Prior to 1856, he lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and worked as a broker.

[2] He lived in Chicago and worked for many years at the Daily Journal.

Evans arrived in San Francisco in 1861, began working as a journalist for the Morning Call[3] and served on the staff of the Governor of California during the Civil War.

[2] He published two travelogues, Our Sister Republic: A Gala Trip through Tropical Mexico in 1869 - 1870, (1870) and Á La California: Sketches of Life in the Golden State (1873).

[4] Evans died 22 October 1872,[5] a passenger on the steamship Missouri, when it burned at sea.