Looking for information on the family (parents, anything) of Robert L. EVANS, b. 4/29/1884 d. 10/23/1955. Lived in Bell Co KY in Chenoa community. Married Nannie J. RUTHERFORD b. 10/22/1886 d. 7/29/1966.

I hear there is an EVANS MT family, which is apparently near Chenoa. Any help out there? I appreciate your time.

Hello,

I am not familiar with your family or the area you mention; however, in the 1900 Bell Co. Fed. Census there is:

Dwelling 239 - ED18
EVANS, Robert G., 58
. . Malindy, wife, 55
. . Pearly, dau, 14
. . Robert B., 11
. . Victoria, dau, 10

Dwelling 250
EVANS, Dock, 25
. . Rosa, wife, 26
. . Robert V., son, 7
. . Nora, dau, 5
. . Flora, dau, 1

Overall, there are a HUGE number of EVANS showing in the 1900 Bell.

Joyce Taylor Collins
La Palma, CA

Connie, I am very interested in your story, especially, about Robert Mason, cousin of William Evans, and if he is the following Robert Mason, my husbands 5th great grandfather:

Robert Mason b: Bet. 1707 - 1739 in England
+Elizabeth Unknown b: in England

Children:
Robert L. Mason b: April 07, 1757 in Stepney, White Chapel, London, England d: September 25, 1849 in Bell Co., KY
William Mason b: 1750
Sara Mason b: 1755
John Mason b: March 1761
Ann Dudley Mason b: December 1762
James Mason b: September 1767
Charles Mason b: December 1770
Charlotte Ann Mason b: July 1765

If this is the same Robert Mason that you were speaking of, it sounds like you might know who his parents and siblings are, and I would like to hear from you more on this family.

Gloria Spurlock
gcs2pkj@aol.com

Hi,

Evans Mountain is at the head of Little Clear Creek past the Fuson Chapel Church at what used to be called Fuson Settlement and is now collectively called Little Clear Creek, off of hwy. 190. It is several miles before Chenoa and is reached before entering the Big Clear Creek/Harmony Elementary school area. Evans Mtn. faces Meldrum and Cannon Lake on the other side. After crossing the creek when it is low, the area can only be reached by foot or four-wheel drive.

John Evans, whose father William Evans traveled w/ his cousin, Robert Mason from Stepne, London, England on the "Adventurer" settled 3/4 of the way up the mountain. His home stood beside "Kettle Rock" where Indians used to grind their corn, and he is said to have settled in that spot in order to see the whites of the Indians' eyes if they came for his family. His father, William Evans might have lived there, too.

He and his wife, Sarah Haynes raised a large family there. Today can be seen brick chimneys, other remains of house sites, rock walls, Kettle Rock, orchard areas, and a couple of cemetaries w/ several marked stones. The Evans children and grandchildren and other descendants became Baptist preachers, farmers, and doctors in Bell county. Areas on the mtn. are called "Evans Gap" and "Baptist Gap." The last Evans, Mittie Shelton Evans moved out of the mountain in the 1950's.

Connie Hoskins Williams

Gloria,

I know very little about Robert Mason's background and it does not include more than you have!

Good luck in your research.

Connie

Connie,

Your posting on Evans Mountain is very similar to that of Henry Harvey Fuson's depiction of the history of Bell County. You, however, elaborated in much more detail. I'm wondering were you got your primary and/or additional information. I question one specific genealogical lineage which Fuson wrote about.
More specifically, he wrote, "... John Evans settled on the Evans Mountain, the divide between Little Clear Creek and the Yellow Creek Valley at Middlesborough, in about 1780. This part of Log Mountain was named after John Evans, its first settler.... John Evans had several children, among whom were (1) Lucinda Evans, my grandmother who married James Robinson Fuson, Jr.; (2) Rev. William Evans; (3) Eliza Evans, who married Wesley King and lived on Wesley King Mountain at the head of Little Clear Creek and about 1890 went to Little Poplar Creek in Knox County; (4) Peggy Evans, who married Elam Partin...."
Either he is wrong about the John Evans (of Evans' Mountain) having a daughter married to Wesley King because he would have been pretty old by her date of birth. I am a direct descendant of this marriage and have family notes, letters, and photos of this bond and their family. Could John Evans (of Evans Mountain) have had a son named John who then had a daughter named Elizabeth (depicted in Fuson's Book)?

Hal

Hal,

I have wondered if the Eliza Evans whom Harvey Fuson says is John Evans's daughter might actually have been his sister. Some researchers say that Fuson has made some errors in his histories of Bell county, but he is hard to question on the Evanses and the Little Clear Creek/Chenoa area. The fact that he was descended from the Evanses and Fusons who were the first settlers, and that he lived and worked in the area into the 1940's gives him much credibility. But, I have wondered about Eliza Evans King's parentage, too. I remember reading that he lived w/ a daughter in his later years. I'll look through my materials to see if Eliza Evans King is the one mentioned.

Do you know where Wesley King Mountain is in relation to Evans Mountain? His other known children didn't settle very far from Evans Mountain where Rev. William H. Evans settled with his parents. I've never heard of John & Sarah Haynes Evans having a son named John, but I don't have the names of all their children.

Have you visited this area? It's so nice to connect w/ an Evans cousin and I hope to hear from you soon.

Connie

CONNIE AND Hal,
I am also a descendant of John Evans who settled Evans Mountain in bell Co. Kentucky. My grandfather George Dewey Evans (Born 1898, grandson of John T. Evans and ggrandson of Rev. William Evans and Peggy bull) had given me my family tree from his cousin Estle Evans. The way mine is written is the Evans family came from virginia in about 1780 and the first settler was a John Evans. Then my family tree starts with a new paragraph of a John Evans(Mine does not name a wife) who had several children among who were Eliza Evans, who married Wesley King. What I have been wondering is the John Evans who settled Evans Mountain a different John than Elizas father. If John Evans( who married Sarah Haynes, was born in 1776, as other researchers have told me he could not have been the same John who settled the mountain in 1780 because he would have just been 4 years old. Maybe everyone has just asuumed they were the same John and they are not? Back then the same name was used over and over again! or the date is wrong , or instead of JOHN maybe it should be WILLIAM settled the area? I JUST DON'T KNOW!According to a King family tree WESLEY KING married ELIZA A. EVANS , daughter of JOHN EVANS and SARAH HAYNES and she was born 1827 in Bell Co. Ky. There children were Andrew King, Mary King, Sarah King, and John Evans King.(Sarah and John probably being named after her parents?)NOTES for WESLEY KING: He lived on Wesley King Mountain at the head of Little Clear Creek. Any comments or information about my family tree to help me from being confused would be appreciated.

Sharon,

At this time, I believe that most of us who have the Evans information you mention believe that William Evans and his cousin, Robert Mason and possibly Isaiah Collins, were probably the first settlers. The fact that our John Evans was about four years old in 1780 is confusing, to say the least. The migration from VA must have been accomplished by several members of the Evans and Mason families, among others, and over a period of time.

Richard Haynes was a very early settler who performed marriages and might have been a brother to Sarah Haynes. The Haynes family moved out of the area. Fortners were, also, neighbors of the Evanses and several of them moved into Claiborne county TN. The Kings certainly were in the Clear Creek area from early on. The Fusons and Bulls married into the Evans and Mason families in the early years, also. Other families such as the Heads, Bakers, Partins and Gibsons were also prominent in the early 1800's.

Have you been to Clear Creek?

Connie

Connie,
Thanks for answering me back, and yes I have been to Clear Creek but not where my Evans ancestors are buried or what is called Evans Mountain. I have relatives that live in Bell co, Ky. areas of Middlesboro, Frakes, Chenoa and Laurel Fork. My grandmother grew up on Clear Creek and my father grew up in Laurel Fork.
I have actually spent the last 3 days in the area with my father.
I had been sent additional information on the descendants of John that begin with John Evans in Stepney, London, England and he married Hannah UNKNOWN. They had William Evans in 1756 in Stepney, London, England. So,is this information correct? Do you have any additional information you would be willing to share. I have information forward but not anything back.
Thanks,

Sharon