Father: Thomas Evans, Sr.
Mother: Jane Howerton
Spouse: Margaret (Peggy) Storie - b: 1799 - Wilkes Co.,
NC
d: Sep/1879
- Fentress Co., TN - bur: Evans Cem.
m: 2/Jun/1816 - Overton Co., TN
Child-1: Joshua (Jop) - b: 1823/1824 - TN - nra:
1880
m: Jane Cobb
2: Nancy
- b: 4/Feb/1824 - TN
d: 21/Dec/1899 - TN - bur: Moody Cem., Pickett Co.
m: Peter Moody - TN
3: Samuel
- b: 1827 - Fentress Co., TN
d: 7/Feb/1865 - Murfreesboro, Rutherford Co., TN - bur: Nashville
National Cem., Davidson Co.
m: Deborah Cobb - Fentress Co., TN
4: Catherine
- b: 1829/1830 - TN - nra: 1880
m: Samuel E. Cobb
5: Robert
(Bob) - b: 1833/1834 - TN - nra: 1850
6: Margaret
Ann - b:15/Mar/1837 - Fentress Co., TN
d: 23/Jul/1933 - Fentress Co., TN - bur: Etter Cem., Pickett
Co.
m: Benjamin Strothers Barton - 28/Dec/1858 - Fentress Co., TN
7: Hannah
- b: 1840/1841 - TN - nra: 1870
Biographical Details:
Various family researchers have asserted the birthplace of Nathan Evans as North Carolina; however, if he is to be identified as a son of Thomas and Jane Howerton Evans, it would seem almost certain that his birthplace was actually in Virginia, probably either Franklin or Montgomery County. Moreover, he was likely born about 1794 and subsequently moved with his parents and other siblings to Overton County, Tennessee, about 1811. This is supported by archived military pension records which reveal that Nathan Evans served as a corporal in the War of 1812, enlisting twice in Captain John Kennedy's company of Tennessee Militia, viz., from December 10, 1812, to April 20, 1813, and, again, from October 20, 1813, to December 28, 1813. In addition, these records also affirm that Nathan Evans and Margaret (Peggy) Storie were married on June 2, 1816, in Overton County.1 They apparently resided in Overton, later Fentress, County for the remainder of their lives.2 Accordingly, the household of Nathan Evans appears in Fentress County, Tennessee, population schedules of both 1830 and the 1840 US Censuses. In addition, his name also appears on the 1833 Tax List for Fentress County. Concomitantly, military pension records indicate that Nathan Evans died September 27, 1842; however, the location of his death was stated as Wolf Creek in Cocke County, Tennessee, which is more than a hundred miles east of Fentress County.3 Indeed, this locality can still be identified as near the French Broad River, two or three miles west of the Tennessee-North Carolina boundary along combined US Routes twenty-five and seventy. Although it is possible that at the time of his death, Nathan Evans was visiting or, perhaps, even resident in Cocke County, it seems more likely that the record is in error and that he actually died in the valley of the Wolf River in Fentress County. Family tradition asserts that he was buried in Evans Cemetery near Travisville. This is further supported by civil and census records which affirm that Margaret Storie Evans was continuously resident in Fentress County from 1850 until her death in 1879 since, according to the mortality schedule of the 1880 US Census for Fentress County, Tennessee, she had died of the "flux" the previous September. The place of her burial is not known, but may be presumed to be with her husband in the Evans Cemetery. Even so, no markers evidently remain.Source Notes and Citations:Samuel Evans, a son of Nathan and Margaret Evans, served with Union forces during the Civil War. His son, Jesse W. Evans, was a lawyer and became a well-known citizen of Fentress County in the early twentieth century.4,5 In contrast, their daughter, Margaret Ann, married Ben Barton, who served in the Confederate Army and was killed on April 23, 1865.6 (This was after Lee's surrender at Appomattox.) Clearly, these facts are indicative of the bitter, divided loyalties that existed during the Civil War, particularly in the upper South and border states.
1. The Storie family originated in England with the first known ancestor identified as Robert Storie, born in London about 1590. His son, also named Robert, was born in London on December 16, 1617, and emigrated from England to New York, where he died on December 29, 1683. Enoch Storie, son of the immigrant Robert Storie, was born in New York on December 12, 1680. Evidently, at the time of his birth, his father was over sixty years old. This implies that his mother, identified as Patricia Wilson, was much younger than her husband and was probably not the first wife of Robert Storie and, furthermore, suggests that there may have been other, perhaps, many other, children. Enoch Storie apparently moved to Philadelphia, married Sarah Carpenter, and died on December 17, 1723. His son, again named Robert, was born about 1705 in Philadelphia and later moved to Cecil County, Maryland, where it is reported that he was a Lieutenant in the county militia in 1740 and owned five hundred and seventy-five acres of land in "Storie Meadows". He married Mary Cummings and died in Cecil County on August 16, 1741. Joshua Storie was born to Robert and Mary Cummings Storie in Cecil County about 1739 and married Margaret Briscoe on October 14, 1762, in St. George Parish, Baltimore County, Maryland. He was a farmer and lived successively in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It is said that his church affiliation was Baptist. Joshua Storie, Jr., son of Joshua Storie, Sr., was born about 1768 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and married Catherine Lewis on July 31, 1795 in Wilkes County. They were the parents of Margaret (Peggy) Storie, later the wife of Nathan Evans. Both Joshua Storie, Sr., and Joshua Storie, Jr., died in Fentress County, Tennessee; the elder in 1833 and the younger in 1855. Moreover, Joshua Storie, Sr., is said to be buried in the Evans Cemetery in Fentress County; however, the location is uncertain. (Daniel Storie, The Generations of Storie Roots, www.andrews.edu/~storie/storie%20genealogy%20.htm, 2002.)
back to bio.2. Several researchers, including Ron Hatfield and Dennis Davidson, identify Samuel, Catherine, Margaret Ann, and Jop (Joshua) Evans as children of Nathan and Peggy Storie Evans. John Crunk identifies Nancy Evans as an additional child. All of these, along with two additional children, Bob (Robert) and Hannah, can be confirmed from various census records. In addition, other researchers identify Jeremiah Odel Evans as the oldest son of Nathan and Peggy Evans. However, there seems to be little if any evidence for this and, moreover, there is strong family tradition that identifies him as a son of William Evans. Therefore, although chronologically possible, it seems unlikely that Jeremiah Odel Evans was the son of Nathan and Peggy Storie Evans. Similarly, another daughter, Elizabeth (Betts Ann) Evans is also sometimes identified. Reportedly, she married Benjamin Moody about 1856. Indeed, a household of Benjamin Moody appears in the Fentress County population schedule of 1860, in which his spouse was evidently Elizabeth A. Moody, aged twenty-one. This implies that she would have been born in 1838 or 1839. Therefore, if she was a daughter of Nathan and Peggy Storie Evans, she should have been included in the household of Margaret Evans in the census of 1850. However, she was not and, thus, her identity as a daughter of Nathan Evans must be strictly regarded as unproven. (Ron Hatfield, Dennis Davidson, and John Crunk; databases - :1773502, :903715, and jcrunk; worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com, 2001-2.)
back to bio.3. War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, National Archives, Washington DC: Nathan Evans, (microfilm: roll M313_31; img. 272).
Soldier Evans, Nathan Widow Evans, Margaret Service Cpl Capt John Kennedy's Co Tenn Mil Enlisted Dec 10 1812 Oct 20 1813 Discharged Apr 20 1813 Dec 28 1813 Numbers WO 8476 WC 16919 Bounty Land 50857 80 50 24075 80 55 Residence of Widow 1850 1855 Fentress Co Tenn Co(PO Travisville)Tenn 1872 Fentress Co(PO Pell Mell)Tenn 1878 Fentress Maiden Name of Widow Margaret Storie Marriage of Soldier and Widow June 2 1816 Overton Co Tenn Death of Soldier Sept 27 1842 Wolf Creek Cocke Co Tenn
back to bio.4. Albert R. Hogue, History of Fentress County, Tennessee, the Old Home of Mark Twain's Ancestors, Press of Williams Printing Co., Nashville, Tennessee, 1916. (Reprint available from the Baltimore Regional Publishing Company, 1975.) (Carolyn Shannon Genzel, Descendants of John Cobb, www2.1starnet.com/cgenzel/cobb/index.htm, 2002.)
"J. W. Evans was born near Rugby, Tennessee, in 1861, and is the son of Samuel and Deborah Evans, and a grandson of Nathan Evans and Jesse Cobb. His grandfather Cobb was a cousin of Howell E. Cobb, of Georgia, who served as speaker of the National House of Representatives in 1850, was Secretary of the Treasury under Buchanan, and the Governor of Georgia. Evans was raised on a farm; began life as a teacher; was Deputy Sheriff two years; Circuit Court Clerk four years and has been County Attorney since 1910, having been appointed by Governor Hooper in 1910 and elected over two competitors in 1912. He is a successful lawyer, and was admitted to the bar in 1890. He was married the same year to Miss Dean Delk. He is an Odd Fellow. Republican in politics.
His father, Samuel Evans, was a soldier the Union Army during the Civil War, serving in the Second Tennessee Regiment. Was captured at Rogersville and imprisoned thirteen months on Bell's Island. He died at Murfreesboro in 1865.
His grandfather, Nathan Evans, came to this county from North Carolina soon after Tennessee was admitted to the Union and opened up a farm on Caney Creek, on Wolf River, and here raised a large family. He was a cousin of the Nathan Evans who assisted John Sevier in escaping from the North Carolina authorities. He married a sister of Joshua and Jas. Story. Joshua settled on Crab, at what is now known as the George Beaty place. James settled on Caney Creek near Evans." Mr. Hogue's identification of Nathan Evans does not agree with that of later descendants. As a matter of history, John Sevier can be identified as the governor of the short-lived state of Franklin that was formed from western counties of North Carolina in 1784.
back to bio.5. Edward East Barthell, "Mountain Stories", April 1933, unpublished MSS. (Included in Florence (Patty) Barthell Myers, "Descendants of Joseph Barthel and his wife Christina Lutz", 15 Campden Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78218, 1991.) (Patty Barthell Myers, freepages.folklore.rootsweb.com/~smokymtnman/stories/mountainstories.html, 2002.)
"The Register of Deeds of Jamestown at this time was a man named Link Brier. Link and some of his pals were very fond of alcoholic drinks, and the office generally hung heavy with the smell of liquor. One of Link's closest pals was a member of the Bar named Jesse Evans. Jesse was long, tall, and not only slender but actually thin. I had learned that one of the easiest ways to get assistance was to carry a bottle of whiskey with me, so when I went to Jamestown I generally took a bottle of bourbon. On one of my trips I forgot the accustomed bottle. I had been working in the office for an hour or so with some of Mr. Brier's pals looking on when Jesse Evans tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for me to follow him. He took me out of the courthouse and around a corner formed by an 'L' and whispered to me, 'I got some peruny, won't you have some?' I had to excuse myself not only for not having brought any liquor with me but on the ground that Peruna did not particularly appeal to me."
Mr. Barthell, the author of this account, was a lawyer from Nashville specializing in land titles. Moreover, in connection with his law practice, in a period beginning about 1898 to perhaps 1910 he had occasion to spend a considerable amount of time in the region of Scott and Fentress Counties in eastern Tennessee. He later wrote a number of anecdotal accounts of his experiences with the colorful inhabitants of the region, among which this citation was included. (Peruna was a patent medicine manufactured in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the Dr. Samuel B. Hartman, Co., of Columbus, Ohio, which was approximately a four to one mixture of water and grain alcohol flavored with caramel and the spice, cubebs. It was sold in drug stores and often used as a substitute for more conventional kinds of liquor.)
back to bio.6. Ellen Russell,"Russell, Ellen Barton", in History of Fentress County, Tennessee, Fentress County Historical Society, Jamestown, TN, 1987: pg. 570. (copyright: Curtis Media Corp.)
"My father John Morgan Barton, was named after his grandfather, his great, grandfather and General John Morgan. He never saw his father Benjamin Strother Barton. Margaret Ann Evans Barton talked often of Ben to John and sister, Martelia, impressing upon their minds the strength, honesty, kindness and love of their wonderful father, to help fill the void of his not being there to help guide them in growing up. Ben had gone off to help fight in the Civil War. He enlisted at Camp McGee in 1861, in the Cavalry, was assigned to Murry Command, Co. F. 4th Cavalry Tn., which became Co. I Smith 8th Tn. Cavalry. He made Captain September 10, 1862. May 28, 1863 he joined General John Morgan's command, Co. F, 5th Ky. Cavalry CAS (sic - CSA). They had participated with other divisions in the Battle of Lexington and were selected as one of a group to get two wagons of hay (hiding guns) through to the southern lines. The plan did not succeed. They were captured at Cheshire, Ohio, July 20, 1863. From Camp Chase, Ohio he was sent to Ft. Delaware, Delaware March 27, 1864, from where he was paroled and forwarded to City Point, Virginia March 7, 1865. Margaret Barton told her children of the messages as they came through telling about all this, and how Capt. Ben S. Barton was with Gen. Robert E. Lee when he surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Cout House, Virginia April 6, 1865. (The surrender actually occured on April 9th.) They were eagerly counting the hours until he would arrive home in Tennessee. A letter had come, saying, 'Margaret, be of good cheer, I will soon be home.' He was within five or six miles of home when killed by Union men."
"Grandmother Margaret Evans Barton was the daughter of Nathan Evans (1775-1794) and Margaret Storie (1802). Their parents had come to the Wolf River Valley soon after Tennessee was open for settlements. Margaret's parents were Joshua Storie, Sr. His father John had come by way of North Carolina from Ireland. Her mother was Mary Ogletree. Nathan's parents were Thomas Evans, Sr. (1747) and Jane Howerton (1757) of Prince Edward County, Virginia. They were neighbors of Edward Crouch whose son, James B. (1763) married Nathan's sister Martha (1761-c1800). Each of these early ancestors served in the colonial and Revolutionary wars." Ms. Russell gives a descent for the Storie family at variance with that given above. Further research will be required to resolve the conflict. Others have reported that Benjamin Barton enlisted in Confederate forces in July or August of 1861. (Teresa Helton Garcia, www.bartondatabase.info/pafg337.htm, 2002.)
back to bio.
Additional Citations:
7. 1820 US Census Population Schedule for Overton County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 258, (microfilm: roll M33_122; img. 217).8. 1830 US Census Population Schedule for Fentress County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 4, (microfilm: roll M19_176; img. 9).
9. 1840 US Census Population Schedule for Fentress County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 14, (microfilm roll M704_523; img. 27).
10. 1850 US Census Population Schedule for Fentress County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 419A, (microfilm: roll M432_877; img. 493).
11. 1860 US Census Population Schedule for Fentress County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 39B, (microfilm: roll M653_1249; img. 81).
12. 1870 US Census Population Schedule for Fentress County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 570B, (microfilm: roll M593_1526; img. 775).
13. 1880 US Census Mortality Schedule for Fentress County, Tennessee, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 649, (microfilm: roll T655_28; img. 486).
14. Fentress County Tax List of 1833, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN. (Bruce York (tr), Fentress County TNGenWeb Archives, 2000.)
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15. Moody Cemetery, Pickett County, Tennessee (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2292938&CScn=Moody&CScntry=4&CSst=45&CScnty=2493&, continuously updated).
16. Nashville National Cemetery, Davidson County, Tennessee (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=109429&CScn=Nashville+National&, continuously updated).
17. Etter Cemetery, Pickett County, Tennessee (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2308788&CScn=Etter&CScntry=4&CSst=45&, continuously updated).
18. Private correspondence with Bryan R. Howerton.
19. Larry M. Evans, "Notes by Larry M. Evans", Springfield, IL, May 7, 1979, unpublished. (non-circulating copy available in the Casey County Public Library, Liberty, KY)