JOHN EVi 
 
 AN APPRECIATION 
 
 By WALTER B» J L I S CO?T 
 
LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 STEWART S. HOWE 
 
 JOURNALISM CLASS OF 1928 
 
 STEWART S. HOWE FOUNDATION 
 
 B 
 E 92 31s 
 
 cop. 3 
 
 I • H . o o 
 
4&<zMalM g_ 
 
Of this edition of 
 
 JOHN EVANS— AN APPRECIATION 
 
 a limited number of copies has been 
 
 printed. This is number-.:^.! 
 
 printed especially for 
 
JOHN EVANS 
 
 1814- 1897 
 
 AN APPRECIATION 
 
 by 
 WALTER DILL SCOTT 
 
 President of Northwestern University 
 
 Privately Printed 
 
 By Courtesy of Lester J. Norris 
 
 1939 
 
 Evanston, Illinois 
 
COPYRIGHT 1939 
 BY WALTER DILL SCOTT 
 
 Printed at the 
 
 Chronicle Publishing Company, Inc. 
 
 St. Charles, Illinois 
 
JOHN EVANS 
 
 1814-1897 
 
4 
 
(top .J 
 
 Foreword 
 
 The subject of this brief biographical sketch is 
 Dr. John Evans, for whom the City of Evanston, 
 Illinois, was named. He has had a greater influence 
 in the life of the City of Evanston and of North- 
 western University, and has done more to create our 
 traditions and to determine the line of our develop- 
 ment, than any other individual. The purpose of 
 this biography is to present him as a physician, as 
 a railroad builder, as a city builder, as an educator, 
 as a religious leader, and as a political leader. 
 
 Data for this sketch have been secured from 
 The Life of John Evans by Edgar Carlisle McMech- 
 en, from records and histories of Northwestern 
 University, from the files of newspapers, from medi- 
 cal journals, from histories of Colorado, and from 
 biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Ex- 
 cerpts from The Life of John Evans appear without 
 acknowledgment. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/johnevans181418900scot 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 John Evans, Physician 
 
 The father of John Evans was a merchant in 
 Waynesville, a small town in Ohio. He desired 
 that his son should succeed him in the store, but 
 early in life John became convinced that his greatest 
 usefulness could be attained only in the medical pro- 
 fession. In this ambition he was opposed by his moth- 
 er as well as by his father, and it was only after a 
 bitter struggle that he brought himself to go con- 
 trary to the advice of his parents and to heed the 
 call of duty as he saw it. The following is an extract 
 from a letter which John wrote to his cousin, Benja- 
 min, and which describes his mental processes in 
 reaching this conclusion: 
 
 I intend to encounter as few difficulties as possible, 
 but when one presents I will move it aside and still 
 pursue that course which I now lay down to that 
 glorious distinction which shall be his who most ad- 
 vances the amelioration of his fellow beings 
 
 Only to think of following a trade for no other pur- 
 pose than my own pecuniary advantage! I am per- 
 suaded there was something more than this meant 
 when I was made. I have long been of this notion, 
 and for me, by irresolution, to thwart the design 
 of my creation would be more wicked than a re- 
 fusal to knuckle to any particular mode of getting 
 along in the world, or any particular creed of faith. 
 It is the imperative voice of the Almighty that we 
 
shall do all the good we can, and my doctrine is, 
 he is the best man who comes nearest fulfilling the 
 mandate. 
 
 John had no money and was too proud, under 
 the circumstances, to ask his father to pay for a 
 course of medical instruction. Two practicing phy- 
 sicians in Waynesville, however, agreed with the 
 stand John had taken and approved his attitude in 
 not asking his father for money. They therefore most 
 generously provided the cash to meet the expenses 
 of his professional training at Lynn Medical College 
 in Cincinnati. There he studied under such distin- 
 guished teachers as Samuel D. Gross, soon to become 
 the most eminent surgical leader in America, and 
 Daniel Drake, who was the outstanding medical 
 leader of the Middle West. As he asserted in a let- 
 ter dated November 13, 1837, and directed to Han- 
 nah Canby, who later became Mrs. John Evans, John 
 was a most industrious and conscientious student: 
 
 If you will not attribute it to vanity I will say 
 I think I am about as devoted a student as we have 
 in the college — my waking hours are almost wholly 
 occupied in study and I very frequently dream over 
 whole demonstrations after hearing them in the day 
 — So you see I think pretty well of my industry 
 whatever others may say of it. 
 
 When John returned with his diploma, his 
 father relented and presented him with a pony, a 
 saddle, and ten dollars. With these assets, he rode 
 from his home in Ohio and after inspecting various 
 
fields of labor finally reached the village of Attica, 
 Indiana, where he began the practice of medicine. 
 In this obscure rural center he intended to specialize 
 in obstetrics, but found himself called to other spe- 
 cializations too. The blind, the deaf, and the insane 
 in Attica, as everywhere, were inadequately and 
 unintelligently cared for; Dr. Evans turned to them, 
 and it was in connection with these unfortunates 
 that he made his first conspicuous contributions to 
 medicine. In 1844 he cooperated with Henry Ward 
 Beecher and Bishop Matthew Simpson in inducing 
 the State of Indiana to build and to administer its 
 first home and its first school for deaf mutes. He 
 published articles stressing the necessity for more 
 adequate care of the insane and was invited to ad- 
 dress a joint session of the Legislature on this subject. 
 Dr. Evans convinced the Legislature of the necessity 
 of prompt action in the erection of an adequate 
 insane asylum. As a result he was asked to move to 
 Indianapolis, and to become a member of the Board 
 which planned and supervised the construction of 
 the Indiana Lunatic Asylum. 
 
 At this same time the fame of Dr. Evans had 
 spread to Chicago, and he was invited to become a 
 member of the faculty of Rush Medical College, the 
 only medical school in that city. At the early age of 
 thirty-four he was called upon to decide whether he 
 would remain in Attica, where he had built up a de- 
 sirable practice, move to Indianapolis and engage in 
 
medical administration, or move to Chicago and be- 
 come a professor of obstetrics. Dr. Evans promptly 
 decided to leave his practice in Attica, but could not 
 make up his mind between the opportunities offered 
 at Indianapolis and at Chicago. Accordingly, he 
 agreed to accept the call to teach in Chicago during 
 the winter terms, but to move to Indianapolis and 
 accept the responsibility of planning and equipping 
 the insane asylum and of seeing medical service in- 
 augurated. 
 
 By 1848 Dr. Evans regarded his work in Indian- 
 apolis as accomplished, and accordingly moved to 
 Chicago intending to teach in the medical school 
 and to engage in the practice of medicine. But his 
 interests had so widened that many of his energies 
 were spent on projects outside his regular class room 
 teaching and his private medical practice. 
 
 Immediately upon entering the practice of 
 medicine Dr. Evans had begun to write for publi- 
 cation. He refers to this in a short biographical 
 sketch: 
 
 When I settled at Attica, Indiana, practicing 
 medicine, I commenced publishing articles in rela- 
 tion to founding institutions for taking care of the 
 insane, who were then kept in poor houses and jails 
 throughout the state. 
 
 In 1844 the faculty of Rush Medical College 
 began the publication of the Illinois Medical and 
 Surgical Journal, Dr. Evans sent several articles for 
 
 10 
 
publication in that journal, one of which was the 
 address delivered before the Legislature of Indiana 
 convened in joint session, entitled, "Insanity and the 
 Establishment of a Lunatic Asylum." The simple 
 logic of that address is well illustrated by a single 
 quotation: 
 
 There is no question of whether we will take 
 care of our lunatic paupers or not, or whether a tax 
 shall be laid for that purpose, for we cannot avoid 
 either, as the counties must provide for them at the 
 expense of the public, if the State does not. And 
 how it is attended to by the counties we have already 
 seen. The only question is, will we adhere to the pres- 
 ent yet miserable plan, or will we adopt the one dic- 
 tated by the strongest consideration of economy, 
 and the purest principles of humanity. 
 
 Soon after Dr. Evans became a member of the 
 faculty of Rush the title of their journal was changed 
 to the Illinois and Indiana Medical and Surgical 
 Journal. Dr. Evans became a member of the editorial 
 board, and the journal was published simultaneously 
 at Chicago and at Indianapolis. In a few years the 
 title was changed to the Northwestern Medical and 
 Surgical Journal. For the year 1852 Dr. Evans served 
 alone as editor, but because of the press of other 
 duties was compelled at the end of the year to re- 
 sign from that position. 
 
 In connection with his medical practice, teach- 
 ing, and writing, Dr. Evans felt the need of a hospi- 
 tal in Chicago. Accordingly he and a few of his 
 associates obtained in 1847 a charter for the Illinois 
 
 11 
 
General Hospital of the Lakes. Dr. Evans and two 
 judges were named as trustees. The next year he 
 met Dr. N. S. Davis in New York and cooperated 
 with Dr. Brainard in inducing him to come to 
 Chicago. Dr. Davis was most helpful in establish- 
 ing this hospital. At the time of the opening of 
 the hospital there appeared in the Northwestern 
 Medical and Surgical Journal an article, presumably 
 written by Dr. Evans, which contained the follow- 
 ing paragraph: 
 
 Thus has been commenced an institution which, 
 we trust, with the smiles of an over-ruling Provi- 
 dence, is destined to a long career of usefulness in 
 relieving sickness, pain and sorrow, and which will 
 be a monument to the memory of those who con- 
 tribute to its endowment and support, more honor- 
 able than the laurels of the conqueror. 
 
 In Chicago at that time there was a shortage 
 of adequately trained nurses, and an arrangement 
 was made with the resident Catholic Bishop to have 
 the Sisters of Mercy take over the nursing. Later 
 the hospital was renamed Mercy Hospital. 
 
 Early in the year 1850 Dr. Evans and a few 
 others began to hold medical meetings at each other's 
 houses and offices. The object was to read papers 
 and discuss cases of common interest. As early as 
 April 5, 1850, the name "Chicago Medical Society" 
 was adopted by them. This same group organized 
 what were called Pathological Sociables. These were 
 continued until after the Chicago fire of 1871. The 
 
 12 
 
formal organization changed its name to "Cook 
 County Medical Society" in 1852 but reverted to 
 its original name of "Chicago Medical Society" in 
 1858. Dr. Evans was thus one of the founders of 
 the Chicago Medical Society. He was also one of 
 the founders of the Illinois Medical Society, which 
 was organized June 3, 1853, at Peoria. He is accred- 
 ited also with a part in organizing the American 
 Medical Society. 
 
 In connection with his professional practice 
 and with his medical teaching, Dr. Evans invented 
 several surgical instruments of great importance, 
 some of which are still used in their original de- 
 signs. His Obstetrical Extractor is the best known 
 of his instruments. 
 
 Some of the social ideals of Dr. Evans brought 
 about radical changes in medical education. Ac- 
 cording to McMechen, Dr. Evans was a pioneer in 
 the medical education of negroes and of women: 
 
 While a member of the faculty at Rush the first 
 colored medical student in America, a Dr. Peck, was 
 graduated with a degree. The latter found it neces- 
 sary to move into Canada to secure practice. The 
 first woman admitted to a medical school in this 
 country, Miss Emily Blackwell, who afterward 
 distinguished herself, also was graduated from the 
 College during this period. 
 
 In December, 1848, a disastrous plague of Asi- 
 atic cholera began to spread into all parts of the 
 United States. Dr. Evans became tremendously in- 
 
 13 
 
terested and carried on elaborate studies of this 
 epidemic. In September, 1849, he published in the 
 Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal his "Ob- 
 servations." The following excerpt from these "Ob- 
 servations" is interesting: 
 
 Cholera is subject to no boundaries except those 
 that prevent human intercourse. When carefully 
 observed, it (cholera) is found uniformly to spread 
 along the lines of intercommunication and travel 
 but never faster than their regular course. It fol- 
 lows shipping routes and lines of railway. It is of a 
 communicable or portable nature. 
 
 This theory propounded by Dr. Evans was 
 scouted and attacked by many of the leading phy- 
 sicians of America. Nevertheless, he felt sure of the 
 validity of his conclusion and published his "Ob- 
 servations" in pamphlet form for general distribu- 
 tion. The opposition of the medical profession was 
 so great that no national quarantine laws were pos- 
 sible at that time. However, the process of educa- 
 tion was continued, and in 1866 Dr. Evans memo- 
 rialized Congress for the establishment of a nation- 
 al quarantine law. In this memorial he reprinted the 
 "Observations" from the Journal of 1849. A nation- 
 al quarantine law was passed, and experts of that 
 period gave credit to Dr. Evans for this national 
 advance in protection not only against Asiatic chol- 
 era but against other communicable diseases. This 
 accomplishment might be thought of as the crown- 
 ing work of the medical career of Dr. Evans. 
 
 14 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 John Evans, Railroad Builder 
 
 For John Evans as a boy and as a young man 
 travel was by stagecoach or saddle horse; freight 
 was by flat boat, ox cart, or wagons drawn by oxen, 
 mules, or horses. As a pupil living in southwestern 
 Ohio he traveled by stagecoach to and from the 
 boarding school in Philadelphia. As a prospective 
 physician he traveled by saddle horse into the vil- 
 lages of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois in search of a 
 place to practice. In 1841 money had been driven 
 out of the western states by almost unrestricted 
 bank issues, and at that time Dr. Evans, starting 
 his career at Attica, received his pay in corn, po- 
 tatoes, and other farm products. Thus, as a young 
 physician there Dr. Evans was forced to procure a 
 flat boat to carry his produce down the Wabash, 
 the Ohio, and the Mississippi rivers to the market 
 in New Orleans, where he could sell his grain and 
 vegetables and purchase the necessary drugs. A few 
 years later Chicago developed as a market for farm 
 products and for drugs, and paid for them with 
 negotiable money. Then Dr. Evans brought his pro- 
 duce to Chicago in a wagon drawn by oxen, and 
 returned to Attica with the drugs in the same con- 
 veyance. As a resident of Indianapolis and a mem- 
 
 15 
 
ber of the medical faculty in Chicago, he "com- 
 muted" by stagecoach. As the war governor of 
 Colorado he made the trip from Chicago to Denver 
 in thirteen days by the stagecoach; and for trans- 
 porting army supplies he depended much on trucks 
 drawn by oxen or mules. In all the instances cited 
 he used only those methods of travel and of trans- 
 portation that had been available to his ancestors 
 for a century or more. 
 
 John Evans had a background of experience 
 that enabled him to appreciate the significance of 
 the steam engine and the railroad. Jay Gould, a 
 contemporary of John Evans, interpreted the steam 
 engine and the railroad as an opportunity to amass 
 great personal profit. John Evans interpreted the 
 steam engine as in reality a public utility. Jay Gould 
 manipulated railroad stock for personal pecuniary 
 reward. John Evans built and managed railroads as 
 a community and as a national convenience and 
 necessity. 
 
 In the early fifties three independent but co- 
 operating corporations constructed the first railroad 
 from Pittsburgh to Chicago. The eastern section 
 was constructed by the Pennsylvania and Ohio, the 
 central section by the Ohio and Indiana, and the 
 western section by the Fort Wayne and Chicago. 
 This western section, the Fort Wayne and Chicago, 
 was further subdivided into two parts. One part 
 extended from Fort Wayne to the Indiana state line, 
 
 16 
 
and the other part extended from the state line to 
 Chicago and included the terminus with railroad 
 yards and a depot. Dr. Evans was a director of the 
 Fort Wayne and Chicago and had charge of the 
 management and construction of the work west of 
 the Indiana state line. He procured the right of 
 way through Illinois to Chicago, the right of way 
 through the streets of Chicago, and the site for the 
 depot and yard in the City. He purchased for the 
 depot and yard forty acres for $35,000. The fol- 
 lowing year he sold one-half of this terminal site 
 for $140,000 to the Burlington and Quincy. Steam 
 transportation was then in its infancy, for it was 
 only twenty- two years after construction had been 
 started on the first passenger railroad in the United 
 States, the Baltimore and Ohio. Investors were 
 skeptical of railroads as safe depositories for their 
 money, and it was an extremely laborious task to 
 finance them. All three companies were involved in 
 financial difficulties from their inception, but were 
 finally consolidated and given the general name, 
 Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago. Later the 
 system was leased to the Pennsylvania for ninety- 
 nine years. The financing in this instance was rec- 
 ognized as among the ablest accomplished in the 
 early railroad history of the country, and Dr, Evans, 
 as representative of the western branch, deserves 
 some of the credit. 
 
 In 1859 Dr. Evans and some of his associates 
 
 17 
 
in Chicago and Evanston reached the conclusion 
 that a railroad to the Pacific Ocean would certainly 
 be constructed in the next few years, and that a 
 great city would probably arise at the point where 
 this railroad crossed the Missouri River. He became 
 convinced that the best place for such a crossing 
 and the best place for such a city was at the point 
 of juncture of the Platte and Missouri Rivers. 
 He foresaw also that a ferry across the river and a 
 rapidly developing community would greatly in- 
 crease the chances that any contemplated railroad 
 across the plains would select a right of way through 
 that point. Accordingly, he secured a large tract 
 of land at the confluence of the Platte and Missouri 
 Rivers, and laid out a prospective city. A steam ferry 
 system was installed, and the erection of a hotel 
 and numerous other buildings was begun or antici- 
 pated. The town was called Oreopolis and in a few 
 weeks became a boom town. However, the plans 
 to construct a transcontinental railroad were unful- 
 filled, and only the steam ferry became a reality 
 so far as transportation was concerned, and the pro- 
 gram was ultimately abandoned. 
 
 Dr. Evans' next venture in railroading con- 
 cerned Evanston. As soon as he became interest- 
 ed in Evanston as a city of homes he recognized 
 the desirability of rapid transportation to and 
 from Chicago. Together with a few friends he 
 organized in 1861 the Chicago and Evanston Rail- 
 
road, and secured the right of way and sites for 
 stations and yards. The right of way was se- 
 cured not along the lake front but as far west as 
 convenience would permit. An interesting feature 
 of the plan was the proposal to employ combina- 
 tion steam carriages to carry passengers from Evans- 
 ton to Chicago's city limits, attach horses to the 
 front of the locomotive there, and thus draw the 
 train into the heart of the business district. It was 
 estimated that a speed of thirty miles an hour could 
 be maintained to the city limits, and six miles an 
 hour made by horse power. The substitution of 
 horses was intended to meet objection from Chicago 
 residents to entrance of a steam locomotive into the 
 business district, an obstacle that was considered 
 certain to arise. After Chicago had become more 
 accustomed to the sight of a locomotive within its 
 city limits, the plan was to discard the horses and 
 come in on steam power. Before the project could 
 be completed the road was purchased by the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad Company. 
 Today this right of way is used jointly by the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany, the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee 
 Railroad Company, and the Chicago Rapid Transit 
 Company. 
 
 In 1862 Dr. Evans was appointed by President 
 Lincoln as Territorial Governor of Colorado. There 
 were at that time about twenty-five firms carrying 
 
 19 
 
passengers and freight across the great plains. These 
 companies employed a personnel of approximately 
 15,000 men, and utilized 5,000 wagons, 7,000 mules 
 and horses, and 28,000 oxen. Governor Evans moved 
 his home to Denver and became active in an attempt 
 to secure better transportation facilities there. How- 
 ever, by 1867 the indications were that no transconti- 
 nental railroad would pass through Denver, and that 
 it would in a few years change from a prosperous 
 city to a deserted village. In desperation the citizens 
 organized a Board of Trade to promote Denver's 
 railroad interest. This organization promptly pro- 
 jected the Denver Pacific Railroad and Telegraph 
 Company. Governor Evans was first made one of 
 the directors and later the president. The first great 
 task was to secure favorable contracts of cooperation 
 with the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific, and 
 then to secure generous land grants from the fed- 
 eral government for the right of way and for the 
 bordering salable land. These preliminary contracts 
 with the railroads and with the federal government 
 were concluded at Washington in March, 1869. The 
 good news reached Denver before Governor Evans 
 could return from Washington by stagecoach. He 
 reached Denver at night and found the city ablaze 
 with lights and bonfires in his honor. A committee 
 of the citizens met him and escorted him to the 
 Board of Trade rooms, where he was presented with 
 
 20 
 
an engrossed resolution of gratitude for his services 
 in saving the city. 
 
 Great difficulties were encountered in the com- 
 pletion of the railroad. The Board of Trade and 
 the County Commissioners offered Governor Evans 
 $2,500,000 of the road's first mortgage bonds, a 
 substantial stock interest, and other considerations, 
 to take over the contract for completing it. Under 
 urging he consented, and made such rapid progress 
 that by December 16, 1869, trains began to run 
 over one-half the road, and the entire project was 
 assured. Thereupon the citizens in their delight cele- 
 brated by naming the great mountain to the west 
 Mt. Evans. This spontaneous action was officially 
 confirmed years later by the Colorado Legislature, 
 which also gave the name of Evans to the projected 
 city that marked the halfway point between Chey- 
 enne and Denver. When finally all the debt and all 
 the expenses connected with the construction of the 
 railroad were paid, Governor Evans had a favorable 
 balance of $500,000. This entire sum he donated 
 to the county of which Denver was the county seat. 
 
 The success attained by Governor Evans in com- 
 pleting the Denver Pacific was merely the beginning 
 of his efforts to make Denver a great railroad center. 
 In 1887 success again crowned one of his many rail- 
 roading achievements, and further honors were be- 
 stowed upon him by the Denver Chamber of Com- 
 
 21 
 
merce. The following is an extract from the en- 
 grossed resolution presented to him: 
 
 Resolved, That by the success that has finally 
 crowned the efforts of our esteemed friend and fel- 
 low-citizen, Governor John Evans, in providing the 
 means to build the Denver, Texas & Gulf Railroad — 
 a short line to the sea — he has completed a great 
 series of iron roads to Denver, including the Denver 
 Pacific, the Kansas Pacific, the Boulder Valley, and 
 the South Park, mainly through his own efforts, 
 and which have made this city the commercial 
 metropolis of the Rocky Mountain country .... 
 
 These statements concerning John Evans as a 
 railroad builder are not intended to be in any sense 
 complete. No mention is made, for instance, of his 
 participation in 1890 in the Union Pacific, and in 
 1894 in the Denver, Sioux City, Lake Superior & 
 Chicago railroads. Since the tunnel now known as 
 the Moffet Tunnel was completed after the death 
 of Governor Evans no mention is made of his long 
 and unsuccessful efforts to build a direct railroad 
 from Denver to the Pacific by digging through the 
 Rocky Mountains. In some of his railroad ventures 
 Governor Evans was most fortunate and in some he 
 lost financially, but his primary objective was to 
 advance the community. 
 
 22 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 John Evans, City Builder 
 
 John Evans may appropriately be called a city 
 builder because of his constructive contributions 
 to each of six municipalities — Attica, Indianapolis, 
 Chicago, Evanston, Oreopolis, and Denver. To each 
 of these he supplied present needs or provided fac- 
 tors essential for future development. He worked 
 on the theory that cities could be successfully built 
 only by making them into communities to which 
 a superior type of people would be pleased to mi- 
 grate, and in which they would desire to remain 
 permanently. 
 
 Dr. Evans began his practice of medicine in 
 Attica, Indiana, and remained there six years (1839- 
 45 ) . The first few years he was busily occupied in 
 establishing himself in his profession and in becom- 
 ing acquainted in the community. During these pre- 
 liminary years he came to realize that Attica, lo- 
 cated in a rich agricultural district and on the 
 Wabash River, had great possibilities as a residential 
 community and as a commercial center, but lacked 
 the physical facilities for such developments. Ac- 
 cordingly, he erected in Attica, besides a good resi- 
 dence for himself, the Evans block, a convenient 
 and commodious trading center. Attica lacked any 
 
 23 
 
organization, or group of citizens interested in pro- 
 moting the public welfare of the community. Ac- 
 cordingly, he assembled a group of five progressive 
 citizens, together with their wives, to promote the 
 welfare of Attica. The first project thus sponsored 
 was the care of those mentally and physically handi- 
 capped. The activities of this group spread the repu- 
 tation of Attica throughout the state and even into 
 adjoining states. 
 
 Dr. Evans was a resident of Indianapolis for 
 but a part of each of three years (1845-48). His 
 primary activity there was to serve first as one 
 of the three members of the Board of Commission- 
 ers for the proposed Hospital for the Insane, and 
 then as the superintendent of this hospital. The hos- 
 pital was erected on a beautiful tract of land con- 
 taining 160 acres and located two miles from the 
 center of the city. The site, the architecture of the 
 building, and the care of the patients were so superi- 
 or that the hospital became a model that had a 
 wholesome influence on the treatment of all classes 
 of unfortunates, locally and nationally. 
 
 Attica and Indianapolis were but minor train- 
 ing grounds for the major tasks in city building un- 
 dertaken by Dr. Evans during the fourteen years 
 (1848-62) which he spent in Chicago. Chicago was 
 young then. Railroad facilities were inadequate; and 
 in the preceding chapter facts were presented to 
 
 24 
 
indicate how Dr. Evans contributed in making Chi- 
 cago a great railroad center. 
 
 There was a dearth of adequate office buildings; 
 and in 1851 Dr. Evans secured a twenty-year lease 
 on four lots on the corner of Clark and Randolph 
 streets, on which he built the Evans block. Space in 
 this building was in great demand, and was rented to 
 such tenants as the Chicago Post Office, the Chi- 
 cago Tribune for an editorial room, and to many 
 of the better professional men. On this building 
 Dr. Evans netted annually $5,000 until the expira- 
 tion of the lease in 1871. 
 
 While serving as alderman Dr. Evans recom- 
 mended to the City Council that the level of all 
 streets and sidewalks in the lower central parts of 
 Chicago be elevated — in many instances several feet. 
 His recommendation was bitterly opposed, as it 
 would require owners of vacant lots to fill in the 
 land up to the new street level, and it would re- 
 quire the owners of buildings to jack up their build- 
 ings to the higher level. After the presentation of 
 the need by Alderman John Evans the City Council 
 approved the recommendation. This was the first 
 lake shore development project of Chicago, and the 
 beginning of the movement to provide for Chicago 
 adequate drainage and a firm foundation. At that 
 time this improvement was spoken of as Chicago's 
 lifting herself out of the mud by her boot straps. 
 This establishing of street grades is an illustration 
 
 25 
 
of the work accomplished by Alderman Evans as a 
 member of the Committees on Public Grounds, on 
 Wharves, and on Wharving Privileges. In these proj- 
 ects he helped to build the City from the bottom 
 up. 
 
 Dr. Evans took great pride in his success in 
 beautifying the City. In 1894 he prepared an ad- 
 dress for delivery in Denver in which he recited 
 some of his achievements in Chicago. The follow- 
 ing quotation is illuminating: 
 
 I have had experience that may be useful to some 
 if I relate it — in the inauguration of the system of 
 parks in Chicago. I was then a large landholder, and 
 an active supporter of the movement. We first got 
 a park commission appointed by law, with ample 
 power to purchase land, and where owners would 
 not sell, they had power to condemn and take it. 
 They first provided the land, and through all these 
 twenty-five years since, have been improving it. 
 I was a member of the city council and voted for it 
 when we purchased the first park in Chicago. It 
 is called Union Square. In the extension of the grand 
 system afterward I sold the city the land for part 
 of Blue Island Boulevard. 
 
 While Dr. Evans was a citizen of Chicago he 
 did much to make it healthful. In raising the eleva- 
 tion of the land throughout the principal part of 
 the City, he taught the citizens to undertake the 
 almost impossible when the welfare of the City was 
 at stake. It was not strange, therefore, that, when 
 it was proposed in the interest of public health, Chi- 
 cago should change the direction of the current of 
 
 26 
 
the Chicago River. He was an itinerant professor 
 and then a resident professor in the first medical 
 school in Chicago. He was a great teacher whose 
 students became skillful practitioners and contribut- 
 ed greatly to Dr. Evans' program of making Chica- 
 go healthful. In the early days Chicago was twice 
 afflicted with a plague of Asiatic cholera. Dr. Evans 
 made this disease his special object of research. In 
 time he became convinced that it was a commu- 
 nicable disease and that its elimination could be se- 
 cured by rigid quarantine laws. The commercial 
 and the transportation interests opposed every sug- 
 gestion of any interference with travel, but Dr. 
 Evans waged a campaign that resulted in the pass- 
 ing of local and national quarantine regulations. 
 These laws eliminated cholera from Chicago, and re- 
 duced greatly the spread of other contagious dis- 
 eases. Besides contributing to Chicago's health, Dr. 
 Evans did much to make Chicago a center of health 
 agencies. Chicago has four grade-A medical schools, 
 eighty hospitals, and is the national headquarters for 
 such organizations as the American Medical Associa- 
 tion, the College of Surgeons and Physicians, and the 
 Council on Medical Education and Hospitals. It is 
 not without justice that Chicago is sometimes spoken 
 of as the medical center of America. 
 
 To induce highly desirable families to come to 
 Chicago and to remain there Dr. Evans believed that 
 the strengthening of the schools was the most pressing 
 
 27 
 
requisite. There existed no organized public school 
 system, no superintendent of public instruction, no 
 high school, and no university. What Dr. Evans did 
 to provide for each of these needs is described in the 
 next chapter. Without his pioneering efforts Chicago 
 could scarcely have become the second — if not the 
 first — educational center in America. 
 
 Dr. Evans regarded the churches as second only 
 to the schools in their importance in building a city. 
 In a later chapter the facts will be cited as to the 
 effective support he gave to churches and to the 
 Methodist Church in particular. His foundation work 
 was one of the factors that made it seem appropri- 
 ate and wise for several of the Boards of the Method- 
 ist Church to be established in Chicago, and thus 
 to make Chicago an important headquarters, and 
 possibly the most important headquarters, of Meth- 
 odism. 
 
 As a city builder Dr. Evans attained his great- 
 est success in Evanston. He is credited with having 
 induced the trustees of Northwestern University to 
 purchase several hundred acres of land on Lake Mich- 
 igan, twelve miles north of Chicago. In fact Mr. 
 Orrington Lunt gives him all the credit for this 
 purchase. This land was surveyed and laid out as 
 the site for Northwestern University and as a sub- 
 urban community. By action of the Board of Trus- 
 tees of the University, the new site for the Univer- 
 
 28 
 
sity and for the suburban community was named 
 Evanston. 
 
 Of the support given by Dr. Evans individu- 
 ally or through his fellow trustees in building Evans- 
 ton as an educational center and as a community 
 of homes, the following four unique contributions 
 should be particularly mentioned: 
 
 1. Helpful Restrictions: The State of Illinois 
 was induced to pass laws prohibiting the sale of 
 intoxicating liquors within four miles of the uni- 
 versity campus. By Trustee action industries were 
 not permitted to purchase real estate in Evanston 
 because such ownership might change Evanston 
 from a residential community to an industrial 
 community. For the lots sold by the University 
 the deeds contained the restriction that the land 
 would revert to the University if the owner per- 
 mitted "intoxicating drink to be manufactured, sold, 
 or given away upon the premise," or permitted "any 
 gambling to be carried on," or permitted thereon 
 "any house or other place of lewd or immoral prac- 
 
 tices." 
 
 2. Sites Provided: The University made dona- 
 tions to make Evanston a better community of 
 homes. Included in these donations are sites to twelve 
 churches, two public schools, five private schools, 
 four railroad right of ways, four parks, three public 
 administrative building sites; also many special streets 
 and alleys. 
 
 29 
 
3. The Utilization of the Lake Front: The Uni- 
 versity preserved and protected the Lake front. Be- 
 fore 1853 no university had been located on the 
 shore of a large body of water — ocean, gulf, bay, 
 sea, or great lake. The University was unwilling to 
 sell any large amount of its lake shore holdings to 
 individuals, but retained three quarters of a mile of 
 this frontage for a campus, and donated a sizable 
 frontage to the City. The water-fronts in most cities 
 of the world are occupied by railroads, coal yards, 
 mills, slaughter houses, or other industrial or com- 
 mercial structures detrimental to a residential sub- 
 urb. By compelling the railroads to remain away 
 from the lake the University saved the lake shore 
 for Evanston and for the entire residential district 
 from Chicago to Lake Bluff. 
 
 4. Tangible and Intangible Contributions: The 
 greatest single achievement of Dr. Evans in city 
 building was the support given to Evanston by lo- 
 cating Northwestern University in that prospective 
 suburban community. This support is most intan- 
 gible, and frequently is not recognized. A few years 
 ago the Evanston Historical Society published a 
 pamphlet in which are described many of the ser- 
 vices of the University to the City. After describing 
 these services, the author of the pamphlet states: 
 
 It is easy to see from the foregoing that the 
 University not only originated the village and town, 
 but determined the type of town, the character and 
 
 30 
 
occupation of the people who were to make up that 
 town. Had it not been for the University, Evanston 
 in the natural course of Chicago's growth would 
 some day have existed. Certainly not for twenty- 
 five years, and maybe not for fifty. Its population 
 would have been made up of those forced out of 
 Chicago in search of cheaper living conditions and 
 would have differed greatly from the center of 
 culture, of idealism, with a physical equipment quite 
 in harmony with the environment. 
 
 Because of the concentration of specialists, due 
 largely to the University, perhaps no community of 
 its size in America had more leaders in the various 
 governmental departments during the war period. 
 From Evanston came Dawes as Director of Budgets 
 and later Vice President, Dean Wigmore in the Legal 
 Department, Dean Hayford in Aviation, the Head 
 of the Department of Psychology in Personnel, an 
 imposing and important group in the Medical Corps 
 — in fact, all phases and all activities were largely 
 and importantly represented from Evanston's citizen- 
 ship. 
 
 The intangible influence of the University on 
 the City of Evanston is reflected in the compara- 
 tively superior quality of citizens who have been 
 attracted to Evanston. In proof of this is the follow- 
 ing evidence: Chicago has three major suburbs all 
 of approximately the same size, namely, Evanston, 
 Oak Park, and Cicero. In the current issue of Who's 
 Who in America there are listed 223 citizens of 
 Evanston, 38 of Oak Park, and but one of Cicero. 
 Of the citizens of Evanston listed in Who's Who 
 148 are not officially connected with Northwestern 
 University. 
 
 31 
 
What the University means financially to the 
 city is reflected in a recent report of the University 
 Business Office showing that this office had conduct- 
 ed business through the Evanston banks during the 
 last twelve months to the extent of $13,000,000. 
 This does not, of course, include the several millions 
 of dollars spent annually by students and faculty in 
 the Evanston stores and services. 
 
 The efforts of Dr. Evans as a city builder in 
 connection with Oreopolis are described in the pre- 
 ceding chapter. It is sufficient to state here that Dr. 
 Evans expected to build Oreopolis to occupy a po- 
 sition on the Great Western Plains comparable to 
 the position that Chicago and Evanston occupy on 
 the Great Lakes. 
 
 As a city builder Governor Evans made more 
 diverse types of contributions to Denver than to 
 any other city. How in the interest of Denver he 
 built railroads, founded institutions of higher learn- 
 ing, and supported churches, is stated elsewhere in 
 this sketch. Suffice it here to report on certain other 
 contributions not elsewhere mentioned in this sketch 
 and contributions made only in Denver. In an at- 
 tempt to increase the natural resources of Colorado 
 he conducted such experiments as the following: 
 
 1) He experimented in mining various metals and 
 in smelting by different methods. 
 
 2) He invented a plough designed to turn up the 
 subsoil before the term "dry farming" was 
 known. 
 
 32 
 
3) He imported a herd of high grade cattle and 
 secured a large mountain acreage in an endeavor 
 to demonstrate that cattle could be successfully 
 raised in the mountain valleys of the state. 
 
 4) He experimented in the cultivation of grapes. 
 
 5) He induced the federal government to conduct 
 geological surveys of the mineral lands to aid 
 the people of Colorado to a more scientific devel- 
 opment of all kinds of mineral resources. 
 
 6) With a view of stimulating search for hidden 
 wealth, he induced the federal government to 
 enact a law giving the property in fee to the 
 discoverers of minerals, under adequate restric- 
 tions. 
 
 By his political influence he brought to Denver 
 such benefits as the following: 
 
 1) Against much opposition he made Denver the 
 permanent capitol city of Colorado. 
 
 2) He induced the federal government to deepen 
 the channel into Galveston, then by the exten- 
 sion of his Denver and New Orleans Railroad 
 to Galveston he made Denver a port of entry 
 for imports and exports. 
 
 In 1894 Dr. Evans made a final appeal to the 
 city of Denver in the interest of a comprehensive 
 park system connected with encircling parkways and 
 boulevards. His words are self-explanatory: 
 
 History is repeating itself in the lifetime of one 
 individual. I was active in starting many of the 
 important enterprises of Chicago for nearly twenty 
 years. President Lincoln then, by appointing me Gov- 
 ernor, sent me thirty-two years ago to Pikes Peak, 
 the Territory of Colorado. I found Denver a shanty 
 town of twelve or fifteen hundred inhabitants. I 
 have since then labored faithfully to build up the 
 city, and develop the wonderful resources of the 
 
 33 
 
state. Their development, and the growth of the city, 
 are only partially begun, and we have come to the 
 period of preparing a system of parks. The first step 
 in the operation must be the purchase of land, suffi- 
 cient for a grand system. It will take long years 
 to improve the parks. Afterward the parks cannot 
 be had without the land, and the longer the pur- 
 chase is delayed the more the land will cost; and if 
 Denver grows rapidly, as it is sure to do, the land 
 will grow in price in a geometrical ratio, so that 
 the interest on the price will be a mere bagatelle 
 compared with the increase in value of the land. The 
 discussion in the papers, and individual opinions 
 given in the last few days, have carried me back to 
 the more bitter discussion of the question in Chica- 
 go — and the similarity of the objections — the taxes — 
 the wild prairies — the inopportune time — are identi- 
 cal. 
 
 It is true that there is always a large class in every 
 community that is never ready to incur the expense 
 of public improvements — that is never willing to pay 
 its share, and opposes everything that costs money. 
 But I am confident that the people of Denver do 
 not contain a very large proportion of such. 
 
 When these words were spoken Governor Evans 
 had been a resident of Denver for thirty-two years, 
 and yet he was as enthusiastic as a boy in promoting 
 plans for the further development of his home city. 
 His plans of 1894 have been developing during all 
 the intervening years, and even today the visitor 
 to Denver sees the ideals of John Evans becoming 
 a reality. 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 John Evans, Educator 
 
 John Evans as a youth made a decision that 
 changed the course of his life. His environment, 
 his training, and the insistent desire of his parents 
 seemed to have foreordained him to be a merchant. 
 He expressed his adverse decision in a letter to his 
 cousin, where he summarized his motive and his 
 conclusion: "Only to think of following a trade for 
 no other purpose than my own pecuniary advantage. 
 It is the imperative voice of the Almighty that we 
 shall do all the good we can." John had at that time 
 (1833) become convinced that "to do all the good 
 we can" he must follow the medical profession. Dur- 
 ing the next six years (1835-41) he completed the 
 work at a medical school, built up a large and lucra- 
 tive medical practice, and became known as a great 
 leader in the medical profession. 
 
 In 1841 he heard Bishop Matthew Simpson de- 
 liver his famous lecture on Education. This lecture 
 caused Dr. Evans to reconsider how "to do all the 
 good we can." His conclusion was that although 
 he could through his own practice of medicine do 
 much to promote human welfare he could multi- 
 ply his usefulness by helping to prepare many young 
 
 35 
 
men and women to enter all the professions and all 
 useful occupations. 
 
 In 1845 he was invited to become a member 
 of the faculty of the Rush Medical College in Chi- 
 cago. This invitation was gladly accepted even though 
 for three years (1845-48) he retained his residence 
 in Indianapolis and "commuted" to Chicago by 
 stagecoach. During these commuting years Dr. Evans 
 carried on his medical administration, practiced 
 medicine, and taught medicine, but all the time he 
 was working on a plan to prepare young men and 
 women for services in addition to the practice of 
 medicine. Before the completion of these first three 
 years of teaching Dr. Evans had formulated a plan 
 for establishing a great Christian university. He 
 discussed the matter with Bishop Matthew Simpson 
 and proposed that the Bishop become the president 
 of the institution. Bishop Simpson was unable to 
 free himself from other responsibilities and so de- 
 clined the presidency of the projected university. 
 
 Dr. Evans did not abandon his plan to found a 
 university but only awaited a more favorable oppor- 
 tunity. This fixed purpose — to found a great univer- 
 sity — was expressed in the following words: 
 
 1 There is no other cause to which you can more 
 profitably lend your influence, your labor and your 
 means, than that of Christian education by aiding 
 in founding a university. We may do good by im- 
 proving the country, by defending it in a righteous 
 cause, by serving it in the councils of legislation on 
 
 56 
 
the bench or in the forum, but these labors are more 
 or less transient, and the impress we make is tem- 
 porary, but when we found an institution to mold 
 minds and characters for good, that will continue its 
 operations and accumulate influence from generation 
 to generation through all coming time, we have done 
 the very highest and noblest service to our country 
 and our race, of which we are capable. . . . 
 
 During the next two years (1848-50) as a resi- 
 dent of Chicago Dr. Evans became acquainted with 
 the leading business and professional men of that 
 optimistic town of 28,000 inhabitants. On May 31, 
 1850, he and eight of his new Chicago friends as- 
 sembled to plan for the founding of a great univer- 
 sity in or near Chicago. Dr. Evans and four others 
 were selected as a committee to draft a charter for 
 the University. As soon as the charter was author- 
 ized by the state legislature in the spring of 1851 
 Dr. Evans was elected President of the Board. He 
 was reelected to this office annually thereafter until 
 1894. 
 
 Dr. Evans, together with his fellow trustees, 
 planned to create a university as good as the best 
 in New England, and the greatest in all the states 
 carved out of the Northwest Territory, and there- 
 fore a university that might appropriately be called 
 The Northwestern University. The founders were 
 Methodists and sought the assistance of the Method- 
 ist Conference of five of the Northwest Territory 
 states and of Iowa in making Northwestern the 
 
 37 
 
leading university affiliated with the Methodist 
 Church. But the university was non-sectarian from 
 the beginning. 
 
 Dr. Evans' program of education gave special 
 emphasis to all aspects of education of university 
 grade. However, he was greatly interested also in 
 primary and in secondary education. Furthermore, 
 he recognized the fact that the success of North- 
 western University would to a degree be dependent 
 upon the securing of many, and of well-trained, stu- 
 dents from the Chicago public school system. His in- 
 vestigation of the status of schools in Chicago revealed 
 to him a most unsatisfactory situation. The elemen- 
 tary schools were not organized into a school system, 
 there was no superintendent of schools, there was no 
 public high school, and the school lands were not being 
 administered wisely. Accordingly, he became a can- 
 didate for membership on the Chicago Board of 
 Aldermen on a school-betterment platform and was 
 elected in 1853. He was made chairman of the School 
 Committee and introduced an ordinance requiring 
 the organization of a public school system, the ap- 
 pointment of a superintendent, and the creation of 
 a public high school. He also succeeded in restoring 
 and preserving part of the school lands for the sup- 
 port of public instruction. 
 
 The school lands originally consisted of the 
 tract extending from Madison to Twelfth Streets, 
 and from State almost to Halsted. The following 
 
 38 
 
is his description of an instance of his success in re- 
 gaining some of the school land: 
 
 They were selling all their school lands and school 
 property, and I put a stop to that. For instance, there 
 were eighty acres in one block that they had sold, 
 and the purchaser had made default, and the land 
 reverted back. They wanted to resell it, and I 
 would not allow it. 
 
 The citizens of Chicago appreciated this ser- 
 vice, as indicated by the following quotation from 
 the Chicago Republic of September 14, 1866: 
 
 'Tis a noteworthy circumstance that the school 
 fund of the city as well as of the Northwestern 
 University is incalculably indebted to the sagacity 
 of Governor Evans. 
 
 Coming into the City Council while the school 
 lands were being recklessly squandered, and being 
 made chairman of the school committee, he suc- 
 ceeded in arresting the city fathers in their "mad 
 career" and prevailed upon them by the report of 
 his committee to lease rather than sell their school 
 land, saying, "Gentlemen, stop selling until Chicago 
 stops growing." From that day we believe there has 
 been no school property sold; but if the selling had 
 never begun, the Chicago funds would now be worth 
 more like twelve million than a million and a half 
 in value. 
 
 Soon after he became President of the Board of 
 Trustees of Northwestern University Dr. Evans took 
 a leading part in the securing of a site or sites for 
 the University. In 1851 he purchased in his name 
 sixteen lots at the corner of what is now Jackson and 
 LaSalle Streets for $8,000. By 1854 the value of 
 
 39 
 
this site had enhanced greatly but the trustees de- 
 sired these lots for the site for their proposed pre- 
 paratory school. He thereupon sold the lots to the 
 University for $8,000, and was a chief contributor 
 also to the payment fund. 
 
 In 1853 Dr. Evans and Orrington Lunt to- 
 gether with two other trustees were appointed as 
 a committee to select a site for the University. Mr. 
 Lunt first discovered the wooded 3 79 -acre tract 
 on the shore of Lake Michigan, twelve miles north 
 of Chicago. However, Dr. Evans took the initiative 
 in securing this tract for the University. 
 
 From 1851 to 1894 Dr. Evans served not merely 
 as the President of the Board of Trustees of North- 
 western University; in reality for that period he was 
 the University's chief educational leader and finan- 
 cial benefactor. 
 
 The original plan of the founders of North- 
 western was to establish an undergraduate and a 
 graduate college of liberal arts, and also to establish 
 related schools of law, medicine, and theology. Of 
 these three professional schools theology was the first 
 to receive consideration. In 1854 Dr. Evans and four 
 others agreed to erect a building and to provide for 
 a number of years a fund for the support of Garrett 
 Biblical Institute. A site for Garrett was made avail- 
 able on the Northwestern campus. Garrett was 
 founded and continued as an independent institution 
 but affiliated with Northwestern. 
 
 40 
 
As early as 1845 Dr. Evans had become con- 
 vinced that Chicago would ultimately become the 
 metropolis of the states carved out of the North- 
 west territory. His endeavors to make Northwestern 
 University an institution that would serve this geo- 
 graphical area had by 1859 been sufficiently suc- 
 cessful to be regarded by him as most gratifying and 
 encouraging. At this time (1859) as stated in the 
 previous chapter Dr. Evans became convinced that 
 in the near future a railroad would be built from 
 Chicago to the Rockies; that this road would prob- 
 ably cross the Missouri river at the confluence of 
 this and the Platte River; that a great metropolis 
 would probably arise at this place; and that a uni- 
 versity established there in advance would exercise 
 a beneficial influence on the development of all these 
 western plains. He acquired a large tract of land for 
 the site of the city, secured a charter for a univer- 
 sity, and obtained for it the sponsorship of the Meth- 
 odist conferences. He was repeating the program 
 followed in the creation of Northwestern University 
 and the village of Evanston, except that all was to 
 be on the scale of a Chicago rather than of an 
 Evanston. This city, located on the border between 
 Iowa and Nebraska, he named Oreopolis, the Greek 
 equivalent of the English words, border city. He 
 gave to the University also the name of Oreopolis 
 University. 
 
 The following quotation is from a letter of 
 
 41 
 
Dr. Evans to his wife and indicates that his chief 
 interest in Oreopolis was in the proposed university: 
 
 We had a spirited contest before the conference 
 for its adoption of our institution at Oreopolis. Neb- 
 raska City contended for the University with great 
 energy, but we came off triumphant. The Confer- 
 ence adopted all of our institutions by an almost 
 unanimous vote. Oreopolis is now well established 
 and well advertised as the contest has given us a 
 very general notoriety. Building is going on very 
 rapidly. The hotel is not finished but will go on 
 rapidly from this time. Our own ferry-boat arrived 
 today and will do well. 
 
 The anticipated railroad ultimately crossed the 
 Missouri not at Oreopolis but farther north where 
 Omaha and Council Bluffs now stand. As a result 
 the plans for the university and for the city of Ore- 
 opolis were abandoned. 
 
 When Dr. Evans was made Governor of the 
 territory of Colorado in 1862 he assumed responsi- 
 bility for the educational needs of that territory. 
 The immigrants to Colorado were frequently fami- 
 lies in which the children had been taken from the 
 schools of the East, and adequate schools were not 
 available in the sparsely settled districts, and not 
 even in Denver, a town of 3,000 inhabitants. In 
 1863 Governor Evans requested the cooperation of 
 the Colorado Conference of the Methodist Church 
 in establishing an institution of higher learning to 
 be called the Colorado Seminary. He was unable 
 to secure substantial financial cooperation in the 
 
 42 
 
early years for the Seminary, the first head of the 
 school died, debts were incurred with interest rate 
 3 per cent monthly, and finally instruction was dis- 
 continued, and the executive and legislative offices 
 of the Territory were installed in the Seminary 
 buildings. 
 
 The number of academy and of college stu- 
 dents in Colorado was small, but each of the reli- 
 gious denominations was attempting to retain or to 
 establish some type of higher learning. In the inter- 
 ests of the students of Colorado, Governor Evans 
 proposed that the official bodies of the churches 
 represented in Colorado should merge their efforts 
 into making one worthwhile institution to be called 
 the Union Evangelical University. He appeared in 
 person before the official boards of the Methodist, 
 Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Baptist Churches. He 
 presented the plan and took part in deliberations. 
 He was quite sure that each demonination would 
 agree to the program; so he appeared before the Den- 
 ver Board of Trade to secure the cooperation of the 
 citizenry of Denver as additional support. In the 
 address which he delivered to the Board of Trade 
 the following statement was made: 
 
 A well-founded university lives as long as the 
 country in which it is founded lives. It lives for ages. 
 Its influence runs through all time .... Why, there 
 is nothing in all a man's lifetime that he can do that 
 will be so permanent in its beneficial results as found- 
 ing an institution of learning that will live on, and 
 
 43 
 
work, year after year, age after age, after he is laid 
 in the grave. 
 
 Unfortunately, certain denominations failed to 
 cooperate, and the program for the Union Evan- 
 gelical University was dropped in 1874. 
 
 From 1867 to 1879 the Colorado Seminary re- 
 mained practically inactive except for his efforts 
 to keep it alive and create interest in the cause of 
 higher learning. The status of the institution had 
 sunk so low that the other trustees asked Governor 
 Evans to pay its debts and hold its property until 
 the enterprise could be revived. By 1879 the high 
 schools in Denver were making provision for sec- 
 ondary education, and the term "Seminary" had 
 become an uninspiring name for an institution of 
 higher learning. Furthermore, the citizens of Denver 
 desired an institution not so exclusively dependent 
 upon the Methodist Church but one that had more 
 the characteristics of a municipal university. It was 
 proposed that this new institution should be called 
 the University of Denver. Governor Evans also 
 agreed to donate land for the proposed university 
 and agreed to match dollar for dollar all donations 
 made to create and endow it. 
 
 Governor Evans served as President of the 
 Board of Trustees of the Colorado Seminary from 
 1864 to 1879 and of the University of Denver and 
 Colorado Seminary from 1879 to 1897. He was suc- 
 ceeded in the Presidency of the Board by his son, 
 
 44 
 
William G. Evans, who in turn was succeeded by 
 his son, John Evans, who is still the Chairman of 
 the Board of Trustees. 
 
 In a period of thirty-four years Dr. Evans 
 attempted to found four new universities and to 
 bring about two mergers. In each of these six en- 
 deavors he was not only the directing genius but 
 he was in every case the sole or the chief financial 
 contributor. Of all his many activities those con- 
 nected with universities brought to him his greatest 
 satisfaction. All friends of Northwestern are pleased 
 to know that his chief delight was in Northwestern, 
 and that many of his largest benefactions were given 
 to this institution. 
 
 45 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 John Evans, Religious Leader 
 
 John Evans was born of Quaker parents and even 
 as a youth manifested strong religious convic- 
 tions. He possessed a firm faith in the supremacy of 
 spiritual values and in the ultimate triumph of the 
 right. He avoided every tendency to seek primarily 
 his pecuniary advantage but was motivated by a 
 desire to serve God and his fellow men. 
 
 While practicing medicine in Attica Dr. Evans 
 became impressed with the practical idealism of 
 Bishop Simpson and certain other members of the 
 Methodist Church. Accordingly, Dr. Evans joined 
 the little local Methodist Church in Attica, where 
 he immediately exerted a dominating influence. 
 
 His support of the Church was significant not 
 only in Attica but also in Indianapolis, Chicago, 
 Evanston, and Denver. As outstanding instances of 
 his financial contributions to Methodist churches 
 the following should be cited: the building of the 
 Methodist Church block in Chicago; the providing 
 of one-fifth of the support of Garrett Biblical In- 
 stitute in Evanston for a number of years; the sole 
 or the principal financial contributions in Denver 
 to the First Methodist Church and parsonage, to 
 the Evans Mission Sunday School and the Evans 
 
 46 
 
Memorial Chapel, to the Grace Methodist Church, 
 and to the First German Methodist Church; gen- 
 erous donations in Denver to the North Denver 
 and Asbury Methodist Church, and to Christ Meth- 
 odist Church. He gave financial support also to the 
 churches of other Protestant denominations, and to 
 various Catholic institutions. For many years he con- 
 tributed not less than $100 to every church of 
 any denomination started in Colorado. As Carnegie 
 built libraries, and as Rosenwald built school houses, 
 Evans built churches. 
 
 Dr. Evans was an administrative and a spiritual 
 leader in the Methodist Church even to a greater 
 extent than he was a financial leader. 
 
 Until 1868 the authority of the Methodist 
 Church was vested in the General Conference, in 
 which the membership was restricted to bishops and 
 ministers. The theory was that laymen were not 
 qualified to pass judgment on theological questions. 
 Dr. Evans with others called a conference in Chi- 
 cago to draft a request, which the General Confer- 
 ence granted, that laymen be admitted to member- 
 ship and that the Conference be democratized. 
 
 As soon as laymen were admitted to member- 
 ship and to active participation in the General Con- 
 ference of the Methodist Church Dr. Evans was 
 elected as a lay member and his re-election to mem- 
 bership seems to have been continuous till his de- 
 clining years. The list of the important committees 
 
 47 
 
of the Conference on which he served includes the 
 following: Episcopacy, Itinerancy, Book Concern, 
 Education, Church Extension, State of the Church, 
 Freeman's Aid and Southern Work, Lay Represen- 
 tation, Sunday Schools and Tracts, Temperance and 
 Prohibition of the Liquor Traffic. He is credited with 
 having a large part in the establishing of the Method- 
 ist Book Concern and was one of the founders and 
 supporters of the Northwestern Christian Advocate. 
 
 In his support of churches, in his administra- 
 tion of ecclesiastical procedures, and in his leader- 
 ship in applied Christianity, Dr. Evans ranks as one 
 of the greatest religious leaders among laymen of 
 his generation. 
 
 For Dr. Evans religion had to do not only with 
 man's relationship with God, but also with man's 
 relationship with men. Accordingly, besides being 
 interested in ecclesiastical Christianity he was inter- 
 ested in applied Christianity — in worshipping God 
 by righting human wrongs. The first great human 
 wrong that Dr. Evans tried to remove was that of 
 the neglect and abuse of the insane, the blind, and 
 the deaf. His devotion to these unfortunate fellow 
 creatures brought about speedy relief in Indiana 
 and hastened the movement in several other states. 
 
 The grandfather of John Evans was a slave 
 holder in North Carolina; but he married a Quaker- 
 ess who convinced him that slavery was wrong. He 
 freed his slaves and left the state. John was raised 
 
 48 
 
in an anti-slavery home but was inclined to regard 
 slavery as more or less a necessary evil. However, 
 while still a practicing physician in Attica he had 
 occasion to make an extensive trip through the slave 
 states extending as far south as New Orleans. As a 
 result of his personal observations he became a 
 staunch enemy of slavery and an active propagandist 
 for abolition. If not actually a "conductor" on the 
 "underground railway," he was known to have as- 
 sisted runaway slaves in their attempts to reach 
 Canada. Through his abolitionist efforts he formed a 
 close friendship with Abraham Lincoln and with 
 many of the national leaders in the restriction or 
 abolition of slavery. In the foundation of the Re- 
 publican Party, Governor Evans represented the anti- 
 slavery interests, and as the war governor of Colo- 
 rado, by his strenuous efforts to raise troops for the 
 Union Army he contributed much to the success of 
 the war which freed the slaves. 
 
 Dr. Evans regarded the traditional treatment 
 of women as an injustice second only to our treat- 
 ment of the colored race. He contended that wom- 
 en should not be discriminated against in such insti- 
 tutions, activities, and relationships as schools, pro- 
 fessions, and the right to vote and hold public office. 
 His support of women's rights resulted in advancing 
 women wherever he had authority. Thus, North- 
 western University, of which he was president of 
 the board of trustees, was one of the first institu- 
 
 49 
 
tions in America to admit women in all its schools 
 on an equality with men. Thus, the Rush faculty, 
 of which he was an influential member, was one of 
 the first medical faculties in America to grant a 
 medical degree to a woman. Thus, at a time when 
 no state or territory gave women the right to vote, 
 he tried to get the franchise for women in Colorado, 
 and Colorado was the second state in the Union to 
 grant suffrage to women. Thus, Dr. Evans supported 
 and worked with Susan B. Anthony and others of 
 those who eventually secured the amendment to our 
 national constitution which removed the injustice 
 of sex discrimination in the right to vote. 
 
 The mother of John Evans was a prohibition- 
 ist and regarded the liquor traffic as one of the great- 
 est of all human wrongs. To prevent the sale of 
 "the poisonous concoctions of the Evil One" in 
 Waynesville, she employed tactics which, though 
 not as spectacular as Carrie Nation's, were quite as 
 effective. John Evans likewise regarded the liquor 
 traffic as one of our great human wrongs, and he 
 did what he could to reduce it. He was merely one 
 among the millions of workers for prohibition, but 
 credit should be given him for the fact that liquor 
 has never been sold legally in Evanston — the city 
 that bears his name. He must receive some credit 
 also for the fact that the greatest prohibition leader 
 of all times — Frances Willard — was a product of 
 Evanston and one of his close personal friends. 
 
 50 
 
In his support of churches, in his administration 
 of ecclesiastical procedures, and in his leadership in ap- 
 plied Christianity, Dr. Evans ranks as one of the great- 
 est religious leaders among laymen of his generation. 
 
 51 
 
 Library 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ICDflrti* 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 John Evans , Political Leader 
 
 Apolitical leader is one who is capable of se- 
 lecting cooperative associates and of welding 
 them into an effective unit. 
 
 The success of John Evans in selecting his 
 co-workers is illustrated by his selection of 
 Dr. N. S. Davis for medicine, Bishop Matthew 
 Simpson for religion, Orrington Lunt for edu- 
 cational administration, Dorothea Lynde Dix 
 for care of the insane, Frances Willard for pro- 
 hibition, Abraham Lincoln for anti-slavery. In 
 many of his cooperative efforts he confined him- 
 self to a minor role while the major role was 
 played by a friend. 
 
 The group or party in which John Evans 
 was a leader consisted sometimes of but two 
 or a few members, sometimes of a score or 
 a hundred, and in at least three instances it 
 included the majority of the voting members in 
 the Whig, the Democratic, or the Republican 
 party in a small or a large geographical po- 
 litical area. In all his activities he merged him- 
 self so completely in the group of which he 
 was a member that it is impossible to give cred- 
 it to individuals. However, he was an inspir- 
 
 52 
 
ing personality and exercised a directing influ- 
 ence in every group or party of which he was 
 a member. He frequently spent many hours in 
 planning for important ventures, but when it 
 came to the execution of the plan he depend- 
 ed upon group action. 
 
 A political leader is one who thinks construc- 
 tively in terms of local, state, and national welfare, 
 and who is willing to seek election or to accept ap- 
 pointment to office in one or all of these geographi- 
 cal political divisions. 
 
 John Evans was the intellectual leader in 
 local problems having to do with health, re- 
 ligion, and education in Attica, Chicago, Evans- 
 ton, and Denver. He was elected alderman in 
 Chicago, and as a member of the Council served 
 on the committees on schools, wharves, public 
 grounds, and wharfing privileges. He was ap- 
 pointed to offices having to do with various 
 humanitarian problems in the other communi- 
 ties where he made his home. 
 
 He thought constructively also on such state 
 problems as the care of the insane in Indiana, 
 the support of private institutions of higher 
 learning in Illinois, and the problem of trans- 
 portation in Colorado. He accepted the posi- 
 tion of Commissioner and then later of Sup- 
 erintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane 
 
 53 
 
in Indiana, and filled many state positions of 
 trust and of importance in Colorado. 
 
 He demonstrated that he was a constructive 
 thinker on such national questions as slavery, 
 women's rights, prohibition, national quaran- 
 tine, and governmental supervision of business. 
 He was appointed by Abraham Lincoln as the 
 war Governor of the Colorado Territory. Un- 
 der his governorship Colorado furnished in 
 relation to her population a greater ratio of 
 soldiers to the Union Army than any other state 
 or territory. He was elected the first Senator 
 of the United States from Colorado (the state- 
 hood was denied by veto of President Andrew 
 Johnson) . 
 
 A political leader in America is one who is a 
 leader in a political party or parties. 
 
 As a youth John Evans seemed to take 
 little interest in political parties, but much 
 interest in public issues. He was opposed to 
 slavery, and probably classified himself as a 
 Whig. As a young practicing physician in At- 
 tica, Fountain County, Indiana, he made a 
 political issue of human rights, but in this 
 movement the Whig party took but little in- 
 terest. Accordingly, Dr. Evans turned for as- 
 sistance to the Democratic party. By his in- 
 fluence with the Quakers and the Methodists 
 
 54 
 
he became a state leader of the Democratic par- 
 ty in the state of Indiana. The following is a 
 quotation from an historian of that period: 
 
 The lack of interest displayed by Governor Bigger 
 in the movement for an insane hospital was one of 
 the deciding factors in his defeat for re-election in 
 1843. The Democrats at that time came out on a 
 platform of human rights and individual liberty, and 
 this platform contained a plank declaring it the duty 
 of the state to care for the unfortunate and feeble. 
 The Methodists had become a power in the state, and, 
 as the ranks of this church had been largely recruit- 
 ed from the Society of Friends, with whom Dr. Ev- 
 ans was on the best of terms, the Fountain County 
 junta was able to wield an influence extending far 
 beyond the natural confines of the district. Presi- 
 dent Simpson of Indiana Asbury, who had become a 
 political power, also threw his great influence in 
 the scales to help his friends in Attica. They pleaded 
 for human rights, individual liberty, private initi- 
 ative; that it was more the duty of the state to care 
 for the unfortunate, the feeble, educate the chil- 
 dren, and foster individual development than to con- 
 cern itself entirely with aiding bankers, manufac- 
 turers and transportation companies. The coalition 
 of Methodists and Democrats drove the Whig party 
 from power after eighteen successive years. Governor 
 James Whitcomb and other state officials were deeply 
 indebted to Dr. Evans for the part that he had 
 played, and when he appeared before them in behalf 
 of the insane hospital the handicap under which he 
 had labored was gone. 
 
 That John Evans was a leader in the Repub- 
 lican party, even in the early days of that party, 
 is demonstrated by the following historical 
 facts: 
 
 55 
 
An informal group of anti-slavery citizens 
 in Ripon, Wisconsin, adopted the term "Re- 
 publican Party" on July 6, 1854. 
 
 A group of editors met in Bloomington, Illi- 
 nois, and adopted the slogan "Freedom is na- 
 tional but slavery is local," on February 22, 
 1856. They also issued a call for a state con- 
 vention of editors. 
 
 This state convention of editors convened in 
 Bloomington, Illinois, May 29, 1856. The Chi- 
 cago representative, William B. Ogden, could 
 not be present, and his place was taken by Dr. 
 Evans, the only man to attend not an active 
 editor. He took a prominent part in the or- 
 ganization, and was considered for nomination 
 as candidate for Congress on the Republican 
 ticket the following fall. Previous to the elec- 
 tion he was asked for an expression of his view 
 on slavery, this inquiry coming in the form of 
 a questionnaire from the Hon. W. B. Plato of 
 Geneva. The letter which framed the reply, 
 issued four years before the Republican party 
 had elected Lincoln president, was a clear-cut 
 political statement upon a question which poli- 
 ticians were then endeavoring to avoid by gen- 
 eralizations: 
 
 Chicago, September 4th, 1856. 
 
 Your favor of the 23 ult. was duly received upon 
 my arrival at home on the 28 th, and should have 
 
 56 
 
had a prompt reply, but my health would not justify 
 the effort until now. I thank you for information 
 that my letter of acceptance is not sufficiently ex- 
 plicit on the subject of slavery, and shall cheerfully 
 answer your several questions. But before proceed- 
 ing I will state the general proposition: that I believe 
 it to be the duty of the general government in all 
 cases where it has the authority over the subject, 
 to exercise its positive influence in favor of freedom 
 and against slavery. A position of neutrality on the 
 subject of liberty by a government founded as ours 
 was for the promotion and enjoyment of freedom; 
 and established at the expense of the treasure and 
 blood of the patriots of the Revolution, would be 
 a spectacle of degeneracy too humiliating to be con- 
 templated with complacency, or tolerated by an 
 enlightened and virtuous people. You ask, 
 
 Ques. 1st: Do you believe Congress has the Con- 
 stitutional power to prohibit slavery in the terri- 
 tories of the United States and if elected, will you 
 endeavor to procure such prohibition? 
 
 Ans.: Inasmuch as the Constitution expressly gives 
 Congress the power to "make all needful rules and 
 regulations respecting the territory, or other property 
 belonging to the United States" — and since Congress 
 has always heretofore exercised the authority of en- 
 acting laws for the regulations and government of 
 the people who might settle in the territories, I do 
 not see how it can be regarded as unconstitutional 
 for it to prohibit any great moral, social and political 
 evil from being introduced into them, all of which 
 slavery is admitted to be by every right-thinking 
 person in the country, whether an inhabitant of the 
 North or South. 
 
 Ques. 2nd: Do you believe Congress has power 
 to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia; and, 
 if elected, will you use your best endeavors to pro- 
 cure such prohibition? 
 
 Answer: With the clear and unequivocal declar- 
 ation in the Constitution: "Congress shall have power 
 
 57 
 
to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases, what- 
 soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles 
 square), as may by cession of particular states, and 
 acceptance of Congress become the seat of govern- 
 ment of the United States," I do not see how any- 
 one can entertain a doubt in reference to Congress 
 having the power: and as a majority of the voters 
 of the district have petitioned for it, I should, if 
 elected, use my best endeavors to remove from our 
 nation that blackest spot upon her fair name, slavery 
 in the national capitol. 
 
 Ques. 3rd: Are you in favor of admitting more 
 slave states into the Union; and how would you 
 vote upon the application of any new state for 
 admission with a Constitution that recognizes the 
 institution of slavery? 
 
 Answer: I am not in favor of the admission of 
 any more slave states; and I should vote against such 
 application. 
 
 Ques. 4th: Are you in favor of a repeal or amend- 
 ment of the fugitive slave law of 18 50; or do you 
 regard it as a just and constitutional law of the 
 land? 
 
 Answer: I regard the law which, either directly or 
 indirectly, denies any person whatsoever, in times 
 of peace and safety, the benefit of those constitution- 
 ally guaranteed safeguards to liberty, the writ of 
 habeas corpus, and the right of trial by jury, as 
 dangerous and unjust; and therefore should be in 
 favor of the amendment of said law so as to fully 
 secure those rights. And, in case such amendment 
 cannot be made, rather than retain the law in its 
 present form, I should vote for its entire repeal. 
 
 Hoping my answers may prove satisfactory to 
 yourself and the people of this district generally, I 
 grant the permission you ask to lay them before the 
 public, and with sentiments of great respect, re- 
 main very truly, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN EVANS 
 
 58 
 
Governor John Evans was a political leader — 
 a very great political leader — when adjudged accord- 
 ing to each of the three searching standards here 
 applied. 
 
 Conclusion 
 
 In the foreword the statement was made that 
 John Evans was to be presented as a physician, as 
 a railroad builder, as a city builder, as an educator, 
 as a religious leader, and as a political leader. In each 
 of the six chapters an attempt has been made to 
 present concrete verifiable facts descriptive of the 
 achievements of John Evans in one of these particu- 
 lar fields. In each field his contributions were extra- 
 ordinary. 
 
 The writer believes that equally laudatory chap- 
 ters could be truthfully written concerning John 
 Evans as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a neigh- 
 bor, as a citizen, and as a friend. 
 
 59 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA 
 
 B.E9231S C003 
 
 JOHN EVANS, 1814-1897 EVANSTON 
 
 3 0112 025405967