Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/491

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COl-UMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

judges* H is religious connection is with S t Jam es Catholic Church, and socially he holds mcmtorship in A ldora Grange, P, O, IL, and in the Woodmen of the World. On M arch 2 $, 1879, M r. Brannen w as mar­ ried, at Milton, Pa., to Hannah M, Smith, who was born in Anthony township, Montour county, daughter of Jon as and M ary A. (B it­ lcr) Sm ith, who subsequently moved to llazclton, Barber Co., Kans. T hey arc now de­ ceased. M r. Sm ith w as a farm er and cattle dealer. C H A R L E S C E V A N S, President Judge of the Twenty-sixth Jud icial district o f I'cnnsylvania, is a native of Columbia county and w*as bom Ja n. to, 1858, in Briarcreek township. T he E van s family is o f W elsh extraction, the great-grandfather corning to this country from W ales in the latter part of the eighteenth century* and settling in iiriarcrcck township. Jam es Evans, the grandfather, a millwright by occupation, w as to m in Columbia county in H e buih most of the gristm ills in the neighborhood, some o f which are still stand­ ing. T w o children, Francis, still living, and Anna, who died in her sixteenth year, were bom to him. H is own death occurretl in 1879. The village o f Evansville takes its name from this family. Francis Evans was bom in Briarcreek town­ ship. Ju ly 13. 1828. and foliowcc. In 1852 he niarrictl Jan e tom on, a daughter o f Jam es and Hannah (Sp ear) tom on. both natives o f Donegal. Ireland. The following children were born to this union: Annie M ., who married Henry Wierlerliold, now residing at .tlantic City, N. J .; Helen A ., who married M. B. Kantz. now deceased: Charles C .; Jam es I ..; I Jllic B.. who married Dr. Jam es C. Bloomfield, now residing at .theirs, G a ,; and Grace C w h o married IVrcival Currin, o f Berwick. M r. E van s is the senior elder of the Presby­ terian Church o f Bcrxvick, having scrvetl for more than half a century. H e is associated with the financial interests of the town, having been a director of the First National Bank since its organization in 1854. CTiarles C. Evans was reared on the fan n and began his etlucation in the public schools of the home district, In 1R74 he entered the Bloomsburg State Norma! School, which h e ' attended fo r two years. In Ihe winter of he taught the Martz ville public school

in Briarcreek township, und iu the fall o f 1877 mutriculuted ut Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., from which institution he w as graduated in Ju n e, 18 8 1. The next month he tocamc a law student in the office o f Hon. Simon P. Wolverton, o f Sunbury. with whom he read law, being admitted to practice in the courts o f Northumberland county Ju ly 14, 1883, Subsequently he was admitted to the bar in Columbia and L u zcm c counties, and on Aug. 23, 1883, he opened an office in Berw kk, where for more Uian twenty years he enjoyed a rather large and lucrative practice. On M arch 30, 1906, M r. E van s was ap­ pointed President Ju d ge of the Twenty-sixth Judicial district, and the succeeding fall was dcctcd fo r a tenn o f ten years. Known throughout the district as a careful, pains­ taking student und a tireless worker, consci­ entious in his decisions, w*hich have been umfom ily affirmed, and by thorough pcrfom iancc o f duty without fear and without lavor, he has won the merited confidence of the people. On Feb. 23, 1888, M r. Evans was married 10 Annie Vindie Sloan, youngest daughter of M orris C and Em ily (P u rsel) Sloan, of Bloomsburg. T h cir children a r c : M orris Sloan Evans, a graduate o f Lafayette College, as a civil and ntcchanical engineer, now in the employ of the American and Foundry Company, in the mechanical departm ent; and Cliarles Clarke, a student at t o fa yet tc College. Mr. Evans is a member of the Presbyterian ChuKh. F R A N K P. P U R S E L, the leading dry goods and general merchant at Bloomsburg, has attained his substantial position in the business w'orld through his own efforts and is an honored as well as successful citizen of his town. H e began in the old-fashioned way, working for others until he had enough fa­ miliarity with the business and knowledge of local trade demands to q ualify him to start for himself. Though conservative in some respects, he has proved himself one of the most progrcsrive men in Columbia county in the installation o f up-to-date business methods, not only accommodating his own patrons, but also establishing a standard fo r the others in the same field m this section. M r. Pursel belongs to an old family o f Co­ lumbia county, being a descendant o f Jo n a­ than lAirsel. who lived in N ew Je rse y before settling in Pennsylvania, in the latter part of the eighteenth centur>*. T h e Purscis arc of Scotch-Irish origin. Jonathan Pursel located in the Frosty* valley, in w*hat is now Hemlock