George Evans, Class of 1815, letters
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Scope and Contents
Letters written by George Evans, chiefly to his wife Anna, from 1829 to 1840 while Evans was serving in the US House of Representatives for Maine's 4th District. The letters describe political activities in Washington and his meetings including several with Indigenous Americans. He talks about the debates and gives descriptions of the various players. He is quite social and attends many parties, describing in detail what the women were wearing. He goes to the White House and again describes the rooms in vivid detail. Several letters deal with Mrs. Eaton and the Petticoat Affair. There are references to home life and politics in Maine.
Dates
- Creation: 1829 - 1840
Biographical / Historical
George Evans, Bowdoin Class of 1815, was a lawyer, politician and member of the Whig Party, serving in the Maine House of Representatives, the US House of Representatives, the US Senate, and as Maine's Attorney General. Evans was born in Hallowell, Maine (then part of Massachusetts) on January 12, 1797. At Bowdoin, he joined the Peucinian literary society. He trained as a lawyer under Frederic Allen of Gardiner, where he settled and married Anna Dearborn, also from Hallowell, on October 8, 1820. The 1820 census, with an enumeration date August 7, 1820, shows him living with two women between the ages of 14 and 25, one a white woman and an enslaved Black woman. Later censuses record him and his children in Gardiner, but without any enslaved individuals. Evans obtained eminence as an accomplished criminal laywer.
Between 1825 to 1828, Evans served in the Maine House of Representatives, serving as Speaker of the House for his final year. He then served six terms in the US House of Representatives, from 1829 to 1841, after which he was elected to the US Senate, serving from 1841 to 1847. Evans lost his re-election bid to James W. Bradbury, a Bowdoin College graduate of the Class of 1825. In Congress, Evans developed an expertise in tariffs. He was appointed by Pres. Taylor as chairman of the Mexican claims committee. Returning to Maine, he practiced law in Portland and served as the attorney general for the state of Maine in 1853, 1854, and 1856. He served for 22 years as a trustee of Bowdoin and received an LL.D. from the school in 1847. He died in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, April 6, 1867.
Extent
.5 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine 04011 Repository
