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Christopher Evans

Born 8 Mar 1841 in Upper Gornal, South Staffordshire, England

Died 2 Oct 1924 in Nelsonville, York Township, Athens County, Ohio

Christopher Evans was a special man. He was tough enough to work in the mines in England, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. He led strikes, and at 60 years of age, was beaten on a train in Colorado by Pinkerton guards that were trying to prevent him from getting to a union strike. He did not have a lot of education in England. Something in his early background gave him the ability and desire to help his neighbors and co-workers. It also gave him the ability to express himself in ways to help others. These abilities gave him the empathy to deal with people struggling to make a living for their families, and with owners of companies that are trying to make as much money as possible sometimes in a very difficult economy. He had to let the workers know that he understood the work because he was working beside them but be honest and intelligent enough to get the respect of the owners. Certainly in the early unions, that was an unusual combination. Most leaders were known for their strength and willingness to fight. But unions were changing and to use brute force was not effective.

Christopher Evans was an English miner that came to America to build a family and secure a future. As with many immigrants, he came with nothing except a wife, a child, and the willingness to work. His father was a miner who died before he was 50. Chris did not find the conditions of the work environment much better in America than it was in England. He started to work in Mercer County Pennsylvania and quickly became a member of the union and was president of the local in 5 years. He came to New Straitsville OH to ask the local mine workers to support the miners in Pennsylvania while those miners were in a difficult strike. He liked what he found in Ohio and shortly moved his family to that area. Again he became involved in the unions. He was president of the local, president of the Ohio Union for a year and secretary of the national union for 4 years. In 1889 he became secretary of the American Federation of Labor. He served in that position for 5 years until an Ohio native was elected President and he did not believe that there should be two officers from the same state.

Chris Evans had the ability to put thing in proper perspective. While he led the mineworkers in Ohio during a difficult strike, he pushed the union workers to understand that the replacement workers were only trying to make a living and were not evil. So the violence was reduced. When they finally came to an agreement with the owners, both sides agreed that Chris would moderate the discussions. As secretary of the AFL, he wrote most of the speeches and documents that were given outside the union. He coined the expression “The earning power of a day’s wages” as the principal of the union’s discussions. He took the unions to a position of negotiating the changes necessary rather than using brute force to try to get agreements with management.

The New Straitsville area had a history of mine unions and mine strikes. Often there were several mine unions in the same mine. Once there was a problem in a local mine. One union was going off to have a meeting. Another decided to move to a different part of the mine to show that they were against the other union. One person was trying to work by himself and got trapped. He later died. The unions, with Chris as a moderator, decided that the division was not in the best interest of the workers. They settled their disagreements and merged into which shortly was labeled United Mineworkers of America. After he retired from working in the mines, he was asked to write the history of the mineworkers. The product was a two-volume history of the struggles and organization of the mineworkers. It is considered the main source of historians.

The most interesting thing in the research of Christopher Evans is the traditions that he established for his family. His desire and ability to help others is passed on to his descendants. In looking at the family tree, there are a lot of people who teach school for a living. One daughter was a dean of a children'’ hospital. Three great grandchildren are in the religious life. It is not that the family is any different than any other, It is that Christopher Evans has passed down to later generations an understanding that the people are important and that anyway that we can help others is a way to improve this world where we live.