Charles Evans

Charles Evans (1768-1847) was an American attorney, civic leader and philanthropist during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He established the Charles Evans Cemetery, an historic, nonsectarian, garden-style, public cemetery located in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania. Family and formative years Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 30, 1768, Charles Evans (1768-1847) was the ninth of ten children born to Philadelphia native David Evans and Letitia (Thomas) Evans, a native of Radnor, Pennsylvania. His parents were both members of the Society of Friends. Taking up the study of law in 1788 with Benjamin Chew, a prominent Pennsylvania attorney who had served as attorney general during the state’s colonial years and then as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Charles Evans was admitted to the Berks County bar in June 1791. In August of that same year, he began dividing his legal work between his hometown of Philadelphia and the city of Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he opened a new law office.