Biography

04/01/1813 - 02/09/1872

Henry Sebastian Evans (Whig4) Chester and Delaware Counties 1852-1854 (R5) Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, 1871-1872

Early Life:

Henry Sebastian Evans, born April 1, 1813, April Fool's Day, Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania,  son of Septimus and Catherine Haupt Evans; common school education; printers apprentice, Village Record West Chester, 1826; purchased The Village Record, 1834; purchased, Waynesburg Record, Chester County, 1834, married, Jane Darlington, 1841, seven children; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1846-1849; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1852-1854; chief burgess of West Chester 1861; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1871-1872; died, February 9, 1872 (aged 58), in office, West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania; interment, Oaklands Cemetery, West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Printer’s apprentice with future Pennsylvania State Senator, Edward C. Darlington, of Lancaster as a young boy; The Village Record newspaper, West Chester, Pennsylvania, under the guidance of then owner and editor Honorable Charles Miner, 1826, purchased The Village Record, from his boss and mentor, 1834. Purchased, Waynesburg Record, Chester County, 1834.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1846-1849.

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate 7^th district, Chester and Delaware Counties, 1852-1854. 

Won his party's nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1854. For reasons unknown he withdrew from the campaign. It has been reported that the Philadelphia delegation stood solidly behind him when he withdrew from the race. A possible explanation for his withdraw could have been his brother's illness. His brother Columbus, then only 30 years old, who was also a newspaperman, and politician passed away in West Chester.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate 7th district, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, 1871-1872; committee assignments, Agriculture, Banks, Federal Relations, Pensions and Gratuities, Public Printing, Retrenchment and Refrom.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=8711

Legacy:

Wife, Jane Darlington, sister, Pennsylvania State Senator Edward C. Darlington (Whig7) Lebanon and Lancaster Counties, 1852-1854.

Inscription: Life Long Editor and Proprietor of the Chester County VILLAGE RECORD

Cited:

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1872) Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 501, 503, 506-508.

John Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pa., volume II, (Philadelphia: Lewis H. Everts, 1881)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84780861/henry-sebastian-evans