Revolutionary War Soldiers Series: Remembering Hugh Evans
By Betty F. Crum and Pat Young
Waw-wil-a-way Chapter Daughters
of the American Revolution, 250 Project
Hugh Evans, a Revolutionary War soldier, was born near Hagerstown, Md., on October 7, 1730, the son of Samuel Evans, a native of Wales.
Hugh Evans was married twice; the first time to Sarah Hardin and the second time to Lavinia Simpson.
By his first wife, he had only one child, a daughter, Sallie, born in 1762. He was widowed two years after they were married; and by his second wife, he had six children. Hugh and Lavina (Simpson) Evans were the parents of Richard (1764-1855), Nancy (1769-1854), Samuel (1771-1841), Amos (1774-1841), Daniel (1776-1840), and Sophia (1779-?).
During the Revolutionary War, Hugh Evans resided in Cumberland County, Pa., and enlisted in service as a private in July 1777, having enrolled in Captain James Fisher’s Company, Seventh Battalion, and saw much active service with the Cumberland County Militia. He is listed in the DAR database and is a maternal ancestor of this writer.
Early descendants were members of the Julianna White Chapter in Greenfield. Hugh Evans lived with his family on George’s Creek, Fayette County, Pa. until 1778 when he and several neighboring families moved to Kentucky. They loaded their possessions on a flat boat and floated down the Monongahela to Wheeling. They were delayed there for some time because of Indian uprisings in the area. However, they were joined by a number of soldiers and Indian spies who thought it was safe to resume their journey. They floated down the river to Limestone (Maysville) without being attacked. They went inland to a site near the present location of Paris, Ky., in Bourbon County.
They constructed cabins for each family, cleared out the cane brakes and planted a crop of corn, potatoes, etc. Not wanting to live in a slave state, the family decided to move north to the Ohio country. When they reached the Ohio River they learned that although the Treaty of Greenville had been signed, it was still too dangerous to invade the region across the river. They again erected three cabins on Cabin Creek, some three miles from the river bank. They cleared more land and put in a crop, depending on the wild game for their meat supply.
Hugh Evans, although past 65 years, accompanied a surveying party into what is now Highland County. They explored several tracts of land but decided to locate their land grant on Clear Creek, northeast of the present site of the county seat.
Nathaniel Massie entered several tracts in the Evans name since he was in the party. The surveys he entered for them were: Hugh and Amos Evans, Survey No 2414 – 600 acres, dated Mar. 18, 1797; Daniel Evans, Survey No 2415 – 400 acres, same date; and Samuel Evans, Survey No. 2416 – 400 acres, dated Mar. 19, 1797. Other surveys were entered until the total was over 3,000 acres. In the spring of 1799, Hugh Evans, his sons, Richard, Samuel and Daniel, sons-in-law, William Hill, husband of Sallie Evans by his first marriage, and Joseph Swearingen, husband of Nancy, left their Kentucky home to prepare their land for their families.
They followed the trace cut through from Maysville to New Market and after a short visit, cut a road through to their land on Clear Creek. Once again they built cabins, planted crops and depended on wild game for meat. Although it is not recorded in history, surely some of the Evans family must have stayed in the new cabins in Ohio during the winter of 1799-1800. Protecting what they had built from squatters or from the Indians still encamped on the nearby waterways would have been almost a necessity.
In the spring of 1800, the men began returning to Kentucky to bring their families and their possessions. Richard Evans was first in March. The ground was completely covered with snow, which stayed on during their entire trip. Samuel Evans and William Hill returned in the fall and brought their families. In 1807 when the list of voters was recorded it contained the names of the following members of the Evans family: Samuel, Esq.; Hugh, Amos, Dan, Dickey, Samuel on Rocky Ford, David, John in Liberty Twp, and Evan Evans in Fairfield. When court was held in the Knox Tavern June 27, 1808, the will of Hugh Evans, the emigrant, was admitted to probate. His death had occurred Mar. 27, 1808.
He was laid to rest in an unmarked grave on the farm of his son Daniel which he helped carve out of the wilderness. Of the seven children of Hugh Evans, five are known to have died and buried in Highland County, Ohio: Richard, Samuel, Amos, Daniel, and Nancy (Evans) Swearingen. Amos, Samuel and Richard are buried in the Hillsboro Cemetery, Highland County, Ohio. Nancy and husband, Joseph are buried in the Swearingen Cemetery, Liberty Township, situated on the farm they had owned for years. -- By Pat Young, Waw-wil-a-way Chapter NSDAR.