Evarts family

Jeremiah Evarts (1781-1831): author, editor, lawyer, and philanthropist; editor of the Panoplist; member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Jeremiah Evarts, son of James and Sarah Todd Evarts, was born February 3, 1781, in Sunderland, Vermont. The family moved to Georgia, Vermont, six years later. In January, 1798, Jeremiah Evarts went to East Guilford, Connecticut, where he studied with the Rev. John Elliot. In September of the same year, he entered Yale College.

Evarts attended Yale during the presidency of Timothy Dwight at a period when religious revival was beginning at the college. In his senior year, Evarts experienced a religious conversion which led him to join the Church in the spring of 1802.

After graduation, Evarts returned to his home in Vermont for a period of time before accepting the position of principal of the Caledonia County Grammar School in Peacham, Vermont, in April, 1803. One year later, Evarts, having decided to study law, entered the New Haven law office of Judge Charles Chauncey. Jeremiah Evarts was admitted to the Connecticut Bar Association in July, 1806, and practiced law in New Haven until 1810.

In 1804 Jeremiah Evarts married Mehetabel Sherman Barnes, daughter of Roger Sherman and widow of Daniel Barnes, who had one son, Daniel, by her previous marriage. Jeremiah and Mehetabel Evarts had five children: Mary, Martha, John Jay, Sarah, and William Maxwell.

While living in New Haven, Jeremiah Evarts contributed articles to the Panoplist, first published in 1805 in Massachusetts. Edited and written by Jedidiah Morse, Leonard Woods, and others, the magazine represented the views of orthodox Congregationalism. During the years 1805 to 1809, the Panoplist actively encouraged the union of Congregational churches in a General Association and the founding of Andover Theological Seminary.

In January, 1810, Jeremiah Evarts abandoned the practice of law to become the editor of the Panoplist . He left New Haven and settled with his family in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Six years later, he moved to Boston, where he resided until his death in 1831.

Jeremiah Evarts edited the Panoplist from 1810 until 1820, when he was forced to discontinue its publication because of other commitments. As editor, he wrote on issues of social reform, such as slavery and the temperance movement, reviewed works on religious subjects, and defended the doctrines of Calvinism. He viewed with alarm the growing Unitarian movement within the Congregational Church., since he believed it to be incompatible with orthodox Congregationalism. This issue was heatedly contested by both sides, and the controversy was mirrored in the pages of the Panoplist .

The early years of the nineteenth century in New England saw the formation of charitable and educational organizations, the founding of societies for the dissemination of Bibles and religious tracts, as well as increasingly widespread domestic and foreign missionary endeavors. An important function of the Panoplist was to keep the Christian public informed of the existence and progress of such ventures.

While editor of the Panoplist, Jeremiah Evarts was active in the organization of the Massachusetts Bible Society and served as manager of the American Bible Society. He was also a vice-president of the American Education Society and an active member of the Park Street Congregational Church in Boston.

Jeremiah Evarts had been a strong advocate and an early member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, founded in 1810. Evarts was elected treasurer of the Board in 1811 and a member of the Prudential Committee in 1812. As treasurer, he worked closely with Samuel Worcester, who was corresponding secretary during the same period. When Worcester's health forced him to leave Boston for a warmer climate in January, 1821 (he died in June of that year), Evarts assumed the duties of corresponding secretary as well. He continued to hold both offices until 1822. At the annual meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in September of that year, Henry Hill was elected treasurer and Jeremiah Evarts was elected corresponding secretary, a position which he held until his death in 1831. Evarts' duites also included the editorship of the Missionary Herald, published by the A. B. C. F. M. to record its proceedings and activities.

As treasurer, corresponding secretary, and a member of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Evarts was influential in shaping the policies and direction of American missionary enterprises at home and abroad. As a special agent of the A. B. C. F. M., he personally visited, on several occasions between 1818 and 1830, missions to the Cherokee and Choctaw nations in the South. (A chronology of the journeys undertaken by Evarts on behalf of the A. B. C. F. M. follows this biographical sketch.)

Visits to mission stations increased Evarts' fears for the physical survival, as well as the moral and spiritual well-being, of the Southern tribes. In 1827 and 1828, the Georgia state legislature asserted the claim that it could take possession, at will, of Cherokee lands within the chartered limits of the state. Alabama and Mississippi adopted similar laws respecting Indians within their boundaries. Removal of the Indians to territory west of the Mississippi, Evarts believed, would decimate their numbers and offer no assurance that the same action would not be taken against them in the future.

Sympathetic to the Cherokees' efforts to seek justice through the courts and the Congress, and convinced that the United States government was morally bound to honor its treaty obligations, Jeremiah Evarts actively espoused the Indian cause. In an attempt to place the merits of the Indians' case before the American people, Evarts wrote a series of essays defending the legal rights of the Cherokees to their land. Published in the National Intelligencer, from August to December, 1829, under the pseudonym, "William Penn," the essays were reproduced in the newspapers and circulated in a pamphlet edition.

Since a bill on the removal of the Indians was to be introduced in the first session of the 21st Congress (December 7, 1829 - May 31, 1830), Evarts encouraged public meetings of concerned citizens, drafted petitions to the Congress which were endorsed by leading citizens in New York and Boston, and wrote a memorial to Congress on behalf of the Cherokees from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

When a bill authorizing the President to remove the Indians was passed by Congress in the spring of 1830, Evarts was discouraged by the outcome. Nevertheless, he continued his efforts, editing a pamphlet of speeches on the Indian bill, and writing articles for the Missionary Herald, the New York Observer, and the North American Review . In November, 1830, he contributed two additional essays by "William Penn" to the National Intelligencer, and in January, 1831, drafted a second memorial to Congress from the A. B. C. F. M. on the state of the Indians.

Evarts had to abandon plans to go to Washington on behalf of the Cherokees in the early part of 1831. As his health progressively worsened, he was advised in February of that year to leave Boston for a milder climate. He arrived at Havana, Cuba, early in March. After a six-week stay, Evarts mistakenly believed his condition had greatly improved and sailed to Savannah. After a brief visit, he proceeded to the home of friends in Charleston, where he died on May 10, 1831.

• 1816 Jun: Jeremiah Evarts visited Quebec and western New York
• 1818 Jan: Was advised to spend time in a milder climate because of failing health. Received a commission as agent of the A. B. C. F. M. Sailed for Savannah, Georgia; arrived after difficult passage. Visited Charleston, Augusta. Spent three weeks at the Cherokee mission at Chickamauga (later called Brainerd). Returned northward through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania; reached Philadelphia late in July, 1818.
• 1822 Mar: Poor health again forced Evarts to leave Boston. Sailed to Savannah, visited Indian missions in Georgia, returned through eastern Tennessee and Virginia. Arrived in Boston in August, 1822.
• 1823 Jul - 1823 Aug : Visited western Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire on behalf of the A. B. C. F. M.
• 1823 Dec: Began extensive tour as agent of the A. B. C. F. M. Traveled to New York, Philadelphia, Princeton, and Washington. Continued southward through Virginia and Tennessee. Made third visit to the missions among the Cherokees, spent several weeks visiting the various stations, Brainerd in particular. Also visited Choctaw missions in Mississippi. From Natchez, continued to New Orleans, then sailed to New York, arriving in June, 1824.
• 1825 Mar: Weakened by consumption. Sailed for Charleston, South Carolina. Traveled to Augusta and Savannah. Returned to Boston in May, 1825, where his daughter Sarah had died in his absence.
• 1826 Jan: In poor health, sailed for Charleston. Traveled to Augusta. Visited Indian missions in Georgia and mission stations along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. Returned to Memphis in May. Sailed up Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Pittsburgh. Returned to Boston in June, 1826.
• 1826 Nov - 1826 Dec : Spent several weeks in New York City on behalf of the A. B. C. F. M.
• 1827 Feb: Journeyed to Washington, D. C., by way of New York and Philadelphia. Engaged in organizing missionary societies, attending meetings in behalf of mission work. Closely followed debate in Congress on the Cherokee question. Visited several cities in Virginia, also Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Princeton. Returned to Boston in April, 1827.
• 1827 Jun: Visited missionary societies in New Hampshire and Maine on behalf of the A. B. C. F. M.
• 1828 Mar: Journeyed to Washington, D. C. Followed debate in Congress on the Cherokee question and sought government protection for the Sandwich Islands mission from crews of American naval vessels. Returned to Boston in April.
• 1828 late Jun-early July: Visited Vermont missionary societies on behalf of the A. B. C. F. M.
• 1829 Feb: Arrived in Washington to present memorials to Congress urging the discontinuance of Sunday postal service and to oppose the removal of the Cherokees from their land. Returned to Boston in April, 1829.
• 1830 Apr: Arrived in Washington to lend his support to the Cherokee delegation on the question of Indian rights. Followed the debate on the Indian bill in the Senate and the House, deplored the passage of the bill. Returned to Boston in June.
• 1831 Feb: Failure of health forced Evarts to leave Boston for Havana; arrived Mar 2. Sailed for Savannah, Apr 18. Journeyed to Charleston, where he died, May 10.

• 1818 Feb 6: William Maxwell Evarts was born in Boston.
• 1833 - 1837 : William Maxwell Evarts attended Yale College. Fellow members of the Class of 1837 included Edwards Pierrepont, Benjamin Silliman, Jr., Samuel J. Tilden, and Morrison R. Waite.
• 1837 - 1839 : William Maxwell Evarts studied law under Horace Everett in Windsor, Vermont, then attended the Dane Law School of Harvard University.
• 1840 - 1841 : William Maxwell Evarts entered the office of Daniel Lord in New York City. Joined the Column Club.
• 1841 Jul 16: William Maxwell Evarts was admitted to the New York Bar.
• 1841 Oct 1: William Maxwell Evarts opened his own law office at 60 Wall St. The following year he formed a partnership with Charles E. Butler.
• 1843 Aug 30: William Maxwell Evarts married Helen Minerva Wardner of Windsor, Vermont.
• 1849 - 1853 : William Maxwell Evarts served as assistant district attorney under J. Prescott Hall, attorney for the southern district of New York.
• 1850 Oct 30: Castle Garden speech of William Maxwell Evarts defending the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Law.
• 1852 Jan 1: Charles F. Southmayd became a third partner in the law firm of Butler and Evarts.
• 1857: William Maxwell Evarts represented the State of New York in the Metropolitan Police Case.
• 1858: Charles E. Butler retired from the firm.
• 1859 Jun 1: The firm of Evarts, Southmayd, and Choate was formed with the addition of Joseph Choate. (The firm retained this title for twenty-five years.)
• 1860: In the Lemmon Slave Case in the Court of Appeals, William Maxwell Evarts, Joseph Blunt and Chester A. Arthur successfully represented New York State. Charles O'Conor and Henry D. Lapaugh appeared for the State of Virginia.
• 1860: William Maxwell Evarts was chairman of the New York delegation to the Republican National Convention. The delegation was pledged to William H. Seward.
• 1861: William Maxwell Evarts was defeated in a bid for the United States Senate seat vacated by Seward in New York.
• 1861: William Maxwell Evarts appeared as a government counsel in the SavannahPrivateers Case.
• 1863: William Maxwell Evarts represented the United States government in the Prize Cases (Confederate blocade runners).
• 1863 Apr - 1863 Jul : Diplomatic mission to England as a special agent of the State Department.
• 1863 Dec - 1864 Jun : Second diplomatic mission to London and Paris in reout fitting of vessels for the use of the Confederacy.
• 1867 Jun: Delegate to the New York Constitutional Convention.
• 1867: William Maxwell Evarts employed by the government in the prosecution of Jefferson Davis.
• 1868: William Maxwell Evarts employed as a counsel for the defense in the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson.
• 1868 Jul - 1869 Mar : United States Attorney General in Johnson's cabinet.
• 1868 - 1870 : William Maxwell Evarts argued the Bank Tax, Legal Tender, and Cotton Tax Cases before the Supreme Court.
• 1870: William Maxwell Evarts elected the first president of the New York City Bar Association. Opposed the "Tweed Ring."
• 1871 - 1872 : William Maxwell Evarts served as a counsel for the United States at the Geneva arbitration of the Alabamaclaims.
• 1873 Aug: William Maxwell Evarts represented the British claimants in the Springbok Case before the Mixed Commission on British and American claims.
• 1874: Charles H. Tweed, Prescott Hall Butler, and Allen W. Evarts became members of Evarts, Southmayd, and Choate. (Charles C. Beaman joined five years later.)
• 1875: William Maxwell Evarts appeared for the defense in the case of Theodore Tilton v. Henry Ward Beecher.
• 1876: Chief Counsel for the Republican Party in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election dispute.
• 1877 - 1881 : Secretary of State in the Hayes Cabinet.
• 1881: United States delegate to the International Monetary Conference in Paris.
• 1882: In Story v. The New York Elevated Railway Company, William Maxwell Evarts argued for the rights of owners whose property abutted on streets in which elevated railways were constructed.
• 1883: Treadwell Cleveland became a member of Evarts, Southmayd, and Choate. The following year Charles F. Southmayd retired.
• 1885 - 1891 : William Maxwell Evarts served one term in the United States Senate as Senator from New York.
• 1889: Because of his failing eyesight, William Maxwell Evarts traveled to Europe to consult medical specialists, who were unable to help.
• 1893 Aug 30: William Maxwell Evarts and Helen M. W. Evarts celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary at Windsor, Vermont.
• 1901 Feb 28: William Maxwell Evarts died in New York City at the age of 83.

From the guide to the Evarts family papers, 1753-1960, 1798-1901, (Manuscripts and Archives)