Tarrant County TXGenWeb

Died At His Home

Fort Worth Daily Democrat
January 6, 1905

Captain Samuel Evans, who was one of the pioneer citizens of Tarrant County, passed quietly away yesterday morning at 10:10 o'clock at his old homestead, located one and one-half miles west of the Tarrant County Courthouse.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock at his late residence, and the internment will be at the family burying grounds near his late residence.

Captain Sam Evans was a member of R.E. Lee camp. United Confederate Veterans, having been a member of the camp ever since its organization. Members of the camp will probably attend the funeral services in a body. Until about four weeks ago, Captain Evans could be found in attendance at the meetings at the Lee camp, Monday afternoon. He has been in declining health for several weeks, but was not seriously sick until about two weeks ago.

He was born in Garrard County, Kentucky, October 28, 1831, and completed his schooling at the age of 15 years, after which he taught school for a while. He remained with his parents until 1853, when he came to Texas. During the first three months of his residence in Texas, he served as a deputy sheriff in Robertson County. From there he went to Brownsville and purchased a herd of ponies and brought them to Tarrant County. Here he purchased a tract of land, and constantly improved it until the war broke out.

Captain Evans was the first man to take a cargo of hides from this county; he drove the first herd of sheep from Tarrant County to New Orleans, and brought the first drove of Mexican ponies to this locality.

In the year of 1863, when the Witherspoon family was massacred by Indians, Captian Evans organized a company of sixteen men and followed the Indians to Twin mountains, where a fight took place; also in Erath County, at Ball mountain, at the head of Stroud's Creek, and in Palo Pinto County. Here darkness over took his company and the Indians made their escape. In the attack a number of men were killed, two men and several horses were wounded, but the company succeeded in getting nine scalps. In this chase, Captain Evans rode a horse that was a half brother to Grafton, the first one that ever sold for over $10,000 in the United States. This horse was slightly injured while in use chasing the Indians.

In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, Captain Evans organized and drilled a troop of cavalry. Shortly afterward he left his troop and went to New Orleans, thence to Montgomery, Alabama, and then returned home. On his return, he organized a company of infantry, which was the first and only one organized in this county.

Captain Evans first served in the Twenty-first Texas regiment, Trans-Mississippi department. He took part in several battles and served until the close of the war.

He was at Galveston in command of a company at the time of the surrender and the capture of the steamer Harriet Lane in 1863. From there he took his command to Sabine Pass after Dick Dowlin's victory over Franklin's fleet of 15,000 men Nov. 8, 1863. His company disbanded in Robertson County.

During his four years of service in the Confederate Army, Captain Evans only drew pay for two months, which he gave to two boys so they could return home.

Captain Evans was the first person to buy and sell cattle in this county, when he purchased a herd and drove them to Kansas, there shipping them out to St. Louis, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

In 1866 he was elected to represent Tarrant County in the state legislature and after the reconstruction served as a senator for four years, his term in the upper house being in the eleventh legislature, and in the lower house in the twelfth and thirteenth legislatures. He afterward refused to be a believer in the policies of either the Democratic or Republican party.

Captain Evans was one of the organizers of the Greenback party, and later was one of the leading spirits of the Populist party. He was once nominated for the Vice-Presidency of the Greenback party, which nomination he refused. He was nominated for state positions several times by the Populist party and in the last election ran for state treasurer.

He was the father of the bill that brought the first two railroads to Fort Worth, namely the Transcontinental and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas. He was also instrumental in locating the first seven railroads that entered Fort Worth, and no man has probably ever done more to start and keep the wheels of progress rolling than Captain Samuel Evans.

He was the first to denounce the Interstate Commerce act and opposed the railroad commission bill.

Captain Evans owned about 1,000 acres of land in and adjoining Fort Worth, over 100 of which is in cultivation.

For four years he was in the dry goods business in this city. Captain Evans never took a drink of any kind of intoxicating liquor.

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