Daniel Richard Evans
Daniel Richard Evans was born December 9, 1850, in St. Joseph, Buchanan,
Missouri. Later, between 1855 and 1857, the family moved to Nebraska and lived
there until he was 13 years of age. He then crossed the plains by ox team,
arriving in Logan, Utah in 1863. In 1868 the family moved to Malad, Idaho where
he spent the rest of his life.
On October 25, 1878, he married Ann Elizabeth Kniveton Colton in the
Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. His courtship lasted five years.
During that time he investigated Mormonism. One of his favorite books was the
Voice of Warning. He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints February 2, 1877.
He served in many positions in the Church. He was an assistant to the Sunday
School Superintendent and served as President of the Elders Quorum. He was
first counselor to Bishop James P. Harrison in the St. John Ward and served in
this capacity for twenty-two years. He was on the Stake High Council for a
number of years.
He was a carpenter, contractor, and mortician. He bought his first shop from
David Jones, called David Sair, which means carpenter in Welsh. It was located
on Bannock Street east of Hugh Evans' blacksmith shop.
He made the coffins out of wood and lined them inside with bleached muslin
over cotton batting and embroidery at the top inside edge. The outside was
covered with blue or white material trimmed with lace or ribbon. On top of the
lid he put a little plate with the words "At Rest," or, "Darling"
on it. He made many for the Indians, which were black in color.
His brother, Will Evans, and his young son, Daniel K. Evans, worked with
him. Sometimes the small coffins were made on the porch and sometimes they
worked all night to get them ready. He was in business for several years with
Ben Williams. Later he moved his carpenter shop nearby the new Peck Hotel.
He quit being a mortician when they began the practices of embalming. He
helped a man from out of town embalm an elderly woman named Riply, who was the
first one in Malad to be embalmed in order to be shipped east for burial.
Later he and Hyrum Sawyer entered into business as contractors and builders
by the name of Sawyer and Evans. They built a brick building on the south of
the shop and rented it to the Studebaker Co.
Daniel and his wife, Ann, were the parents of six children. Mrs. Alice
Peabody, Daniel K. Evans, Sarah Evans, and Charlotte Evans. Two daughters died
in their infancy.
He died August 20, 1932, and was buried in St. John.
He lived an exemplary life and was well respected by those associated with
him. He was a loving, caring Husband, Father, and Grandfather.
(From St. John, Oneida County, Idaho: A collection of personal histories
from the time of the first settlers to the present day, p. 112.)
