William Langston Evans (1852 - 1922) came to Bloomington as a three year old boy with his parents. He entered into the grocery business with a brother as a young man and continued in that work with brothers Frank and Thomas until he retired in 1908, leaving the business to his young brother Thomas. He was also a director of the Bloomington State Bank and an officer with the Bloomington Canning Company.
William married Elizabeth Cowling of London, Ohio and had just one daughter with her, Imogene, who was later Mrs. Luther C. Hinckle.
Although this house does not have a full length porch, I admire the trimming and folding awnings. I wonder if this was a new house. The trees closest to the house are not very mature. The house had at least three fireplaces and a wood fenced back yard. Note the shingled detail along the first story and deep brackets on the various rooflines. This is just one more of the beautiful homes that graced Main Street in the late 1800s.
In 1911 Evans hired Arthur L. Pillsbury to build him a new home at Main and Graham. The beautiful home pictured here was demolished to make way for the new home. The home would later be sold to Illinois Wesleyan University by Imogen Evans Hinkle and is now the English House. Hinckle lived there throughout her married life and her husband's "residence office" address was listed as being there.