Marble bust of John Evans, on display at the John Evans Alumni Center. (Photo: Franklin Habit)
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About John Evans
Dr. John Evans, the principal founder of Northwestern University, also distinguished himself as a physician, railroad builder, urban developer, religious leader, and territorial governor.
Indiana's first mental hospital and school for the deaf resulted primarily from the advocacy of Dr. Evans. After joining the faculty of Chicago's Rush Medical College, he conducted research on cholera, invented a surgical aid, pressed Congress to pass the first quarantine laws, edited a medical journal, and helped to established the first hospital in Chicago.
As a railroad builder, Dr. Evans managed the construction and operation of part of the first railroad between Pittsburgh and Chicago, and later he organized the Chicago and Evanston Railroad.
Because of his role in the building of the Denver Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Company, Colorado named Mount Evans in his honor.
Dr. Evans was equally influential in the civic and religious communities. He was instrumental in developing not only the city that bears his name, Evanston, but also Indianapolis, Chicago, and Denver. And throughout his life he served the Methodist Church as one of the most highly regarded laymen of his generation.
Deeply committed to higher education, Dr. Evans and eight business and professional associates met on May 31, 1850 to discuss plans for a great university in or near Chicago. Five of the men, including Dr. Evans, drafted a charter for a new institution that, located in the heart of the former Northwest territory, was appropriately named Northwestern University. The state legislature authorized the charter in 1851 and Dr. Evans was elected president of the board of trustees.
Dr. Evans contributed $1,000 as down payment on the land in Evanston that became the site of the University, and he assumed responsibility for the $24,000, 10-year mortgage. He also created the first two endowed professorships at Northwestern through gifts of land valued at $100,000. That value has increased tenfold over the years.
Although Dr. Evans became territorial governor of Colorado at the request of President Lincoln, he remained president of the board of trustees until 1894 and the University's chief benefactor until his death in 1897. He was a frequent visitor to Evanston, eager to observe the progress of the University that meant so much to him.
For more information about the John Evans club, contact JohnEvansClub@alumni.northwestern.edu.
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