Representative women of New England/Clara H. B. Evans
CLARA H. BAGG EVANS, who in February, 1903, was elected President of the Department of Massachusetts, Woman's Relief Corps, was born June 2, 1860, in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Mass., being a daughter of Edwin and Catharine (Hull) Bagg. Her father's great - great - grandfather, David Bagg, was one of the pioneer settlers of Pittsfield, removing thither with others from Westfield, Mass., about the year 1763, only a few years after the building of the first log cabin in that locality.
The Bagg family have held a continued residence in Pittsfield from that time to the present. In the Revolutionary War David Bagg was a soldier in Captain William Francis's company, which marched to Albany, N.Y., January 14, 1776, by order of General Schuyler; an(l later he was a member of Lieutenant James Hubbard's company, which was ordered to Manchester on July 18, 1777.
He was not only a soldier himself, at the age of sixty years, but had five sons in the service as well. These sons were Joseph, Martin, Aaron, Phineas, and Daniel. (See "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution,*' vol. i.) Martin Bagg, born in 1745, died in 1824. From him the line now being considered descended through his son Martin, Jr., to Jedediah Bagg, who married Clarissa Newton, and was the father of Edwin, above named, and paternal grandfather of Mrs. Evans. Moses Newton, father of Clarissa, was a Revolutionary soldier, serving three months under Captain Samuel Taylor in 1776 and for several short terms in later years (see History of Deerfield, Mass.).
Mrs. Evans's maternal grandfather, Oliver Sculthorpe Hull, was a soldier of the War of 1812.
Her father, Edwin Bagg, enlisted in the Sixty-first Massachusetts Regiment in 1864 for one year, but on account of the close of the war received an honorable discharge at the end of nine months. Edwin Bagg entered the employ of Jason Clapp as a farmer in 1850, being then a young man; and he continued in Mr. Clapp's employ and that of his son until his own death, in December, 1894. The mother of Mrs. Evans still resides in Pittsfield, her native place. Clara H. Bagg received her education in the Pittsfield public schools. At the age of sixteen she became an employee in a large dry-goods house. There she soon developed remarkable business ability, and was promoted to the position of book-keeper and confidential clerk, in which double capacity she served for seventeen years. June 2, 1897, she was married to David L. Evans, son of Thomas and Helen M. Evans.
At the age of thirteen she united with the Methodist Episcopal church, and has ever since been an active and earnest worker in its different departments.
In the year 1887 Mrs. Evans became identified with AV. W. Rockwell Relief Corps, auxiliary to the G. A. R. One year later she was elected treasurer, holding the position for eleven years, when she was elected president for the years 1898 and 1899. She was again elected treasurer in 1900, and still holds the position. In 1898 Mrs. Evans was a member of the local executive committee of the Massachusetts Volunteer Aid Association, which did such good work in furnishing relief and supplies to the soldiers in the war with Spain.
Mrs. Evans was Department Aide in 1898-99. She was elected a member of the Executive Board in 1900, Junior Vice-President in 1901, and Senior Vice-President of the Department Woman's Relief Corps in 1902. Elected President of the Department of Massachusetts in February of the present year (1903), as above stated, she is devoting her time and strength to the best interests of the order.