The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-04-25
The Veteran Official.

An old gentleman, Mr.. Strother
Evans, who has been q citizen OF W ash
ington for more than half century,
has q urious store of h stor cal M IA
tive. Few people now living KIN W An
drew Jackson ersonally, and MIR.
Evans came 10 the National capital in
July, 1928. four months after The first
Inauguration of Ire ident Jackson.
And 1872 was, it will be remembered,
only fifteen y, ars after the burning of
the ca tia by the British. Mr.. Evans
is considerably over eighty, nearer nine
ty in fact. but his hearing is still un m
aired and his memory perfect. He is
still lie under the Or We nment, hav-
ing held Office aim st ontinually sin g
ia kson's time-tnrough fifteen admin
st atoms In 1888 he was promoted to
. u, 400 clerkship Uhen pr nicely sal
cry by Governor Cass, Secretary of
War under kson. and Old Hickory's
signature (autogra b. was affixed to
the papers used in the transaction.
Thr ugh h 8 fat erin aw a Mr.. ON cal,
who was a war n personal friend OF
"a ksOn. Mr.. Evans came to know HIM
quite init nately. The northwest por-
hon of tn 8 city, now the center
of wealth and ia h on, was then
. barren waste of field and marsh.
aiayet Square was II uddy bramble
pat b without even a fen round it.
On we de stood an old house
wherein oily adison lived and died.
A litile bel W st cd the row known as
the ''seven houses" on the north side of
Pennsyl an = avenue. between Seven
teenth and Eighteenth streets. and the
six houses near Twenty-third street.
these with two exceptions were the
finest hou es IN tie town, and where
the grandest people lived One of the
exceptions was the i'm ense singu arly
built resi- en- at the cDrner of New
Ork avenue, known as 'the 0ctaSon,'
and eighteenth street. This vas COL
derered palace in that day, and was
the HON of one of the. finest e nile
ohm Tayloe '.of Carroll a." as he
proudly su! scribed himself. just in
front If the Tayloe place. VIII ch is st II
IN a state If tolerable preservation,
sto, d on the very ank of the Potomac
the then magnificent home of General
Van Ness. the second finest house
General Van Ness had married the only
child of avid Burns, who then own d
large portion Of the land upon which
he cty now stands. The Van Ness
home, which fifty years ago was at the
heig of its grandeur gathe in within
its stately walls the cho e, st society of
the CO It nent. is a patti etic 81 int to-day.
Crumbling, decaying, isolated, it has
fal en- ON its high estate to become a /
ne r, dance house.
When Mr.. Evans came here those
were the pr al houses of the town,
then a mere will agr of less than 5000 !
inhabitants. His father-in- laws (Mr. |
% cal house wa, near what was J
known as holmeade's burial ground.
not far from the boundary. There wSs |
no house between this and TIE , hite /.
House. and Old Hickory used to stroll ;
across Ids on Sunday afternoons to
c ,at with the family n friendly way.
aid get ink # water from the
~ al W II whirh he preferred 10 that
of ne " hite House. The picture Bon
iured up by tn treniulOuS o vote
telling how the res dent used to s t .
gos tipping '.spiit- bottom d chair,
IS q urious commentary upon the
changes times and customs have under
gone Yet Mr.. Evans says no man pos
5, ssed m re grandeur of manner or
more poll he'd address than Jackson
when he chose to assume it-simi lie to
D influences as his habits or .narily
W re. He re embers too. that in all
the conversations he hea d between his
ather in-law and ia kson he never
iea him use an oath. Another peculi-
uitv ascribed to him was his disregard
o rel ions observance. Yet r. Evans
avs the mini ter who was at that time
" tor of he toun ry Oh rch told b m
aat when the res dent cuanced to