Dudley Evans (businessman)

Dudley Evans
Born	Template:Birth date Morgantown, Virginia (now West Virginia), U.S.
Died	March 27, 1910(1910-03-27) (aged 72) New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Military officer, legislator, banking executive
Years active	1859–1910
Known for	President of Wells Fargo Co. (1902–1910)

Colonel Dudley Evans (January 27, 1838 – March 27, 1910) was a distinguished American military officer, legislator, and banking leader who held the position of president at Wells Fargo Co. from 1902 until his passing.

Early life

Born on January 27, 1838, in Morgantown, Virginia (present-day Morgantown, West Virginia), Evans hailed from a family with Welsh roots that immigrated to Fairfax County, Virginia in 1683 before relocating to the region now known as West Virginia. At the age of fifteen, he enrolled at Monongalia Academy and later earned his degree from Washington and Lee University in 1859.

Career

Following his graduation, Evans taught school in Louisiana until the outbreak of the Civil War. He then returned to Virginia and joined the Confederate Army, initially serving with the 1st Virginia Infantry. Advancing to the rank of Colonel in the 20th Virginia Cavalry, he was captured near the war’s end and held as a prisoner. Concurrently, he served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates during the conflict.

Business career

After the war, Evans moved west to California where he assumed executive roles within Wells Fargo Express Company throughout the Northwestern United States, including cities such as Vancouver and Portland. By 1892, he had risen to manager and Second Vice President, maintaining these roles until 1902. Upon the death of John J. Valentine in 1901, Evans stepped in as acting president and was officially appointed president of Wells Fargo Express Company in October 1902.

Beyond his leadership at Wells Fargo Express, Evans also served as president of Wells Fargo Bank of New York; held a directorship at Mercantile Trust Company; acted as treasurer for Mexico’s Batopilas Mining Company; and was a board member at Citizens' National Bank of Englewood, New Jersey, as well as Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank.

Evans maintained a close professional relationship with railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman, coordinating Wells Fargo’s express operations with Harriman’s Southern Pacific Railroad along the Pacific coast and into Mexico, where Wells Fargo managed government-controlled railway express services. Harriman, a significant shareholder, influenced company financial strategies and supported Evans during a contentious shareholder dispute over profit distribution in 1906. Following Harriman’s death in 1909, Wells Fargo expanded its capital from $8 million to $24 million and issued a substantial 300% dividend to its shareholders.

Personal life

Evans was married to Nellie Seelye from New Brunswick, Canada. The couple had two children:

• Stanley Seelye Evans (born 1886), who wed Ellen Louise Cott (1892–1947), daughter of Frank Alfred Edwards Cott of Englewood, in 1916.
• Clarice Evans, who married Roger Dunscombe.

Evans passed away at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City on March 27, 1910. His wife died later at New York’s Hotel Monclair in 1929.

Descendants

Through his son Stanley, Evans was grandfather to Dudley Evans (1918–1993), a graduate of Princeton University who married Carolyn Campbell Ingraham—daughter of Paul Webb Ingraham—in 1945.