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Evans 2003 Reunion Manitou Beach, July 25-27, 2003 |
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Evans 2003 Reunion Manitou Beach, July 25-27, 2003 |
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The Evans Family 1823 to 2003
The Evans Reunion 2003 was the third reunion of descendants of the brothers George (1770-1826), William (1794-1867), and Richard (1796-1861) who came to Canada with their young families around 1823. They stopped first in the Lachute region of Quebec, where William settled. Eventually his descendants moved on to Western Canada. George moved to Ontario where many of his descendants are living today; others of his descendents moved to Western Canada, and to the USA. Richard also settled in Quebec, from there his descendents moved on to Ontario and to Western Canada.
Other members of the family who also came to Canada about 1823 were Rachel (1776-1853) who married William Boyd and settled first in Quebec. Thomas (no dates known) is believed to have gone on to Troy, NY, but we have no contact with his descendants. Another brother Alexander (no dates known) is believed to have remained in Ireland and raised a large family, but we have no contact with his descendants.
While most of us have wondered about our family history, it was not until 1992, when the late Stanley Norman Evans of Shellbrook, SK and Russel Grant Evans of Regina, SK published "The Odyssey of Richard Evans", that many of the members of the Evans family began to take a serious look at who we are and where we came from. Johanne Brown of Markham, Ont. has displayed extensive descendant charts at previous reunions, and is working on an updated version of the Family History for the upcoming reunion.
In the mid-1990s, Ross Evans of Regina, and his son Bob Evans of Nipawin decided to try to organize a reunion for the descendants of all three brothers. With the help of Norman Evans, a mailing list was put together. Enough people responded to the initial mailing, so plans went ahead for the first reunion, which was held in July 1998, at Lake Manitou, Saskatchewan. Once the ball got rolling many others pitched in and helped make it a successful event, so successful that a group of family members from Ontario volunteered to organize a second reunion. That one took place in July 2000 in Allenford, Ontario.
The result of these two reunions is that upwards of 150 individuals, previously only connected by common ancestry, came together and celebrated their joint history. Many new friends were made and a whole new respect for our forefathers was gained.
2003 was the 180th anniversary of the Evans arrival in Canada. Plans are already underway for the next reunion in 2006.
The photos below show the descendant families of George, Richard and William Evans. Click on a photo to enlarge it.
