Montana Historical Society
Library & Archives
MC 323
Evans, C. G.(Christmas Gift),
1840-1915
Christmas G. Evans Family
papers
1853-1977
1 linear feet
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.
15:8-4
English
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.
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.
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).
Collection open for research.
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.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers.
Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Evans, C. G.(Christmas Gift),
1840-1915
World War, 1914-1918--Correspondence
Flour-Mills
Lumber trade--Montana
Montana
Logging
Military
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
Biographical Materials
1 / 1
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)
1853-1940
Incoming Correspondence
1 / 2
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)
1867-1947
Financial Records
1 / 3
Bertha Evans financial papers
1920-1930
1 / 4
Christmas G. Evans Estate final account
1917
1 / 5
John B. Sanford Estate tax statement re Omega and
M.S. Mine)
1925
1 / 6
William D. Scott tax statements re Omega and M.S.
Mine)
1933-1970
Subject Files
1 / 7
General Mines Inc. (includes incorporation data,
employee stock deal, assay reports, land ownership plat)
1935-1940
1 / 8
General Mines Inc. (includes tax statements re Little
Lillie and Winter mines)
1936-1962
1 / 9
Hartwell, Jurgens, and Company (re history of flour
mill on Prickly Pear Creek)
1906
1 / 10
Hartwell, Jurgens, and Company (ledger)
1868-1870
1 / 11
Helena Milling Company (includes incorporation data,
list of stockholders, financial statements, correspondence, insurance policies,
mortgage, description of machinery)
1914-1927
1 / 12
Helena Milling Company (financial journal)
1914-1921
1 / 13
Helena Milling Company (stock certificate book)
1914-1919
2 / 1
Helena real estate (includes rent accounts)
1894-1899
2 / 2-3
Helena real estate (includes rental property ledgers)
1921-1950
2 / 4
Helena real estate (includes rental property journal:
also includes final expenses for Bertha Evans)
1939-1941
2 / 5
Helena real estate (includes rental property taxes)
1977
2 / 6
Helena real estate (includes abstract of title,
deeds, and plat maps to property along Benton Avenue)
1871-1932
2 / 7
McClellan Creek Lumber Company (includes
incorporation data, financial statement, promissory notes, agreement to sell sawmill
equipment, correspondence)
1921-1923
2 / 8
McClellan Creek Lumber Company (includes bills of
lading, orders, etc.)
1922-1923
2 / 9
Sanford and Evans (account book)
1871-1872
2 / 10
Sanford and Evans (log delivery books)
1882-1883, undated
2 / 11-12
Sanford and Evans (time books: Ten Mile Mill,
Hartwell and Company contract at steam mill, unidentified)
1868-1873, 1880-1884
Miscellany
2 / 13
Charles Bellis memorandum book (includes items about
his sea voyages)
1873
2 / 14
Bertha Evans speech re economic potential of Montana
1916
2 / 15
Margaret C. Evans scrapbook re activities at
University of California, Berkeley
1916-1917
2 / 16
Helena Cemetery Association lot purchase
1894
2 / 17
F.E. Scott patent for coffee percolator
1946
2 / 18
Margaret C. Evans Scott address book, birthday book
undated
2 / 19
William D. Scott and Lawrence E. Hoffman invention:
unattended fish-catching rig
1961
2 / 20
Miscellaneous (includes Helena Capital Committee
railroad pass, theater programs, sheet music)
1894, 1922, undated
Clippings
2 / 21
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)
1915-1920, 1975, undated