Charles Evans (1768-1847) was an American attorney, civic leader and philanthropist during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He established the Charles Evans Cemetery, an historic, nonsectarian, garden-style, public cemetery located in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania.
Family and formative years
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 30, 1768, Charles Evans (1768-1847) was the ninth of ten children born to Philadelphia native David Evans and Letitia (Thomas) Evans, a native of Radnor, Pennsylvania. His parents were both members of the Society of Friends.
Taking up the study of law in 1788 with Benjamin Chew, a prominent Pennsylvania attorney who had served as attorney general during the state’s colonial years and then as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Charles Evans was admitted to the Berks County bar in June 1791. In August of that same year, he began dividing his legal work between his hometown of Philadelphia and the city of Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he opened a new law office.
In 1794, Evans wed Philadelphia native Mary Keene (1769-1838), who was a daughter of Philadelphia alderman Reynold Keene (1738-1800) and Christiana (Stille) Keene (1744-1777).
Evans and his wife, Mary, were both members of the Episcopal Church. They had at least two children together, Charles and Mary Evans, both of whom died young and were buried in the Episcopal graveyard, and who were later memorialized by the placement of small headstones next to their parents' graves at Charles Evans Cemetery in 1847. In a posthumous biography of the couple that was published in an 1886 edition of The Reading Eagle, a longtime friend described Mary (Keene) Evans as "a noble, educated, refined and most excellent lady, who was liked as well if not better, than any other woman in Reading." The friend went on to state that Charles and Mary Evans "were so well suited to each other, that they were frequently referred to as the model husband and wife of the town."
