General Notes

[coosa1.ged]
Company G, 26th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. Mustered in on 22 May 1862 at
Lewisville, Lafayette County, Arkansas. James was with the 26th Ark Inf
Regt and died at Camp Hope and may be buried in Camp Nelson
Dear Ron.
I am going to share what information I have in several
installments. Some of it you already know.
In 1955 Marvin Ditzlar Evans wrote and published his hard bound
book entitled Evans. (I was born in 1944, and my name is in this book.)
This book is mainly about the descendants of two of William Parsons Evans
and Elizabeth Ann McEwen's sons: Alexander Thomas Evans and James Kirkham
Evans. These brothers married sisters, Parmelia and Phoebe Agnes Waldrop,
as I recall in Calhoun County, AL. These sisters were the daughters of
Achilles Darnal Waldrop and Hannah Matilda Crosson, and they (the
sisters) were born in Newberry, SC. In about 1859 Alexander and James
Kirkham and their respective families moved to Lafayette County in SW
Arkansas. Apparently they moved there to join Achilles and Hannah Waldrop
who, according to land records, had already established themselves in SW
Arkansas prior to 1859. In the late spring of 1862 James Kirkham enlisted
in the CSA Army (I'll give enlistment details in a later installment.) He
died "in camp" in Old Austin, Arkansas located about 30 miles north of
Little Rock on 9/22/1862. Insofar as I can tell, he died of either
typhoid or the "dreaded black measles" which took the lives of many
soldiers there.  Alexander helped James Kirkham's widow, Phoebe, raise up
her five boys. All five boys became Methodist ministers. One of the five
was my great grandfather, Rev. William Fletcher Evans, Sr.
In a nut shell, here is what Marvin Ditzlar said about the history
of our family in his book. "Some time prior to the Revolution" three
Evans brothers along with three Hawkins brothers immigrated to America.
They made their way to North Carolina. One of the Evans brothers was
named George. His son, John Evans, was born in Pitt County, NC in 1765.
John fought in the Revolution and received a land grant for his services.
John Evans married Elizabeth McMurray in 1795 in NC. On 7/13/1805 they
bore a son, William Parsons Evans, in NC. After William Parsons was born
the family moved to the Sand Mountain area of Georgia. William Parsons
married Elizabeth Ann McEwen in Gwinnett County, GA on 11/13/1824.
Elizabeth Ann was the daughter of Rev. Robert McEwen and Rachel Hawkins.
Marvin said in his book that Rachel Hawkins was a descendant of one of
the three Hawkins brothers who had immigrated to America with the three
Evans brothers. Sadly, the book offers no evidence to back up this
historical narrative.
In the next installment I will tell you more details about the
genealogical controversy I told you about yesterday. In the last
installment I will give you what vital statistic information I have about
William and Elizabeth's huge brood of children. This will include Civil
War material I have on five or six of the sons.
I agree with you that the given name Kirkham is very unusual. That
it is often repeated in both the Evans and McEwen lines indicates a link.
Thanks for pointing this out!
William F. Evans  1 May 2003