The following is a complete transcript of a page 1 article in the 23 May 1888 British Canadian. All but one paragraph breaks inserted by the transcriber, who added the Article Index.

OBITUARY

It will be of interest to the elder residents of this section of the country, to know that there lately passed away to the silent [house] one who for many years was a resident of Simcoe and Port Dover, esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and relations throughout the county.

We refer to the demise of Mrs. Mary Evans, relict of the late Lieutenant James Evans, who died at his old home in Port Dover in 1859, and whose dust reposes in the Methodist burial ground at Woodhouse.

Mrs. Evans had reached the advanced age of 87 years and was living at the time of her decease with her daughter, Mrs. H. L. Boss at Caro, Michigan, with whom she had resided for the past six years. 

She was born in Pennsylvania in 1801, but removed in childhood with her parents to the township of Windham in Canada. Her father was an Englishman, and in his youth was engaged in the naval services, having taken part in the memorable campaign under Gen. Wolfe, in 1759, when Quebec was surrendered to the British forces.

In Windham she grew up to womanhood, and here she met Lieut. Evans, a half-pay officer, whom she married, returning with him to Ireland for fifteen years, with the exception of two years spent in Liverpool. Returning to Canada, she with her late partner and large family, settled in Port Dover, where her husband died in 1859.

Her children all having married and scattered, Mrs. Evans went for a few years with her daughter, Mrs. Stephens, wife of Mr. Wm. G. Stephens, druggist, also formerly of Port Dover, but who at this time was engaged in his profession at Yonkers, N.Y.; with Mrs. Stephens she resided until the death of Mr. Stephens, six or seven years ago, when she took up her abode with Mrs. Boss in Michigan.

Mrs. Evans was blessed with a remarkable strong constitution, sickness having been almost unknown to her during her long career. She was the mother of twelve children and lived to see her posterity to the third generation. Her two eldest died in infancy. The rest of the family was well known in this community. 

The eldest son John, was engaged for some time in the store of the late Israel Powell, Esq., in Port Dover, and afterwards removed to Wellington Square where he died. 

Richard, the next son, remained with the Powells for some years and succeeded them in the mercantile business, forming a partnership with Mr. Ebenezer Boss, under the firm name Boss & Evans, which was continued until they were burnt out by a fire that destroyed the old Powell block. Richard died in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1875. 

The next son, James, was the publisher of the first paper printed in Port Dover, the old Dover Angus. He is now a resident of East Saginaw, Michigan.

Henry was a clerk in several of the dry goods stores in Port Dover for a long time. He emigrated to Bay City, Michigan, where he carried on a prosperous real estate business for some years, and is now a resident of Kansas.

William has been engaged for some years in directory publishing. and is located in Guelph, Ont.

Albert is in the printing business in Illinois, and Robert, well known in Port Dover by his musical talents, having been leader of the Dover Band for years, is located at Detroit, in the employ of the M. [C/O]. R. Co.

Of the daughters, Mrs. Wood with her family resides in Toronto, Mrs. Stephens in Guelph, and Mrs. Boss in Caro, Michigan.

Mrs. Evans was hale and hearty up to a few days of her death, when an accidental scratch of a pin on her hand, developed into erysipelas, and next day, for the first time in years, she was unable to leave her bed. Owing to her advanced years the vital forces proved insufficient to successfully withstand the attack. She speedily became unconscious, and on Sunday, April 8th, she fell into a sound sleep from which she never woke again on earth.

Mrs. Evans made a profession of faith in Christ at the early age of fourteen years, connecting herself with the Methodist Church at that time, and was a consistent member of that society up to the hour of her death. A quiet, unobtrusive yet cheerful manner was the characteristic of her life. Never very demonstrative, yet always lending a helping hand in every good work, she did what she could. 

Training her large family of children, by example and precept, in the right way, she saw them grow up to enjoy the respect and esteem of the various communities in which they settled, and her memory will be cherished by her children and children's children to the third generation, and scores of the older residents of this section will silently drop a tear to the memory of her who for so many years passed in and out among them, always with a pleasant smile or a kind word, dispelling gloom and shedding a cheerful light and healthful influence wherever she went. 

Her influence was only for good, and the world was made better for her presence in it, as far as her sphere extended, and eternity alone will reveal how far that reached. "She hath done what she could," has passed to her reward, and her memory is blessed. -- COM.

Article Index
Boss, Ebenezer
Boss, H. L.
Dover Angus
Evans, Albert
Evans, Henry
Evans, Lieut. James
Evans, James (Jr.)
Evans, John
Evans, Mary
Evans, Richard
Evans, Robert
Evans, William
Powell, Israel
Stephens, Wm. G.
Wolfe, Gen.
Wood, Mrs.