William Shannon Evins was born June 30, 1844, in Tennessee, the son of Captain John H. Evins 18181904 and Martha “Mary” J. Shannon 1818-1884. Both of his parents were born in Tennessee. Known siblings were Tennessee E. Evins, born after they moved to Mississippi, John W. Evins, Josephine Evins Douglass, and Mary Theodocia “Dosia” Evins Farrell, 6 months. The last three were born after moving to Arkansas.
In 1860 William, along with his family, was living in Carroll County, Arkansas, and was attending school. In May of 1861 at the age of 15 he enlisted in the Infantry as a private. He fought in the battle at Corinth, Mississippi and was wounded there.
On July 5, 1868, William Shannon Evans married Mary Marguerite Means in Calhoun County, Arkansas. She was born in 1848 in Alabama to Andrew Newton Means, 1814-1874, born in Tennessee, and Elizabeth Hunt Bradford Means, 1817-1896, born in South Carolina. Andrew farmed for a living. Mary and her parents moved to Arkansas not long after she was born. The only known child of William and Mary is Roberta Evins Hammond who was born in 1878.
William was elected Sheriff of Calhoun County in 1880 and served until 1887. Some of the known prisoners going to the state penitentiary during his term was a Gabrelia for one year for grand larceny in 1881; William Bronson for three years for assault with intent to rape; Millard Jones for three years for grand larceny; Warren Jackson, 93 years old, convicted of stealing a hog and sentenced to one year; King G. Edington, convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to two and a half years; and Austin Gantt, convicted of arson and sentenced to two years.
The Arkansas Sheriff’s Association was formed in 1883 during Sheriff Evin’s term. He met with the first annual Arkansas Sheriff’s Association Convention in Little Rock on June 20, 1883, and was a signer of the Association constitution that was written and voted on during that session. May 1 was set as the annual date for the Meeting of the Association because that was the day the County Sheriffs from over the state had to make the county settlement with the State Auditor.
In the 1910 Census, William and Mary were living in Jefferson County, Alabama, with their daughter and her husband, and William was working as a carpenter. Mary M. Evins died August 31, 1912, while living in Jefferson County, Alabama, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. William died May 1, 1928, in Jefferson County, Alabama, and was also buried in Elmwood Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
Sources: Arkansas Marriages Index 1837-1957; 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, and 1910 Censuses; Alabama Civil War Soldiers 1860-1865, 1921 Confederate Soldier Census; Confederate Pension records; ancestry; findagrave; Alabama Deaths and Burials; Alabama Death Index, 1908-1959; Alabama Death and Burials Index 1881-1974; The Men and Women who have represented Calhoun County, Arkansas, at the County Level of Government, by Tommy Carter; Birmingham Post-Herald, Thurs., May 3, 1928; Daily Arkansas Gazette, Thu, Jun 21, 1883, pg. 3,; Sat., May 3, 1884, pg. 8; Wed, Aug 19, 1885, pg. 8; The Weekly News, May 17, 1884, pg. 1; Arkansas Democrat, Wed., Nov. 23, 1881, pg. 1; Mon, May 5, 1884, pg. 4; Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory;
