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Christmas G. Evans Family papers, 1853-1977

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Evans, C. G.(Christmas Gift), 1840-1915
Title
Christmas G. Evans Family papers
Dates
1853-1977 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 linear feet
Collection Number
MC 323 (collection)
Summary
C.G. Evans was a Helena, Montana, lumber and feed dealer. Papers include correspondence (1867-1947) to various members of the Evans, Bellis, and Scott families; minor financial items, and miscellany. The bulk of the collection consists of subject files on several of the business enterprises in which Evans and his family were involved, including General Mines, Inc.; Hartwell, Jurgens, and Company; Helena Milling Company; McClellan Creek Lumber Company; Sanford and Evans; and Helena real estate properties.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Christmas Gift Evans was born on Christmas Day, 1840, at Deerfield in Oneida County, New York, the son of Owen and Catherine (Morris) Evans. In 1862 he traveled to San Francisco by way of Panama. After a year of placer mining he returned home. In April 1864 he again headed west, this time across the plains to Montana. En route he met John B. Sanford, who would be his lifetime business partner. The partners settled in Helena and initially mined along Ten Mile Creek and Nelson Gulch. In partnership with J.W. Hartwell and others they built a ditch bringing water from Ten Mile Creek to Helena. Hartwell, Evans, and Sanford also established a lumber mill on Ten Mile Creek. In 1867 they established the first grist mill in the area, located 11 miles northeast of Helena at the entrance to the canyon on Prickly Pear Creek. The mill originally operated under the name Hartwell, Jurgens and Company and was also known as the Standard Flour Mills. Under the name Sanford and Evans, the partners were involved in a lumber, coal, feed, flour and farm implement business; various mining enterprises; a steam sawmill in Lump Gulch; and Helena real estate. After the death of the partners, the business continued as Sanford-Evans Inc. C.G. Evans married Margaret Graham in 1880. She died in 1894. On May 23, 1896, he married Bertha Bellis, a native of Liverpool, England. They had two children: Margaret Carlisle Evans (b. 1897) and Lewis C. Evans (b. 1901). Margaret married William D. Scott in 1921. Lewis married a woman named Agnes. After Evans' death, Bertha continued to be involved with a number of his enterprises, especially the real estate.

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Content Description

Papers include correspondence (1867-1947) to various members of the Evans, Bellis, and Scott families, including a letter (1867) from John Bellis to his wife in Liverpool, England; letters from the Evans' daughter-in-law Agnes Evans; World War I letters from William D. Scott to his parents, and reminiscent letters from the Storey family of Staveley, England. The bulk of the collection consists of subject files on several of the business enterprises in which Evans and his family were involved, including General Mines, Inc. (1935-1962), re the Little Lillie and Winter mines; Hartwell, Jurgens, and Company (1868-1870), including a ledger for the flour mill on Prickly Pear Creek; Helena Milling Company (1914-1927), including lists of stockholders, financial statements, a mortgage, and a financial journal; McClellan Creek Lumber Company (1921-1923) including a financial statement, promissory notes, and an agreement to sell the sawmill equipment; Sanford and Evans (1868-1884) including log delivery books, time books, and a small account book; and Helena real estate properties (1894-1899, 1921-1977) including rental ledgers, tax statements, abstracts of title, etc. to property along Benton Avenue and Lawrence Streets. There are also minor financial records; miscellany, including Margaret Evans' scrapbook (1916-1917) from University of California at Berkeley; two patents; Charles Bellis' memorandum book; and a speech by Bertha Evans; and clippings.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into six series: Biographical Materials (1853-1940); Incoming Correspondence (1867-1947); Financial Records (1917-1970); Subject Files (1868-1977, undated); Miscellany (1873-1961, undated); and Clippings (1915-1920, 1975, undated).

Location of Collection

15:8-4

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Biographical Materials

    • Description: Biographical and genealogical information (includes biographical sketches of C.G. Evans and John B. Sanford; marriage licenses of John Bellis and Mary Carlisle, Christmas G. Evans and Bertha Bellis, and William D. Scott and Margaret C. Evans; obituaries of Margaret Evans, Bertha Evans, Mary S. Scott; history of Evans family name)
      Dates: 1853-1940
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
      Location: Biographical Materials

  • Incoming Correspondence

    • Description: Scattered to various family members (includes John Bellis to wife; John O. Bellis; C.G. Evans; Agnes Evans; Charles W. Helmick re Little Lilly Mine; Kit McCulloch, William D. Scott re World War I; Storey family of Staveley, England)
      Dates: 1867-1947
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
      Location: Incoming Correspondence

  • Financial Records

    • Description: Bertha Evans financial papers
      Dates: 1920-1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Christmas G. Evans Estate final account
      Dates: 1917
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: John B. Sanford Estate tax statement re Omega and M.S. Mine)
      Dates: 1925
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: William D. Scott tax statements re Omega and M.S. Mine)
      Dates: 1933-1970
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
      Location: Financial Records

  • Subject Files

    • Description: General Mines Inc. (includes incorporation data, employee stock deal, assay reports, land ownership plat)
      Dates: 1935-1940
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: General Mines Inc. (includes tax statements re Little Lillie and Winter mines)
      Dates: 1936-1962
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Hartwell, Jurgens, and Company (re history of flour mill on Prickly Pear Creek)
      Dates: 1906
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Hartwell, Jurgens, and Company (ledger)
      Dates: 1868-1870
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena Milling Company (includes incorporation data, list of stockholders, financial statements, correspondence, insurance policies, mortgage, description of machinery)
      Dates: 1914-1927
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena Milling Company (financial journal)
      Dates: 1914-1921
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena Milling Company (stock certificate book)
      Dates: 1914-1919
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 13
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena real estate (includes rent accounts)
      Dates: 1894-1899
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena real estate (includes rental property ledgers)
      Dates: 1921-1950
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2-3
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena real estate (includes rental property journal: also includes final expenses for Bertha Evans)
      Dates: 1939-1941
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena real estate (includes rental property taxes)
      Dates: 1977
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Helena real estate (includes abstract of title, deeds, and plat maps to property along Benton Avenue)
      Dates: 1871-1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: McClellan Creek Lumber Company (includes incorporation data, financial statement, promissory notes, agreement to sell sawmill equipment, correspondence)
      Dates: 1921-1923
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: McClellan Creek Lumber Company (includes bills of lading, orders, etc.)
      Dates: 1922-1923
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Sanford and Evans (account book)
      Dates: 1871-1872
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Sanford and Evans (log delivery books)
      Dates: 1882-1883, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Sanford and Evans (time books: Ten Mile Mill, Hartwell and Company contract at steam mill, unidentified)
      Dates: 1868-1873, 1880-1884
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11-12
      Location: Subject Files

  • Miscellany

    • Description: Charles Bellis memorandum book (includes items about his sea voyages)
      Dates: 1873
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Bertha Evans speech re economic potential of Montana
      Dates: 1916
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 14
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Margaret C. Evans scrapbook re activities at University of California, Berkeley
      Dates: 1916-1917
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 15
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Helena Cemetery Association lot purchase
      Dates: 1894
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 16
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: F.E. Scott patent for coffee percolator
      Dates: 1946
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 17
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Margaret C. Evans Scott address book, birthday book
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 18
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: William D. Scott and Lawrence E. Hoffman invention: unattended fish-catching rig
      Dates: 1961
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 19
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Miscellaneous (includes Helena Capital Committee railroad pass, theater programs, sheet music)
      Dates: 1894, 1922, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 20
      Location: Miscellany

  • Clippings

    • Description: Miscellaneous (includes advertisement for Sanford and Evans coal, Helena High School graduation photo and article, photo of World War I enlistees from Lewis and Clark County, Sanford Wilson Company incorporation, Sanford-Evans-Scott house on Benton)
      Dates: 1915-1920, 1975, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 21
      Location: Clippings

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Flour-Mills
  • Lumber trade--Montana

Personal Names

  • Evans, C. G.(Christmas Gift), 1840-1915 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • World War, 1914-1918--Correspondence

Finding aid prepared by MTHS Staff; Updated by Aaron Rau
2003; 2024

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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