Individual Details
Louisa Sarepta Evans
(17 Dec 1842 - 17 Sep 1914)
Louisa Evans' middle name, Sarepta, was taken from a place named in the Holy Land. She was a belle of the frontier, and according to family legend, at one time was engaged to Col. Charlie Goodnight (1836-1929), a cattle baron and trail driver.
Although Goodnight was very wealthy, during frontier days he lived in a dugout sod house, the story goes, which might have been a factor in Louisa's breaking off their engagement to become the bride of John Layne, 30 years her senior. At least John Layne had a house and he was not away from home on trail drives for months on end. In spite of the broken romance, Goodnight remained a close friend of the Evans Family. A daughter of Louisa Sarapta Evans, Sarepta Ellen Layne Sisk, and the latter's son, Luther L. Sisk, visited Goodnight at his Texas Panhandle home in 1917.
Louisa Sarepta Evans was a descendant of early Eighteenth Century Emigrants from Wales, who serve as soldiers in the American Revolution.
One of her ancestors, George Evans, was a delegate to the U.S.Congress from Pitt County, North Carolina, in 1776. Others, William Evans and John(Jehu) Evans, were Revolutionary officers. Among her Owen's kin, at least three, Thomas, John, and James Owens, from Bladen County, North Carolina, saw military service in the Revolution.
Her Father, William George Evans, was born Oct. 3, 1804 in Georgia, a son of Jehu Evans, and died June 6, 1878 with burial at Aledo, Parker County, Texas. In 1836, William George Evans served in the war with the Creek Indians in Florida, and drew 40 acres of Bounty land for his services. From Georgia, his family moved to Alabama for a year and to Louisana for a year, before reaching Texas.
He lived in Smith County, Texas, in 1848, and later in Denton and Palo Pinto Counties, before settling in Parker County in 1863. He built under contract for $300.00 the first log and clapboard courthouse in Palo Pinto County, and was a member of the survey crew that laid out the town of Mesquiteville, which later became Jacksboro, Texas.
Louisa Sarepta Evans, John Layne's second wife, was the daughter of William George Evans and Susan James Owens, the latter born Aug. 5, 1809 in Putnam Co., Georgia, and died Oct. 3, 1895. Louisa Sarepta was their fourteenth child, born in Troup Co., Georgia, Dec. 17, 1842. She died at Higgins, Texas-Okla., Sept. 17, 1914, at the home of a daughter, Ora Lillian Layne, who had been married to Porter Davis.
John Layne had two families,in fact, the second group of children coming along after many of the first group had married and started families of their own.
By the time the eldest of the second group, Mark Ananias Layne, was born in 1868, John Layne was a well-established farmer and rancher, as indicated by the value of his property accounted for in the 1860 Census. Typical of his Scotch-English ancestry, he was known for his self-sufficiency.
According to family legend, his 1 1/2-story clapboard house northwest of Weatherford, was built of lumber which he had hauled 250 miles by wagon train from Louisana.
The family self-sufficiency included most of the food requirements, and household necessities: hand-made furniture, bedding, quilts, clothes, and large family garden. For the bedding, pillows, comforters, etc., John Layne always had a flock of geese, as well as chickens and guinea fowl.
As his daughter, Ora Lillian Layne, told her children years later, he would hold his protesting geese, one by one, by the head and pluck the softer down from underneath, and "with each pluck the goose would honk loudly."
There always were scores of hand-made quilts--as many as a hundred at a time. There were no extra beds (and not always enough for all of the family), so when company came quilts were piled on available floor space to make pallets. As children married and left home, they were supplied with quilts and bedding; some of the pillows and quilts still were in use by the third and fourth generations.
For the table, there always were chickens, turkeys, and guinea hens, home-cured pork, Indian peaches dried on the roof each summer, and home-made sorghum molasses. Although cattle were the family's commercial mainstay, enough hogs were raised to feed the family from year to year, with the meat slowly smoked in a shed out back, or put in a barrel of brine. Surplus meat and farm produce were hauled by wagon to Weatherford, for sale and barter during regular Saturday gatherings of farmers from all over the county.
All of the Layne children got "good" schooling--what there was available--so they could learn to read and write. Classes and grades were indistinguishable; the children just went to school until they married, or quit to help with the farm work.
Ora Lillian Layne told her daughter, Edythe Davis, that she continued going to school until she was 23 . The school was in Peaster, and was called "Peaster College."
Spouse: John Pleasant Layne 1812–1885 (m. 1867)
Children:
Mark Ananias Layne*1868–1943
Sarepta Ellen Layne Sisk*1869–1954
Clarissa Alice Layne Duncan*1871–1955
Isabel Layne Fulgham*1873–1971
Maude May Layne Evans*1875–1960
George Garrett Layne*1877–1882
Ora Lillian Layne Davis*1879–1968
Edward Ira Layne*1881–1970
Ruth Gertrude Layne Forester*1883–1949
Although Goodnight was very wealthy, during frontier days he lived in a dugout sod house, the story goes, which might have been a factor in Louisa's breaking off their engagement to become the bride of John Layne, 30 years her senior. At least John Layne had a house and he was not away from home on trail drives for months on end. In spite of the broken romance, Goodnight remained a close friend of the Evans Family. A daughter of Louisa Sarapta Evans, Sarepta Ellen Layne Sisk, and the latter's son, Luther L. Sisk, visited Goodnight at his Texas Panhandle home in 1917.
Louisa Sarepta Evans was a descendant of early Eighteenth Century Emigrants from Wales, who serve as soldiers in the American Revolution.
One of her ancestors, George Evans, was a delegate to the U.S.Congress from Pitt County, North Carolina, in 1776. Others, William Evans and John(Jehu) Evans, were Revolutionary officers. Among her Owen's kin, at least three, Thomas, John, and James Owens, from Bladen County, North Carolina, saw military service in the Revolution.
Her Father, William George Evans, was born Oct. 3, 1804 in Georgia, a son of Jehu Evans, and died June 6, 1878 with burial at Aledo, Parker County, Texas. In 1836, William George Evans served in the war with the Creek Indians in Florida, and drew 40 acres of Bounty land for his services. From Georgia, his family moved to Alabama for a year and to Louisana for a year, before reaching Texas.
He lived in Smith County, Texas, in 1848, and later in Denton and Palo Pinto Counties, before settling in Parker County in 1863. He built under contract for $300.00 the first log and clapboard courthouse in Palo Pinto County, and was a member of the survey crew that laid out the town of Mesquiteville, which later became Jacksboro, Texas.
Louisa Sarepta Evans, John Layne's second wife, was the daughter of William George Evans and Susan James Owens, the latter born Aug. 5, 1809 in Putnam Co., Georgia, and died Oct. 3, 1895. Louisa Sarepta was their fourteenth child, born in Troup Co., Georgia, Dec. 17, 1842. She died at Higgins, Texas-Okla., Sept. 17, 1914, at the home of a daughter, Ora Lillian Layne, who had been married to Porter Davis.
John Layne had two families,in fact, the second group of children coming along after many of the first group had married and started families of their own.
By the time the eldest of the second group, Mark Ananias Layne, was born in 1868, John Layne was a well-established farmer and rancher, as indicated by the value of his property accounted for in the 1860 Census. Typical of his Scotch-English ancestry, he was known for his self-sufficiency.
According to family legend, his 1 1/2-story clapboard house northwest of Weatherford, was built of lumber which he had hauled 250 miles by wagon train from Louisana.
The family self-sufficiency included most of the food requirements, and household necessities: hand-made furniture, bedding, quilts, clothes, and large family garden. For the bedding, pillows, comforters, etc., John Layne always had a flock of geese, as well as chickens and guinea fowl.
As his daughter, Ora Lillian Layne, told her children years later, he would hold his protesting geese, one by one, by the head and pluck the softer down from underneath, and "with each pluck the goose would honk loudly."
There always were scores of hand-made quilts--as many as a hundred at a time. There were no extra beds (and not always enough for all of the family), so when company came quilts were piled on available floor space to make pallets. As children married and left home, they were supplied with quilts and bedding; some of the pillows and quilts still were in use by the third and fourth generations.
For the table, there always were chickens, turkeys, and guinea hens, home-cured pork, Indian peaches dried on the roof each summer, and home-made sorghum molasses. Although cattle were the family's commercial mainstay, enough hogs were raised to feed the family from year to year, with the meat slowly smoked in a shed out back, or put in a barrel of brine. Surplus meat and farm produce were hauled by wagon to Weatherford, for sale and barter during regular Saturday gatherings of farmers from all over the county.
All of the Layne children got "good" schooling--what there was available--so they could learn to read and write. Classes and grades were indistinguishable; the children just went to school until they married, or quit to help with the farm work.
Ora Lillian Layne told her daughter, Edythe Davis, that she continued going to school until she was 23 . The school was in Peaster, and was called "Peaster College."
Spouse: John Pleasant Layne 1812–1885 (m. 1867)
Children:
Mark Ananias Layne*1868–1943
Sarepta Ellen Layne Sisk*1869–1954
Clarissa Alice Layne Duncan*1871–1955
Isabel Layne Fulgham*1873–1971
Maude May Layne Evans*1875–1960
George Garrett Layne*1877–1882
Ora Lillian Layne Davis*1879–1968
Edward Ira Layne*1881–1970
Ruth Gertrude Layne Forester*1883–1949
Events
| Birth | 17 Dec 1842 | Troup County, Georgia | |||
| Census (family)-shared | 31 Oct 1850 | (William George Evans Sr. and Susan James Owens) Smith County, Texas |  |  | |
| Census (family)-shared | 9 Jul 1860 | (William George Evans Sr. and Susan James Owens) Palo Pinto County, Texas | | | |
| Death | 17 Sep 1914 | Dallas, Dallas County, Texas | | ||
| Burial | Zion Hill Cemetery, Peaster, Parker County, Texas | |
Families
| Father | William George Evans Sr. (1804 - 1878) |
| Mother | Susan James Owens (1809 - 1895) |
| Sibling | Green F. Evans (1828 - 1891) |
| Sibling | John B. A. "Jack" Evans (1829 - 1895) |
| Sibling | Jehu Owen Evans (1830 - 1893) |
| Sibling | Clarissa Jane Evans (1832 - 1862) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Childs Evans (1833 - 1884) |
| Sibling | Josiah Washington Evans (1835 - 1901) |
| Sibling | William George Evans Jr. (1836 - 1911) |
| Sibling | Francis Marion Evans (1838 - 1907) |
| Sibling | James Rufus Evans (1839 - 1922) |
| Sibling | Henry A. Evans (1841 - 1924) |
| Sibling | Lee Andrew Evans (1845 - 1882) |
| Sibling | Christopher Columbus Evans (1847 - 1923) |
| Sibling | Camlin C. Evans (1848 - 1913) |
Notes
Census (family)-shared
William G Evans M 46 Georgia - FarmerSusan J Evans F 41 Georgia
Green F Evans M 22 Georgia - Farmer
Jehu O Evans M 19 Georgia - Farmer
Elizabeth C Evans F 16 Georgia
Josiah W Evans M 14 Georgia
William G Evans M 13 Georgia
Frances M Evans M 11 Georgia
Rufus Evans M 10 Georgia
Henry Evans M 8 Georgia
Louisa Evans F 7 Georgia
Leander Evans M 5 Georgia
Columbus Evans M 4 Louisiana
Camblin Evans M 2 Texas
Census (family)-shared
George Evans M 55 Georgia - FarmerSusan Evans F 50 Georgia
Francis Evans M 21 Georgia - Farm laborer
James Evans M 19 Georgia - Farm laborer
Henry Evans M 17 Georgia - Farm laborer
Louisa Evans F 16 Georgia
Leander Evans M 14 Georgia
Columbus Evans M 12 Louisiana
Camland Evans M 11 Texas
Death
or in Higgins, Latimer County, OklahomaEndnotes
1. "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLP-85V : 12 April 2016), Susan J Evans in household of William G Evans, Smith county, part of, Smith, Texas, United States; citing family 333, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)..
2. "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXFT-FBS : 12 December 2017), Susan Evans in entry for George Evans, 1860..
3. Find A Grave Memorial 53627758.