George Evans
(1797-1867) a Representative and a Senator from Maine, was born in Hallowell on January 12, 1797. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1815, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Gardiner.
He served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives, and as Speaker in 1829.
Elected to the Twenty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Peleg Sprague, Evans was reelected to the Twenty-second and five succeeding Congresses, serving from July 20, 1829 until his resignation, effective March 3, 1841. During his tenure, he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Twenty-sixth Congress). David Bronson was elected to fill the vacancy created by his resignation.
A successful Whig candidate for the United States Senate, he served from March 4, 1841 until March 3, 1847, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1846. In the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Manufactures (Twenty-seventh Congress), Committee on Finance (Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses), Committee on Territories (Twenty-eighth Congress).
He resumed the practice of law in Portland, was a member of the commission to ascertain claims against Mexico in 1849 and 1850, and was elected Attorney General of Maine in 1850, 1854, and 1856.
Evans died in Portland on April 6, 1867, with interment in Oak Grove Cemetery in Gardiner.
Additional resources
“Hon. George Evans.” New York. American Whig Review. 1847. [Maine State Library]
Maine State Bar Association. Proceedings of the Third Annual Meeting of the Maine Bar Association: held at Portland, Maine, February 14, 1894. Augusta Me. Press of Charles E. Nash. 1894.
Putnam, William L. “George Evans: Address by Hon. William L. Putnam before the Maine State Bar Association,” February 14, 1894.
Taverner, Olive Rowell. A Rhetorical Study of George Evans. 1961. (Thesis (M.A.) in Speech–University of Maine, 1961) [University of Maine, Fogler Library, Special Collections]