Simon J. Evans

Simon J. Evans, my wife's Great Grandfather and the father of Sarah Evans, was born in 1865, in Wales.  The name Evans is very common in Wales.  It is currently the 8th most common name in that country and means "son of Evan".  As a result of the large number of Evans in Wales, it took a great deal of digging to find the right one.  At the age of 7 he was living with extended family in Llanwenog, Cardiganshire county, Wales (1901).  At the age of 17 he was living with relatives in London.  According to family reports he worked on a ship in exchange for passage to the US.  He arrived in 1881 and had obtained US citizenship in 1892.  In Jan 1903 he went back to LLanwenog and married aWelsh woman (born in England) named Mary Henrietta Jenkins, and in March of that year they traveled back to the US together.  The ship was the Oceana (pictured above) which left from Liverpool and arrived in New York on March 5th, 1903.

They were in Sheridan, WY in 1907, farming and raising cattle.  Over the following 20 years the family ranch located off Birney Road, expanded to 1400 acres.  They had four children, Simon T., Mary, Mayoworth, and Sarah.

Simon passed away Jan 6, 1930 and is buried at Sheridan Municipal.  His grave is pictured below.

This research was not easy.  As I've said, there are a lot of Evans in Wales (including a lot of guys named Evan Evans because in Wales one Evans is not enough!).  I am 100% certain this is the correct Simon Evans.