Background
Walter Evans was born in Barren County, Kentucky, the son of Joseph Warder and Matilda (Ritter) Evans.
Walter Evans was born in Barren County, Kentucky, the son of Joseph Warder and Matilda (Ritter) Evans.
His only formal education was received in the country schools near his father’s farm.
He studied law at night and was admitted to the bar in 1864, practising for the next ten years in Hopkinsville.
He entered the Union army as a second lieutenant in the 25th Kentucky Infantry, saw service at Fort Donelson, and was promoted to a captaincy for his conduct in this battle. In 1863 he resigned his commission when his regiment was consolidated with another. After leaving the army he went back to Hopkinsville to resume his work in the office of the county clerk. Later he worked as a deputy in the office of the circuit clerk at the same place. He studied law at night and was admitted to the bar in 1864, practising for the next ten years in Hopkinsville. An increasing reputation is indicated by his election as a representative from Christian County in the lower house of the legislature, 1871-73, and as state senator for the 6th District, 1873-75 (Journal of the House of Representatives, 187172, p. 1; Journal of the Senate, 1873, p. 42). After two years he abandoned his political career for the time being and removed to Louisville where he resumed the practise of law. Whatever his ability, there can, at least, be no doubt of his prominence in his party at this time. He was a delegate to the Republican National conventions of 1868, 1872, 1880, and 1884, and was one of the men who in 1880 stood firmly for Grant until the end. He had been the unsuccessful candidate of his party for governor of Kentucky in 1879, but in May 1883 he received the reward for his “Stalwart” activities when Arthur appointed him commissioner of internal revenue. After two years in this office a change in the national administration once more consigned him to private life and he resumed the practise of law in Louisville. In 1894 he was elected to Congress from his district, having the distinction of being the first Republican to represent it. He served two terms in Congress. He was a member of the committee on ways and means and chairman of its sub-committee on internal revenue. His chief activities were in connection with the tariff and the passage of pension bills; he had a prominent part in formulating the Dingley Tariff law. Retiring from Congress on March 4, 1899, he was appointed the same day as federal judge for the district of Kentucky. The appointment was due more to his warm friendship with McKinley, perhaps, than to his merits or reputation as a jurist, but as a matter of fact in this position Evans showed more ability and won more honor than in any other office he held.
He entered the Union army as a second lieutenant in the 25th Kentucky Infantry, saw service at Fort Donelson, and was promoted to a captaincy for his conduct in this battle.
lower house of the legislature
Senate
He served two terms in Congress. He was a member of the committee on ways and means and chairman of its sub-committee on internal revenue.
Evans was twice married: in 1868 to Louise Gowen, who died in 1905, and in 1915 to Sarah Louise Wood of Worcester, Mass. He had two children by his first marriage, neither of whom survived him.