Arthur W. Evans, M. D., is a native of the Sunflower State, a scion of a pioneer family of this commonwealth and has here achieved definite success in his profession, as one of the representative physicians and surgeons engaged in practice in the City of Independence.
Dr. Arthur Whiting Evans was born at Lawrence, Kansas, on the 26th of October, 1870, and is a son of Arthur and Mary (Leishum) Evans, the former of whom was born in Lancastershire, England, in 1841, and the latter of whom was born in Wales, in the same year, she having been a young girl when her parents immigrated to America and established their home at Baltimore, Maryland, her marriage having been solemnized in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio. Arthur Evans was a resident of Eureka, Kansas, at the time of his death, which occurred in a hospital at Kansas City, Missouri, in January, 1905, he having gone to that city for medical and surgical treatment. His widow still maintains her home at Eureka. Arthur Evans was a boy when he accompanied his parents from England to the United States and after remaining for a time in New York City the parents established their home at Cincinnati, Ohio, where the son was reared to adult age and acquired his early education. There he learned the trade of tinsmith and also became familiar with the varied details of the hardware business. At the time of the Civil war he served as a member of the Ohio Home Guard and assisted in repelling of the invasion of General Price, the Confedarate raider. Two of his children were born in Ohio and in 1868 he came with his family to Kansas and numbered himself among the pioneer business men of Lawrence, where he was long and prominently identified with the substantial business conducted by a leading hardware firm. In 1880 he removed to Eureka, where he engaged in the hardware business in an independent way and where he continued to hold secure vantage-ground as an honored and influential citizen until the time of his death. He was a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party and while a resident of Lawrence he not only served as a member of the board of aldermen but also one term as mayor of the city. He was a most zealous member of the Congregational Church, as is also his widow, and is the same he served many years as a deacon. He was a Master Mason and was a charter member of a lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio. Of the children the eldest is William Henry, who is engaged in the hardware business at Eureka; Lucy Isabelle, the wife of Dr. A. F. Higgins, a prominent physician and surgeon at Emporia, died in that city; Dr. Arthur W., of this review, was the next in order of birth.
Doctor Evans acquired his early education in the public schools of Eureka, and in 1888 he was graduated in Southern Kansas College. In preparation for his chosen profession he entered the celebrated Hahnemann College of Physicians & Surgeons in the City of Chicago, and in this institution he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The following year he completed an effective post-graduate course in Rush Medical College, Chicago, and in 1900 he took another post-graduate course, in the A. & M. Medical College, New York City.
For the first four years after his graduation Doctor Evans was engaged in the practice of his profession in Kansas City, Missouri, and he then, in 1896, established his residence at Independence, where he has since continued in active general practice. He is uniformly accredited with being one of the leading physicians and surgeons of this part of the state and his offices are in the old Opera House Building. He owns his attractive residence property at 121 South Pennsylvania Avenue, and also a residential property at Caney, in the same county. The doctor is actively identified with the Montgomery County Medical Society, the Kansas State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. In his home city he is affiliated with the following named Masonic organizations: Fortitude Lodge, No. 107, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons; Keystone Chapter, No. 22, Royal Arch Masons; and St. Bernard Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templars. He holds membership also in the allied organization, Abdullah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Leavenworth. At Independence the doctor is likewise a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the A. H. T. A., besides holding membership in the Commercial Club and the Country Club.
In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Evans to Mrs. Carrie L. Wallace, a daughter of Mrs. Benjamin Armstrong, of Wichita.