March, 27, 1947
City Marks 133rd Anniversary of Birth of Dr. John Evans
When early leaders of Evanston decided to name this city after Dr. John Evans, they picked a man who accomplished more in his lifetime than a half-dozen ordinary persons.
Evanston noted the 133rd anniversary of John Evans' birth Sunday, Mar. 9. But Evanstonians share their indebtedness to him with people of other cities, for John Evans' work was not restricted to any one locality.
A 14,260-foot-high mountain in Colorado commemorates his name. Mt. Evans is named for Colorado's second territorial governor, who was appointed by President Lincoln in 1862.
First President of Board
One of the founders of Northwestern university and the first president of the board of trustees, occupying that position for 42 years,
Dr. Evans was also the founder of Denver university.
The history of medicine in this area was unfolded recently when the life of Dr. John Evans was dramatized on "Doctors-Then and Now" over WMAQ.
The governor and educator began his career as a doctor in Attica, Ind., after being graduated from Clermont academy in Pennyslvania in 1838 with a medical degree. He was born in Waynesville, 0., in 1814, the son of Quaker parents.
Interested in Asylmns
After becoming interested in insane asylums, the physician soon took a job as state director of the institutions. He achieved fame as a general physician in Indiana.
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'City Marks 133rd Birth Anniversary of Dr. John Evans
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Dr. Evans came to Chicago in 1845 and served as a professor of medicine for eleven years in Rush Medical college. He fought the cholera epidemic of 1848-49, urging Congress to establish a nationwide quarantine. He became editor of the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal.
He founded the Illinois and Chicago Medical societies, but he didn't stop with medical advancements. He helped build the first railroad into Chicago as well as Evanston's and Denver's first railroad. He was chairman of the Commission on Public Schools in Chicago in 1852-53.
A devoutly religious man, he was a Methodist Episcopal church leader. He established the Methodist church block in the business center of Chicago, the Methodist Book concern, and the Christian Advocate.
He selected the tract of land for the site of Northwestern university and helped plot a town later named Evanston in his honor. He moved to Evanston in 1855, and lived on Hinman avenue between Clark street and University place.
To set up the university financially, he bought a lot across from the Board of Trade in Chicago for the benefit of Northwestern. The lot is now occupied by the Illinois Savings and Trust company.
As the first president of the board of trustees, he endowed the university with $50,000 and later increased the sum to $100,000.
Supporter of Lincoln
He took part in the first convention of republican editors in the United States at Bloomington. He supported Lincoln in 1860 and was offered the territorial governorship of Washington in 1861, but declined.
The job of territorial governor of Colorado was accepted in 1862. He enlisted troops for the Union army and started the Ute reservation in that state. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1865 and stayed in Washington during the winters of 1865-67.
In 1868 he was a delegate to the national Republican convention that nominated Grant for president. In that year he became president of the Denver Pacific Railroad and Telegraph company. He obtained the passage of the Denver land grant bill in 1869 and organized the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad company in 1872, becoming its first president.
He was a leader in civic work in Denver until his death in1897.
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