Ira Hobart Evans Ira Hobart Evans ( April 11 , 1844 – April 19 , 1922 ) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor . He was also a prominent Texas businessman and philanthropist . Early life . Evans was born in Piermont , New Hampshire on April 11 , 1844 . After the death of his father , his mother moved to Barre , Vermont , and he completed his education at Barre Academy . Civil War military service . In July , 1862 he enlisted for the Civil War as a Private in Company B , 10th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment . In December , 1863 he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the 9th U . S . Colored Troops . In January , 1865 he was promoted to Captain in the 116th U . S . Colored Troops . In March , 1865 he was promoted to brevet Major " for gallant conduct and meritorious services " and assigned as assistant Adjutant of the XXV Army Corps , Army of the James . Medal of Honor action . General William Birney , as quoted in 1897 ’ s “ The Story of American Heroism ” compiled by J . W . Jones : " " In the early days of April , 1865 , when General Grant was moving on Petersburg , my division ( the Second of the 25th Corps ) held a portion of the Union line near Hatcher ' s Run . The main body was sheltered by a low ridge from the enemy ' s fire , but the rifle pits in which the pickets were posted and the open space between the pits and the ridge , was swept by the Confederate cannon and musketry . Confederate deserters were numerous , most of them reaching the rifle pits late at night or about daybreak , where , for their safety , they were detained until nightfall . An afternoon assault on the Confederate works being intended , it was very important to learn what changes had been made in them . I was directed from headquarters to have the newly arrived deserters interviewed . Being unwilling to order any member on my staff on so dangerous a duty , I called for a volunteer . Captain Evans was the only one who responded . Dismounting he passed rapidly over the ridge in front of the division , being at that time the only Union soldier in view from the Confederate line . The enemy opened a sharp fire of musketry upon him , and continued it until he disappeared in one of our rifle pits . Having questioned the deserters and obtained the desired information , he returned through another shower of bullets and reported to me . It was a gallant feat . " " Post - Civil War military service . On April 17 , 1865 Evans was one of the officers in the honor guard of President Abraham Lincoln ' s funeral cortège . He remained on active duty after the war , serving in Brownsville , Texas as a member General Philip H . Sheridan ' s occupation force . In September , 1866 he was transferred to New Orleans . In February , 1867 he was discharged in Louisville , Kentucky . Reconstruction in Texas . Deciding to take part in the Reconstruction of Texas , he started a ranch near Corpus Christi , but lost his investment through the dishonesty of his partner . Evans then joined the Freedmen ' s Bureau but quickly resigned out of anger with his superiors , whom he deemed incompetent . He then joined the Internal Revenue Service , first in Eagle Pass and then in Corpus Christi . Member of the Texas House of Representatives . At the urging of Republican gubernatorial candidate Edmund Jackson Davis , in 1869 Evans ran for and won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives . In 1870 he was elected Speaker of the House ( at age 26 , he was the youngest person ever to hold that post ) . Evans was removed from office when Democrats returned to power at the end of Texas Reconstruction in 1871 . Business career . Unlike most Republicans who were active in post - Civil War Reconstruction , after leaving politics Evans did not return to the northern states , instead settling in Austin and beginning a business career . He became General Manager of Houston ' s Texas Land Company in 1872 , and Secretary of the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company in 1873 . After the H . & G . N . merged with the International Railroad in 1874 , Evans was elected Secretary of the International - Great Northern Railroad , and served as a member of the Board of Directors from 1875 to 1908 . From 1880 to 1906 he was President of the New York and Texas Land Company . Evans was a founder of the Austin National Bank and served on the Board of Directors from 1890 until his death . In 1897 he was appointed Receiver of the Austin Rapid Transit Railway Company , a post he held until 1902 . From 1902 to 1903 he was President of the Austin Electric Railway Company . He was also a founder and President of the Texas Life Insurance Company . Philanthropy , religious activity and civic involvement . Evans maintained a lifelong interest in the cause of educating African - Americans , including serving on the Board of Trustees of Austin ' s Tillotson College ( now Huston - Tillotson University ) from 1881 to 1920 , and President of the board from 1909 to 1920 . Evans also donated the funds to construct a residence for the President of the college , and the funds to create a program to train construction workers . The college ' s Evans Industrial Building , constructed in 1912 and refurbished in 1984 , was named for him and has been designated a Texas Historical Site . Evans was active in both the Congregational and Presbyterian churches and served as President of the American Home Missionary Society . He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in Austin and President of the Board of Trustees of Austin ' s First Congregational Church of Austin for five years . He was also involved in several civic causes . His Austin home was the meeting place for the Texas State Historical Association . He was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars . Evans was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and was the founder and first President of the Texas chapter . He was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States . Evans ' home the North - Evans Chateau , is now the location of the Austin Woman ' s Club and is an Austin Historic Landmark . Personal life . Ira Evans was married twice . In July , 1871 he married Frances A . Hurlbut of Upper Alton , Illinois , with whom he had three sons , William Leslie Evans , Francis Hurlbut Evans , and Hobart Yale Evans . After their 1917 divorce , in 1920 he married Jessie M . Stewart . He was the cousin of Texas businessman Timothy Dwight Hobart . The Ira Hobart Evans Papers are part of the University of Tulsa ' s McFarlin Library . Retirement and death . Evans retired to San Diego , California , in 1921 and died there on April 19 , 1922 . He was buried in Berlin Corners Cemetery , Berlin , Vermont . Medal of Honor citation . Citation : For extraordinary heroism on 2 April 1865 , while serving with Company B , 116th Colored Infantry , in action at Hatcher ' s Run , Virginia . Captain Evans voluntarily passed between the lines , under a heavy fire from the enemy , and obtained important information .