Glendale , California
William
E. Evans
William E. Evans, of the law firm of
Evans & Pearce, Van Nuys Building,
Mr. Evans was reared on his father’s
farm, and then after graduating from the public schools, enrolled at the
In April 1911, he was made city
attorney of Glendale, and filled that office for nearly ten consecutive
years. These ten years in the life of
the city constituted one of the most important eras in the history of the
municipality, and the work of Mr. Evans as city attorney was of inestimable
value. During that time the city took
over the management of the water and electrical distribution, thus embarking
upon an experiment in the ownership of public utilities by a municipality. The move was fraught with more risk that
subsequently assumed by the other cities with a large number of precedents to
guide them; yet, the enterprise was a success, and its freedom from embarrassment
and expensive litigation, which in some cases follow closely upon the heels of
similar ventures was evidence of the soundness of the City Attorney’s judgment
and his knowledge of the law. There were
also a number of intricate questions handled by him during his incumbency of
office, dealing with the railroad, gas and telephone companies, which were
carried out with marked success and resulted in advantage to the city. He appeared on a number of occasions as the
representative of the city before the Railroad Commission and the Supreme Court
of the state, with conspicuous success.
He is associated with J. G. Huntly
in developing real estate, putting on high-class residential sub-divisions on
Kenneth Road. The new building occupied
by the Pendroy Dry Goods Company was built and is owned by Huntly &
Evans. It is Glendale’s most pretentious
building, the cost exclusive of location, approximating $150,000.00. Mr. Evans is a leader in the ranks of the
Republican Party of Los Angeles County.
He is chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee of the
Sixty-first Assembly District, and a member of the Republican State and county
Central Committees. Of the latter he is
first vice president. Without his making
any campaign for it his name was placed in nomination for United States
Congressman, at the same convention held in Pasadena in February 1922 that
nominated Mr. Lineberger. He received
sixty-six votes on the first ballot to approximately ninety each for both Mr.
Lineberger and Mr. Flower, who had made vigorous campaigns. He refused to allow his name to appear on the
next ballot on which Mr. Lineberger was nominated. During the World War Mr. Evans was a member
of the legal advisory board for his district.
He is the attorney for, and was one of the organizers of, the Glendale
State Bank. He was attorney for the Bank
of Glendale at the time it was taken over by the Los Angeles Trust and Savings
Bank (now Pacific-Southwest). He is also
attorney for the Glendale National Bank, and was one of the organizers and vice-president
of the South Side Sate Bank, in Los Angeles.
Fraternally, he is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, and an Elk. For needed recreation he holds a membership
in the Flintridge Country Club. He
belongs to the Glendale Chamber of Commerce and the City Club of Los Angeles.
In the spring of 1907, Mr. Evans
journeyed to Los Angeles from Kentucky, and on April eighteenth, married Cecil
Corinne Smith, also a native of Kentucky.
She is the daughter of James Dudley and America (Ewell) Smith. Her father was a lawyer, who, although his
career was cut short by death in 1900, while still a young may, had risen to
prominence not only in his profession, but also as a capitalist. Her mother was a daughter of Colonel Richard
Leighton Ewell, a veteran of the Union Army in the Civil War, and of the Virginia
branch of the Ewell family. The Ewell
family is of Scotch ancestry, and was founded in America about the middle of
the seventeenth century. The name in
Scotland was spelled Yuille. In America,
the name, like many other family names, in due time, by some of its members,
came to be spelled as pronounced, Ewell.
The Ewell family is one of America’s largest and most illustrious. Its name is found in all walks of life, and
not least is it mentioned in the military annals of the nation.
Mrs. Evans began her education in
the public schools of Louisville, Kentucky, her parents having moved there when
she was nine years old. Residing there
until the death of her father, she, with her mother, came to Los Angeles and
continued her education until she was in her junior year at the Los Angeles
High School, when business called her mother back to Kentucky. She matriculated
at Hamilton College, Lexington, Kentucky, for a course in literature and
dramatic art. In 1906, she and her
mother again came to Los Angeles to live.
At present she is an active member of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, and
was a member of its board of directors for three years. Mrs. Evans was one of the organizers, and is a director, of the
Glendale Chapter of the American Red Cross, and was the first chairman of the
hospital garment department of that organization. She is a member of Glen Eyrie Chapter, Order
Eastern Star, and the Ebell Club of Los Angeles. She belongs to the Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have one daughter,
Catherine Cecil, age nine years. The
family home is now at 333 North Orange street, but early in 1923, Mr. Evans
will build an Italian type residence on Cumberland road, Kenneth Heights,
Glendale, California.
From
“History of Glendale and Vicinity” by John Calvin Sherer. The Glendale
Publishing Company, c. 1922 F. M. Broadbooks and J. C. Sherer. p.340-345.
Photos of William E. Evans and Cecil Corinne Evans are on pages 342 and 343.