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English born Charles Evans (1839-1871) arrived in Chilliwack from Ontario in 1865 and acquired land on the east bank of Atchelitz Creek. Shortly afterwards two more 160-acre lots were added. An 1866 farm report noted that Evans owned 500 acres of land with fifty cultivated acres producing 2,000 bushels of grain, 50 tons of prairie hay and 800 bushels of potatoes. Eight head of cattle, eight hogs, fifty chickens, fifty cows and large barns were located on the property. Evans, who was trained as a bookkeeper, gained his income from his position as manager of the Bernard Express Company in Yale. Yale was then the starting point for the stage lines
traveling to the Cariboo gold fields. John Forsyth and A.C. Wells, worked on the Evans' property improving the land.
Jane Wells (1835-1921) was born in Napanee, Ontario in 1835. In 1863 she left her home in Ontario and came west with her sister-in-law, Mrs. A.C. Wells. She resided with her brother and his wife until her marriage to Charles Evans in 1865. After the marriage the Evans' lived in Yale. The couple had two sons and one daughter. After Charles' death in 1871 Jane Evans moved to Chilliwack with her small children and successfully farmed the property her husband had acquired. Her two sons continued to farm the land after her death.
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