(1824 – 1895)

The second person to be buried in the Robertson Family Cemetery was William Evans in 1895. He was the father of Francis Jerome Evans who was a neighbor and fellow church member of the Robertsons.

William first appears by name in the 1850 census, 26 years old, as a journeyman tanner in the Wailes household, Worcester County, MD. Sarah Wailes, at 39, has recently lost her husband Dr. William Wailes, 49. Sarah is herself working as a tanner. There are 5 children in the family ranging from 14 to 4 years. William appears as a witness to the deceased’s will in which Mr. Wailes leaves all the tanning operations to his “beloved wife.” (It’s also possible William Evans was in the Wailes household in the 1840 census, as there are 3 unnamed males between 15 and 20 years of age.)

In Dec. 1850 William married Sarah (Sally) A. Gordy, also of Worcester County. In the 1860 census they are still living in Worcester County and have 4 children: (Francis) Jerome, Jarda (?), John, and William Edwin. Sally’s mother and sister are living with them as well. William’s occupation is transcribed on Ancestry as “farmer” but the handwriting might say “tanner”.

By 1870 the family has moved to Baltimore. William is still a tanner, Sarah presumably keeping house, Jerome apprentice to a blacksmith. There are 4 other children, Jada [? still unreadable] 17, John 15, William 12, Florence 2, and Paul 6 months. All the census documents state that William was born in Maryland.

Then in 1880 the family has split. Sarah and 3 of the children are in Baltimore. William has returned to the Eastern Shore and lives in Tyaskin. At 58 he is apparently living alone, employed as a farming laborer.

William died in 1895. Somewhere along the line he might have joined the army and served for the Union in the Civil War. There is a pension card for a William F. Evans from a Maryland regiment which the widow, Sally A. Evans filed in September 1895. This would correlate with the 22 August death date reported on Find a Grave.

William Evans is buried in the Robertson Family Cemetery near his son, Francis Jerome.