Evans, David (1804-1883)Sketch posted by cscally

(Second Great Grandfather of the contributor, Richard N. Heywood)
See also David Evans Laid off Lehi with Pocket Compass, Square by Preston Nibley
See also -- 

David Evans - Ewell Family Historical & Genealogical Society

www.ewellfamily.org/genealogy/histories/David%20Evans.doc

In 1826 David Evans married Mary Beck and the couple purchased a large .... early in 1852, David Evans, elected member of the first territorial legislature for ...

Biographical sketch of Bishop David Evans posted by cscally1 on 27 Apr 2010

David Evans was the second child of Abigail Alexander, and Israel Evans.  He was born in Cecil County, Maryland, October 27, 1804.  His father was Welsh and his mother, German.  His maternal grandfather, Josiah Alexander was a successful miller. Sometime after David’s birth, Israel and Abby moved to Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania.  Here, Israel built a one-room log structure that he operated as a tavern.  In 1830 Israel and Abby moved north and helped to establish the town of Chatham, Ontario, Canada.  Financially successful, Israel built a carding and grist mill and operated another tavern, the Cross Keys.  David, who was in his twenties at this time, had married and stayed in Spruce Creek.

On July 25, 1826, David married Mary Beck.  Shortly thereafter, David and Mary moved to Hanoverton, Ohio.  Here, their first two children were born; Eliza Jane, April 16, 1827; and Israel, October 2, 1828.  The family then moved to Worthington, Ohio, where Henry, October 25, 1830, and Mary Ann, September 2, 1832, were born.

David and Mary joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1833.   Five days after his baptism, David was ordained a priest.  He sold his farm and began to do missionary work for his new church.   By the spring of 1834, David had been ordained an Elder and was called on an assignment from the church designated “Zion’s Camp”.  This was a thousand mile march to Jackson County, Missouri to aid the “Saints” there who, by mob force, were suffering from violence and expulsion from their homes.  Some relief was given but the effort failed to save the Saints’  homes.  The ‘camp’ was disbanded in July of 1834, and David returned home.

In 1835, David was set apart as a member of the “First Council of Seventy” by Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery.    When the body of the church was called to leave Ohio for Missouri, David was called to serve as a company captain; shepherding many of the Saints whom he had converted.  There, at  Shoal Creek their baby, Margaret died at the age of 18 months.  August 21, 1838, Mary gave birth to their sixth child, Araminta.  She died eleven days later.

David Evans was a key figure in the massacre of the Saints at Haun’s Mill on October 30, 1838.  He had met with members of the Missouri Militia, who promised they would leave the Saints in peace if they would surrender all their weapons.  This done, the next day members of the militia rode into Haun’s Mill to murder the men they had made defenseless. 

Joseph Young’s written account of the event states: “I cast my eyes on the opposite bank of Shoal Creek and saw a large number of armed men on horses, directing their course towards the mill with all possible speed.....  At this moment David Evans, seeing the superiority of their numbers (there were 240 men according to their own account) swung his hat and cried for peace.  This not being heeded, they continued to advance.”

Between nineteen and twenty church members lost their lives that day. David and his family escaped and took many of the survivors into their home until they received word of Governor Lillian Boggs’ order of the extermination of the “Mormons”.

Mary and David fled their home and settled in Adams County, Illinois. It was here on January 12, 1840, that Mary gave birth to her last child; a daughter named Emma Beck.  The following January, in 1841, David was called to serve another mission for the church, this time to Iowa.  However, when death took his wife, Mary on June 20, 1841, he quickly returned home to his motherless children.

He moved his five children, ranging in age from fourteen years, to fifteen months to Nauvoo and there he was married to Barbara Ann Ewell, November 23, 1841.  In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith organized the city into ecclesiastical units.  He ordained David the Bishop of the South side Eleventh Ward on August 20, 1842. 

In 1846, once again the Saints were forced to flee from their homes.  David and his family made an arduous journey to Council Bluffs, arriving in 1847.  They remained there until1850, preparing for the journey west.  On June 15, 1850, David captained fifty-four wagons that left from Kanesville, Iowa for the Salt Lake Valley.  They arrived September 15, 1850.

In February, 1851, Brigham Young called David to oversee the building of a colony of Saints settled at Dry Creek, in Utah Valley, thirty-two miles to the south of Salt Lake City.

In a show of sentiment for David Evans, the inhabitants of the colony, named it, “Evansville”.  In 1879, it became Lehi. 

Shortly after the family’s arrival, George A. Smith organized the Dry Creek Ward and appointed David, Bishop.  He served in this position for the next twenty-eight years.

David showed a devoted dedication to church and community.  He located the city of Lehi and laid it off into blocks and lots with a pocket compass tape line and square.  He was elected to the first legislature in Utah and remained in that body for many years.  On March 6, 1854, David was elected Mayor of Lehi, and served for three terms. He was a Colonel of militia and a Major in the Lehi Military District.  In 1854, he supervised the building of a fort and stationed guards at all gates for the protection against marauding Indians.  In 1833, David was appointed Postmaster of Lehi and operated the office out of his home.  His home also housed the city’s telegraph.  In 1852, under the direction of John Taylor, Phillip DeLaMare  arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with sugar beet seeds imported from France.  Bishop Evans was able to secure a small part of this.  The beets later led to the most important factor in Lehi’s (and the Scalley family’s) commercial development - the Sugar Industry.

With two partners, David began operating a threshing machine and fanning mill in the summer of 1854.  Several years later he built a tannery that operated until 1870.  With his son, Israel, he helped establish the first cooperative store in Utah.  This project, “The Lehi Union Enterprise” was immediately successful and led to the organization of the Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI - which later became the first department store in the United States).

In accordance to the patriarchal order of marriage, David Evans married seven wives and fathered forty-one children. 

A letter written in 1858, by Lt. Jesse A. Gove, a member of Johnston’s Army, gives an insight into the Evans’ home life—

“ Bishop Evans was our host; he is the highest church dignitary in the place and keeps a sort of hotel.  The bishop is a corpulent and quite sociable old man (he was fifty-four years of age).  A multitude of children were running about the house; they were very well behaved, made no noise, kept out of the way and bore a very retiring disposition; they took care of each other, the elder ones acting a matrons to their younger relatives...”

David Evans was a leader of men.  He had a sense of humor that kept hope alive in the face of hardship.  He cared for all in his charge with wisdom.  He loved to dance. 

On June 19, 1883, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and without speech.  He died four days later, on June 23^rd.  His funeral was held in the Lehi Tabernacle. Wilford Woodruff, President of the Church offered the eulogy. A cortege of one hundred-fifteen vehicles followed his remains to the Lehi Cemetery where he was laid to rest.