The Evans family were Mormon miners and traders in the West. The family was founded by Thomas Evans (1849-1941) of Tredegar, Wales, who grew up in a coal mining family. In 1873 he moved to Pontypridd, where he married Jane Ann Coles (1854-1902) in 1876. They had eight children, the first of which was named William (1877-1954). In 1880 Jane joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Thomas was baptized the following year. In 1888 the family moved to Merthyr Tydfil, where they cared for the Mormon missionaries at the Merthyr Conference House. The family decided to emigrate, and in 1892 left for the United States--first to Salt Lake City, Utah and then to Fruitland, New Mexico where Thomas and his sons worked in the coal mines. William left the mines in 1898, helping establish a trading post for the Navajo. In 1902 he married Sarah Luella Walker (1880-1960), and they had four children. William left to serve as a Mormon missionary in Maine for two years, and after his return purchased the Shiprock Trading Company in 1917. He managed the company until his retirement in 1948. His second son, Richard Perry Evans (1914-1991) worked as a clerk and agent in New Mexico and Tooele, Utah.
Will Evans (1877-1954) was a trader and artist in New Mexico.
William Evans was born on March 14, 1877 in Pontypridd, Wales to Thomas Evans and Jane Ann Coles. The family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while Evans was a child, and in 1892 they emigrated to the United States. They settled first in Salt Lake City, Utah, moving a year later to Fruitland, New Mexico. Evans worked with his father in the coal mines and as a farm hand before joining a company to establish a trading post for the Navajo in 1898. He married Sarah Luella Walker (1880-1960) in Fruitland in 1902, and they had four children. In 1909 he left to serve a two year mission for the Church in Maine, and after his return began working for the Algert Company. In 1917 Evans purchased the Shiprock Trading Company, which he ran until his retirement in 1948. He later was elected police judge in Farmington, serving between 1952 and 1954. Evans died on December 6, 1954 in Farmington.
From the guide to the Will Evans family papers and Navajo art, approximately 1849-1990, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)
