More Children of Pierce and Mary Ann Evans - Mary Ann, Rinaldo, and Nancy

 

Mary Ann Evans was the youngest daughter in the Pierce Evans' family.  Born in Defiance in 1840, she married the son of Miller Arrowsmith - John Caraway Arrowsmith - in 1861, and the next year they were blessed with their one and only son, Miller Pierce Richard Evans Arrowsmith, called Dick or Dickie.

(*Caraway was his mother, Celenda Caraway's, maiden name.)

Unfortunately, John C. Arrowsmith died on May 29, 1864, and was buried in the Farmer Cemetery.  About five years later, Ann and her son rode the newly finished railroad out to California to join her brothers, and she followed them later to Reno where she stayed 25 years, living with John Newton and his family.

in 1905, after her brother, John Newton's, death,  she and Dick returned home to Hicksville where she lived the rest of her life until the age of 100 1/2. A large party was held for her one hundredth birthday and a special guest was her niece, John's daughter, Elizabeth Evans Robinson from Reno.

Her obituary appeared in the Nevada State Journal on June 15, 1941, p. 5:

"AGED FORMER RENOITE DIES.  Mrs. Arrowsmith was 100 Years Old.

At the age of 100 years and six months, Mrs. Ann Evans Arrowsmith, a former well-known Reno resident, died yesterday at the home of her son in Hicksville, Ohio.  Mrs. Arrowsmith was born on December 15, 1840, at Fort Defiance, Ohio, 13th child of Pierce Evans and Mary Ann Braucher Evans.

In 1861, she married John Caraway Arrowsmith.  He died in 1863 (1864).  Accompanied by her son, Dick Evans Arrowsmith, she came west in the first year after the Central Pacific railroad was completed in 1869.  She went to Lassen county, California, and made her home in Long Valley.  Her four brothers, Orlando, Alvaro, Allen and John Evans were engaged in ranching there.

After living in Lassen county for 10 years, she moved to Reno in 1879, where John Newton Evans had moved.  She lived with her son and his family for more than 25 years in the home on Evans avenue where the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house is now located.

She was very active in the social life of Reno, then a rapidly-growing town.  Mrs. Arrowsmith was a charter member of the Woman's Relief Corps in Reno, and at the time of her death, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Ohio.

In 1905, Mrs. Arrowsmith returned to Ohio with her son, the late John N. Evans and his family, and resided there up to the present time.  (*She returned with her son, Dick.)

Among the surviving relatives are Mrs. J. LaRue Robinson, of Reno, a niece and her daughter-in-law, who was the former Gertrude Rhodes, an aunt of Dr. D. C. Rhodes, and Mrs. Jessie Rhodes Wilcox of Reno.

The 100th birthday of Mrs. Arrowsmith was observed last December with a large family reunion in Ohio.  At that time, numerous telegrams of congratulations were sent by many persons, including Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Carole Lombard and Clark Gable."

Nancy Braucher Evans, born in February 1823, was Mary Ann's older sister.  She married James Cheney and they settled in Indiana.  (Braucher was her mother's maiden name.)

She died on June 27, 1895, and her obituary appeared in the Defiance Democrat on July 4, 1895, page 5:

"From Fort Wayne Gazette of Friday, June 28, we glean the following concerning the death and brief history of Mrs. Nancy Cheney, who was born near this city 72 years ago, and is remembered by some of the old residents still living in Defiance.

Yesterday morning at 9 o'clock occurred the death of Mrs. Nancy Cheney at the residence of her husband, Judge James Cheney on Spy Run Avenue.  The cause of death, as revealed by a post mortem exam held by Drs. Ross and Porter, was an ulceration of the bowels, probably of a cancerous nature.  Mrs. Cheney had been ill for some time, but few knew that her condition was critical and the news of her death was a fearful shock to her friends.

Mrs.Cheney was born 72 years ago near Defiance, Ohio, and in her childhood days was Miss Nancy Evans, the daughter of pioneers settled on the Maumee River.  Fifty three years ago last May, she became the wife of Mr. James Cheney, who is now one of the wealthiest and best known capitalists in Indiana.

In 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Cheney moved to Fort Wayne, where Mr. Cheney started a bank. In a few years, he moved to Logansport where he resided until 1874.  He then moved to Fort Wayne with his wife and they have resided here ever since.

There are four surviving children as follows: Mrs. Helen Kimberly of Neenah, Wisconsin; Mr. W. R. Cheney of St. Louis; Mrs. Mary Cornelia Nelson of Logansport and Mrs. C. S. Knight of Spy Run Avenue.  The aged husband and three daughters were at her bedside when death occurred yesterday morning, and Mr. Will Cheney, the only son, arrived from St. Louis last night.

Mrs. Cheney was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian Church.  The funeral will be held there tomorrow morning, Rev. Dr. Moffatt officiating, and the remains taken to Logansport for interment."

                                                        Logansport, Indiana

Her husband was the well-known James Cheney.  His obituary appeared in the Fort Wayne Sentinel, December 14, 1903, front page: 

It was brother Rinaldo (Reynaldo) who stayed in Ohio to farm the lands obtained by his father, Pierce.  Born on December 17, 1819, Rinaldo married Mary A. Shaw in 1858.  He farmed his land in Richland Township and could be found in the censuses each year until 1880; he died on April 27, 1886.  His obituary was short, appearing in the Defiance Democrat on April 29, 1886:

"RINALDO EVANS, an old and highly respected citizen of this section, died at his farm residence in Richland township Tuesday afternoon.  The funeral will be held on Friday."

His will was probated in May, 1886, in which he revealed that he had no debts and that his executors should contest any that came forth, expect for his taxes and last sickness.  All was left to his wife, and upon her death, designations were named for each child.  At that time he had 200 acres along the river in Section 19 and 118 acres in Section 18.

He was buried in Old Riverside Cemetery in Defiance.

As mentioned in an earlier posts, several other brothers died young - the youngest child, Frederick Richard died at age 2.  An older brother, Horatio, born in 1830, died in 1851. His brief obituary appeared in the Defiance Democrat on October 25, 1851, p. 2:

"Died at the residence of his father, Judge Pierce Evans, on Tuesday evening, 21st inst, Horatio Evans, aged 21 years, 9 months and 21 days, of typhus fever.

What an adventurous, curious, and entrepreneurial family were the Evans!

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Pierce Evans, Early Settler and War of 1812 Veteran

 

Pierce Evans was an early settler in Richland Township, Defiance County, as early as 1823, when the area was still in Henry County.  

Born on August 28, 1793, in Bourbon County, Kentucky, he enlisted in the Ohio Militia of Volunteers in September, 1812, for 30 days.  He was in the Company of Captain Moses Patterson, discharged in October, 1812.  

The next year he reenlisted in July 1813, into the Company of Captain Hugh Rogers and Colonel Keys for a 40 day term.  Pierce served from July 29 to August 26, not a full term.  The War of 1812 was fought against the British and some of the Native Americans as a protest against Britain's restrictions on our trade and their impressment of our seamen.  They would take our men from American merchant ships and force them to serve on British ships. 

It was said that Pierce Evans liked the Defiance area so much when he was stationed in Ohio that he came back to it to settle.

At some point upon his return from war, he married Mary Ann Braucher. A marriage record could not be found, but an estimate for the marriage date would be between 1814 and 1817, considering the age of their eldest child in the Federal Census of 1830.

In the early censuses of 1830 and 1840, the couple were found in Richland Township, Henry County, as Defiance County was not formed until 1843. In the Federal Census of 1850, Pierce, 56, and Mary, 50, Evans were in Richland Township, Defiance County on July 26, 1850.  He was farming real estate worth $12,250.  His son, Horatio, 18, was helping on the farm.  His other children at home included: Allen B., 16; John N., 13; Mary A., 11; Alphonse B., 8 and Elizabeth (Evans) Wank, 21, and her husband, Jacob Wank, 20 who also helped with the farming.

In the year 1850, Pierce Evans also applied for the bounty land due to him for his service in the War of 1812.  A law had been passed in 1850 allowing these grants. On December 9, 1850, Pierce wrote a letter to the court requesting this land as follows:

"The State of Ohio, County of Defiance

On this 9th day of December A.D. 1850 personally appeared before me, a Justice of the Peace within and for the county and state aforesaid, Pierce Evans, aged 57 years, a resident of Defiance county in the state of Ohio, who being duly sworn according to the law, declares that he is the identical Pierce Evans who was a private in the Company commanded by Captain Moses Patterson in the First Regiment of Ohio Volunteers commanded by Colonel Samuel Findley in the war with Great Britain declared by the United States on the 18th day of June 1812, that he volunteered at Hillsborough, Highland County, Ohio on or about the 13th day of September A.D. 1812 for the term of 30 days (under the call of General Harrison for volunteers to furnish their own horses, guns, provisions, etc. in consideration of which they were to have the credit of a 6 months term) and continued in actual service in said war for the whole of his said term and was honorably discharged at Urbana, Ohio (though he thinks his discharge was written and dated at Hillsborough after they got home) on the 12th day of October A.D. 1812, as will appear by the muster rolls of said company.

And that he is the identical Pierce Evans who was a private in the company commanded by Captain Hugh Rogers in the Regiment of Ohio Volunteers commanded by Colonel William Keys in the War with Great Britain declared by the United States on the 18th of June 1812, that he volunteered at Hillsborough, Highland County, Ohio on or about the 29th day of July A.D. 1813 for the term of 40 days and continued in actual service in said company for the term of 25 or 30 days and was honorably discharged at Upper Sandusky in the latter part of August A.D. 1815 as will appear by the muster rolls of said company and he further states that both of his original certificates of discharge, one lost or so miss laid that he cannot find them.

He makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining the bounty land to certain officers and soldiers who have been engaged in the military service of the United States, passed September 28, 1850."   His signature:

 

It should also be noted that Pierce Evans received Homestead Land before his Bounty Land, beginning in 1824 with 82.02 acres; in 1835, 35 acres and 80 acres; in 1837, 80 acres and last in 1837, another 80 acres, his already established farm.

Hence, in the 1860 Federal Census in Richland Township, the value of his land jumped to $22,250.  Pierce, 65, and Mary, 59, lived with just their youngest son, Alfonso, 21, who worked on the farm, and daughter, Mary.  Several men worked as laborers on the farm, and Dora Schultz, 25, worked as a servant.  

The agricultural census of June 18, 1850, in Richland Township noted that Pierce had: 100 acres improved, 700 acres unimproved, 2 oxen, 10 other cattle, 203 sheep, 40 swine, 450 bushels of wheat, 2000 bushels of corn, 200 bushels of oats, and 250 pounds of wool.  The value of the farm was 22,000.

Their children numbered eleven, beginning with the oldest son, Orlando, followed by Reynaldo, Helen, Nancy, Alvaro, Horatio, Allen, John Newton "Newt", Alphonso, Mary Ann and Frederick Richard.

Both Pierce and Mary Ann died in 1862. Pierce died on January 15th, and Mary Ann died on January 22. An obituary for Pierce appeared in the Defiance Democrat on January 18, 1862.

"Died on Wednesday past, January 15th, after a short illness, in the 69th year of his age.  *Judge Evans was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, August 28, 1793.  He settled on the Maumee in 1822, and since 1825 has resided on the farm near Defiance which he entered and improved.  He was thrifty, upright and a respected citizen.  The funeral will take place today, Saturday, at one o'clock p.m., at the Presbyterian church."

*Pierce also served as an associate judge in probate court in Defiance.

Pierce had written his will in August of 1850, and it was filed for probate in Defiance County on June 20, 1862.  In it, he gave to his wife, Mary Ann, two farms in Richland Township and all the household goods, stock and farming implements for her natural life for the support of her and the minor children.  To sons Horatio, Allen, John, Alphonso and daughter, Mary Ann, he gave $1,000.

To his children, Orlando, Rinaldo, Nancy B. and Alvaro, he gave $1.00  After paying expenses of his sickness and funeral, the rest would be divided.  He gave them the right to sell land excepting the two farms for Mary Ann, containing about 800 acres.  

After Mary Ann died quickly after Pierce, the executors moved to have a farm sale.

Both Pierce and Mary Ann were buried in the Old Riverside Cemetery in Defiance, Old Section A, Lot 30

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