the natural sciences. 



After his return from Troy he re- 

 sumed the milling business at the 

 homestead mill, and in 1819 married 

 Ann, the daughter of Benjamin Brown 

 of Radnor, by whom he had six chil- 

 dren. He subsequently engaged in the 

 I business of sawing lumber for the Phi- 

 I ladelphia market, which he continued 



till near the close of his life. 

 ' Up to about the year 1827 or '28, 

 : though industrious in the acquisition 

 of knowledge, John Evans had not 

 i shown a great preference for any parti- 

 cular branch of science. About this 

 , time he received a visit from his kins- 

 j man, Alan W. Corson, of Plymouth, 

 Montgomery county, who was on his 

 return home, with his daughter, from 

 Westown boarding-school. The visitors 

 remained over night, and had with 

 them a copy of Dr. Darlington's Fhr- 

 ula Cestrica. then lately published, and 

 used in Westown school. This was the 



