John Oliver Evans (1881 - 1948)

Born 4 Jan 1881 in Ottawa Township, Franklin County, Kansas, USA

Husband of Gertrude Mae (Bonine) Evans — married 27 Feb 1906 in Anthony, Harper County, Kansas, USA

Died 27 Feb 1948 at age 67 in Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma, USA

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Biography

John Oliver Evans was born on his parents' farm in Ottawa Township, Franklin County, Kansas, USA, on 4 January 1881. He was the son of Henry Masters Evans, 1847–1919, and his wife, Elizabeth Lea Welchly, 1847–1883. They had married on 17 August 1870 in Bates County, Missouri. Henry Masters Evans was from Cumberland County, North Carolina, and his wife was born in Illinois. John was the next-to-last of their 10 children, born between 1871 and 1883, when, on Christmas Eve, Elizabeth died from complications after the birth of her last son, Herman Evans, on 14 December 1883. Thus, John Oliver lost his mother when he was still under 3 years old.^[1][2]

On 10 June 1885, John's father remarried to Mahala Catherine Iman, 1853–1893, in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas.^[3] He worked as a farm laborer and at odd jobs growing up. In 1901 he was having an affair with 14-year-old "Gertie Mae" Bonine, son of a farmer and landowner in neighboring Harper County, Kansas. His main farm was in Manchester, Grant County, Oklahoma Territory. Gertie got pregnant and had their first-born son, Orville Clyde Evans, on 23 September 1901 at her father's farm in Manchester, Grant County, Oklahoma Territory.^[4]

The two apparently kept in touch with each other despite living apart because on 27 February 1906, in Anthony, Harper County, Kansas, Gertie Mae Bonine married John Oliver Evans, b: 4 January 1881; d: 27 February 1948. ^[5]

On the 15 April 1910 US Census, the couple were recorded as married and living together in Anthony City, Harper County, Kansas. John Evans was recorded as 29 and Gertie as 23 years old. They had an infant son: Harold Evans, 8 months old (b: 15 August 1909) living with them. They lived in Anthony City, not on a farm, and John O. Evans did not declare an occupation. The 1910 Census also recorded that Gertie (Bonine) Evans had had 2 children but that only 1 (baby Harold) was still alive in April 1910. [This was a Census error as their older son, Orville Clyde Evans, b: 23 Sep 1901 in Oklahoma Territory, did not die until 1971]. Who was caring for young Orville in April 1910 has not been determined.^[6]

On 20 September 1912, the couple had a daughter, Alta Venita Evans. She was born in Anthony, Harper County, Kansas. The 1915 Kansas State Census recorded the family with just their initials as J O Evans, age 34 and wife, G M Evans, 28, both born in Kansas; living with 3 children: O C Evans, 13, b: Oklahoma; H C Evans, 5, b: Kansas; and A V Evans, 2 years old, b: Kansas. They were living in their own house in Anthony City, Anthony Township, Harper County, Kansas. No information was given about John Evans' occupation or income.^[7]

Between 1920, which Census record has not been found, and the 1925 Kansas State Census, the couple apparently separated because the 1925 Kansas State Census recorded Gertie [G. M.] Evans as head of her own household in Anthony City, Harper County, Kansas. She was living with two of her three children: Harold Evans (age 15) and Venita Evans (age 12). The 1925 Kansas Census also listed her oldest son: O. C. Evans (age 23), and his wife, Grace (age 21), living next door with their two sons: Wayne & Walter Evans (ages: 2, 1). Orville had married Grace Ann Finck on 26 Oct 1921, in Ellis County, Oklahoma.^[8] On the other side of Orville C. Evans' family, the 1925 Kansas Census recorded Gertie's father, W. C. Bonine (age 68), living with his wife, "LaVera" Livera (Pugh) Bonine, who was 65 years old. ^[9]

On 15 October 1927, John and Gertie's daughter, Alta Venita Evans, married Paul Eslinger in Harper County, Kansas. She was just 15 years old and he was 10 years her senior. They rented a farm in Spring Township, Harper, Kansas, where they were recorded living together with no children on the 1 April 1930 US Census. ^[10] Gertie (Bonine) Evans' younger son, Harold C. Evans, was 20 years old in 1930. He was recorded on the US Census as single, living on his own in Anthony City, Harper County, Kansas, working as a "Laborer, Odd Jobs". ^[11] Gertrude Mae Evans has not been found on the 1930 US Census.

On the 1 April 1940 U.S. Census, the most-recent US Census publicly available, Gertie Evans, 52 years old, was recorded in Anthony, Harper County, Kansas, working as the live-in "housekeeper" for a widowed school teacher, Ida A. Carr, who had two young sons at home. Gertie declared that she was already living & working there in 1935. On the 1940 US Census, Gertie reported herself as a "Widow," which was inaccurate as her husband, John Oliver Evans, was living in Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma. No divorce record has been found but clearly they had separated by the mid-1920s. ^[12]

John O. Evans, estranged from his wife and family, was recorded on the 1 April 1930 US Census as a 50-year-old, married "Lodger," living in a hotel on W. 9th Street, Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma. His profession was "Laborer - Odd Jobs". He stated he had been married 24 years (m: 1906) and that his father was born in North Carolina. His future brother-in-law, Ed. Hogle, was also living in the same hotel. He was a "Carpenter - Contractor". Ed would marry John's older sister, Nancy Ellen (Evans) Hinkle (b: 1877), as her 2nd husband, later in 1930 in Stillwater. Ed's older sister, widow Louisa (Hogle) Johnson, had earlier married John & Nancy's widower father, Henry M. Evans, as his 3rd wife. They lived in Stillwater, Oklahoma.^[13][14]

Although John Evans was not found on the 1940 US Census, he did register for the US Army Draft in 1942, as required by law, during WW II. He stated he was born on 21 Jan. 1881 and that his residence was Stillwater, Payne, Oklahoma, USA. ^[15]

John O. Evans died on 27 February 1948 near Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma. An Obituary for him was published in the local newspaper the next day. It stated that, partially-deaf, longtime resident, John O. Evans, 67 years old, had been struck by a Santa Fe passenger train while walking on the Railroad tracks near the town the day before. Apparently, he failed to hear the train's whistle warning. His obituary mentioned his 2 sisters (Mrs. Ed. Hogle & Mrs. W. B. Rains), who lived in Stillwater. It failed to mention his wife or 3 children or his parents.^[16]

Sources

1. ↑ "Missouri Marriages, 1750-1920", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HQ54-CBT2 : 18 January 2020), Elizabeth Welchly in entry for Henry Evins, 1870.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFP1-XBH : 12 August 2017), Elizabeth Evans in household of Henry M Evans, Peoria, Franklin, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 89, sheet 145A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,381.
3. ↑ Pedigree Resource File for Henry Masters Evans on FamilySearch; cites 10 sources.
4. ↑ "Idaho, Southeast Counties Obituaries, 1864-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVS6-WWXD : 26 July 2017), John Evans in entry for Orville Clyde Evans, 1971; Idaho Falls Regional Family History Center, Idaho Falls; FHL microfilm 100,464,647. Note: Orville Clyde Evans' death certificate lists his parents and his birth date & place.
5. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LLS2-6SD
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2C8-4YN : accessed 5 May 2020), Gertie Evans, Anthony Ward 1, Harper, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 73, sheet 4B, family 59, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 441; FHL microfilm 1,374,454.
7. ↑ "Kansas State Census, 1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGN6-KXDW : 12 October 2019), G M Evans in household of J O Evans, Anthony, Harper, Kansas, United States; citing Anthony, Harper, Kansas, United States, 64, 4, Kansas Historical Society, Topeka.
8. ↑ "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VR36-RLC : 23 March 2020), Orville C Evans and Grace Finck, 26 Oct 1921; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
9. ↑ W.C. Bonine on 1925 Kansas State Census in Anthony, Harper, Kansas
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7Q4-NJS : accessed 9 May 2020), Venita Eslinger in household of Paul Eslinger, Spring, Harper, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 25, sheet 4B, line 91, family 101, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 704; FHL microfilm 2,340,439.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7Q4-CLD : accessed 9 May 2020), Harold C Evans, Anthony, Harper, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1, sheet 31A, line 24, family 818, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 704; FHL microfilm 2,340,439.
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRK4-ZGL : 3 February 2020), Gertie Evans in household of Ida A Carr, Anthony, Anthony City, Harper, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 39-1B, sheet 8B, line 50, family 196, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1234.
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC4Q-9K4 : accessed 9 May 2020), John Evans in household of S B Wright, Stillwater, Payne, Oklahoma, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 29, sheet 15A, line 8, family 2, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1925; FHL microfilm 2,341,659.
14. ↑ Pedigree Resource File for Nancy Ellen Evans on FamilySearch; cites 12 sources.
15. ↑ "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XPY9-MMQ : 8 May 2020), John Oliver Evans, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
16. ↑ Stillwater Oklahoma News-Press, 28 Feb. 1948, pg. 1. Photo-copy in possession of Tom Bonine & Chet Bonine Snow.

• Pedigree Resource File for John Oliver Evans on FamilySearch; cites 15 sources.