His maternal grandfather was Brigadier General Anthony Walton White, an American Revolutionary War veteran.

The following year he became the resident engineer on the job but resigned in 1850 to join Campbell in building the Copiapo Railroad in Chile.

The couple moved to Chile where Evans supervised the building of the Southern Railroad, which ran for fifty miles south of Santiago.

After his return to New York in 1860 he became a consulting engineer, and designed the Varrugas Viaduct on the Luna & Oroya Railroad.

Evans collected books, and paintings which were displayed at his home, Sans Souci, in New Rochelle, New York.