William Lang Evans

WILLIAM LANG EVANS.  The district clerk of Angelina county in the person of William Lang Evans is a representative of one of the earliest pioneer families of the county, and he was born within its borders in the year 1877. His life thus far has been spent here and he has given a most excellent account of himself in those enterprises that have claimed his attention since he came to man's estate.
   William Lang Evans is the son of Elijah D. and Harriet (Lang) Evans. The father was born in Angelina county, six miles west of the town of Lufkin, his birth occurring in 1849, and he still resides in the neighborhood of his nativity. He has always been a farmer by occupation, and has enjoyed a pleasing degree of success in that industry. He is the son of the late Elisha Evans, who died in 1880, and who was, beyond any doubt, the earliest permanent white settler in what is now known as Angelina county. He was a native of Mississippi and came to Texas first in the year 1820, then visiting the location on the Neches river in what is now Angelina county, and there, when he returned to Texas in 1830, he permanently settled. He fought under General Sam Houston in the famed battle of San Jacinto, and took a prominent part in the stirring events that led to the independence of Texas in 1836. He was a large land owner, and in brief terms, a most successful man. The mother of the subject is a daughter of the late William Gordon Lang, who was also an early settler of Angelina county, where she was born. Mr. Lang was a surveyor, and he surveyed a vast amount of land in Texas, laying out county and other lines in the early days of which he was a part.
   William Lang Evans was born on one of his father's farms, twelve miles west of Lufkin, and was reared to farm life. He received a good education, and when he was ready to take upon himself the responsibility for his own career, he turned his attention to teaching, and for ten years he was thus engaged in Angelina county. In 1910 he was elected clerk of the district court for Angelina county, and in 1912 he was re-elected. His service has been of a high order, and one that warranted in every respect his return to the office.
   Mr. Evans married Miss Mamie Anderson, a native daughter of Angelina county, and she has borne her husband one son, James Woodrow Evans. The family have membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Evans is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, a Maccabee, with membership in certain other fraternal and social orders as well.

from A History of Texas and Texans, by Frank W. Johnson.  The American Historical Society.  Chicago, 1914.  Vol. III, p. 1263.