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.