Thomas Jefferson Evans, Sr.

EVANS, THOMAS Ancestor #: A207320

Service: VIRGINIA Rank: PRIVATE

Birth: CIRCA 1747

Death: 10-25-1832 FENTRESS CO TENNESSEE

Pension Number: *W923

Service Source: *W923

Service Description:

1) CAPTS JOHN MORTON, ABRAHAM TRIGG

RESIDENCE

1) County: PRINCE EDWARD CO - State: VIRGINIA

SPOUSE

1) JANE HOWERTON

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200142494/thomas-jefferson-evans

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Thomas Evans was born about 1747, probably in the portion of Amelia County, Virginia, which was later organized as Prince Edward County in 1753. The names of his parents are not known; however, there is some circumstantial evidence that his father's name may have been Robert. Jane Howerton and Thomas Evans were married December 24, 1780, in Prince Edward County, Virginia.

http://web.pdx.edu/~davide/gene/Evans_Thomas.htm

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Prince Edward County, Virginia was formed in the Virginia Colony in 1754 from Amelia County. It was named for Prince Edward, second son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom.

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After reaching adulthood, Thomas Evans served in the Revolutionary War (as number 412 in the Virginia State Line). His military service is substantiated as the basis of a subsequent pension application made in the name of Thomas Evans by his widow, Jane, and attested by her affidavit as well as in affidavits made by other members of the family.1,2 Witnesses indicate that Thomas Evans enlisted near Prince Edward County Courthouse along with his future brother-in-law, James Howerton.3 If this is the case, then the first known military service for Thomas Evans was in December of 1775 when the Fourth Virginia Regiment of continental troops was enlisted under Captain John Morton and which, subsequently came under the command of Colonel Adam Stevens. This unit left for Suffolk, Virginia, in March, 1776, where at this location and at Portsmouth they fought with Lord Dunsmore's forces. Afterward, they left Virginia, going to Head of Elk River in Maryland, and from there through Philadephia and Newark to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where they joined General George Washington's Army after its retreat from Fort Washington. This regiment participated in a number of battles, including notable engagements at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown, and was encamped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the winter of 1777-1778. It seems that both Thomas Evans and James Howerton were discharged sometime in 1778 at Philadelphia and returned to Virginia. Jane Howerton and Thomas Evans were married December 24, 1780, in Prince Edward County, Virginia. John MacKelvay, a Baptist minister, is said to have perfomed the ceremony. It further appears that the couple emigrated to Montgomery County, Virginia, shortly after their marriage. (Although, perhaps, Thomas moved there as a single man before his marriage, since he was a member of the county militia late in the Revolutionary War.) Jane Howerton Evans later stated that Thomas Evans volunteered for a three month term of militia service under Captain Trigg shortly after their marriage and traveled to North Carolina where he fought at the shallow ford of the Yadkin River. There appear to have been at least two engagements at or near this location. The best known of these occured on or about October 14, 1780, which was prior to the marriage of Jane Howerton and Thomas Evans. Nevertheless, both Thomas Evans and William Howerton, his brother-in-law, are believed by many to have participated in this battle since, they both appear on a roster of members of Captain Trigg's company of the Montgomery County militia commanded by Major Joseph Cloyd; a military unit known to have been present.4 It also seems that a second skirmish occurred at or near the shallow ford a few days before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781 (which was a major battle, considered by many historians to have been the turning point of the Revolutionary War in the South and directly leading to the British surrender at Yorktown).

http://web.pdx.edu/~davide/gene/Evans_Thomas.htm