John Fremont Evans was born in Bloomington in 1861 and entered into the lumber business with his father, John W. Evans, as well as the construction business. He was known as "Mont" Evans and married Clara Harwood, who also came from a lumber and construction family in Bloomington. After their marriage in 1890 they moved into their newly built home at 804 North Main, somewhat near to the family home at Center and Chestnut. 500 guests came to the wedding of this popular Bloomington couple at the Second Presbyterian Church.
They immediately had one son, who died in infancy and then a daughter, Clara Louise. John and Clara frequently traveled with Willis S. Harwood and his wife, to Europe and tourist destinations in the United States.
The Evans family business had a planing mill and worked on many important buildings in Bloomington, including the high school (Washington Street), the Bloomington Club and the Livingston Building (post fire). This firm employed over a hundred men and began its existence as the firm of Hayes and Evans in 1856.
John Fremont Evans died in Houston Texas in 1925 where he made his home with his daughter Clara Louise Daniels in the years following the death of his wife, Clara, in 1909.