Henry S. Evans

Henry Sebastian Evans (April 1, 1813 – February 9, 1872) was an American politician from Pennsylvania. He served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County from 1847 to 1849. He served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1851 to 1854 and as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1870 to his death in 1872.

Early life Henry Sebastian Evans was born on April 1, 1813, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to Septimus and Catherine (Haupt) Evans. Evans worked as a printer's apprentice under Edward Darlington.

Business career He worked as a journeyman in Philadelphia and Germantown Township.

In 1848, Evans published an editorial in the Village Record expressing his outrage at Maryland slave catchers crossing over the border into Pennsylvania, breaking into a magistrate's house in Downingtown, pointing a gun at the owner and capturing a sixteen year old girl they claimed was an escaped slave.

He continued publishing theVillage Record until his death. He was a Whig candidate for the Pennsylvania Senate, but lost. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County from 1847 to 1849. He was chairman of the printing and education committee. He was defeated in the election for house speaker in 1849 by William F. Packer. Evans served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 4th district of Chester and Delaware counties from 1852 to 1854. He won the Whig party nomination for governor of Pennsylvania but withdrew from the race possibly due to an illness in the family. He continued his editorial work for a time and traveled to Europe in 1869. He was elected as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate in 1870 to represent the 5th district. He remained in the senate until his death. He lived in a mansion on South Church Street in West Chester.

Evans died of pneumonia on February 9, 1872, at his home in West Chester. He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester.