Heinrich Evers left Germany as a young man to come to America via a sailing ship. A fierce storm at sea blew the ship on to the rocks off Newfoundland where it broke up. So Heinrich was very glad to got to shore in a barrel. He went to Neustadt, Ontario where he married and settled.
Many of the children of this couple came to "prove up" on land in North Dakota. Some settled in Clearfield, Kingsley, Bryan, and Addie Townships.
Johannes or John came to Clearfield Township in the spring of 1882 at age 22. Sanborn was the nearest railroad station so the young man walked around or through the overflowing potholes. He selected the NW quarter of the NW Section of Clearfield Township. The Townships had been surveyed in Township size but not into the Section and Quarter Section size. Therefore Johannes knew the identity of the quarter Section he selected and did not have to pay for a surveyors fee.
The first summer he worked for W. T. McCullouch and in the fall built two shanties 4' X 5' on Clearfield Section 6-146-60. This land was assigned to him November 3, 1890 under the Homestead Act.
The next year June 16, 1891 WILLIAM HOWDEN "proved up" the SW quarter of Section 32-146-60. His son, GEORGE, later married Sadie Koch the daughter of Mary Evers Koch a daughter of Heinrich Evers. They are the parents of Ethel Howden Jacobs, Edward - deceased, Leland, Georgine Paulsberg, Eileen Krueger, River Forest, Olive (Mickey) Shannon and James. Ralph lives in Hannaford. The others live in Oconomawoc, Wisconsin.
A Homestead patent was issued to FRIEDRIG LUGHT for the NE quarter of Section 12-146-61 dated December 12, 1891. His son WILLIAM married a daughter (Louisa) of Henirich Evers. They lived on Section 34-147-61 in Bryan Township. Louisa Evers had been issued a Homestead patent for SW quarter NE quarter W1/2 SE quarter if Section 6-14660. She had been her brother John's housekeeper while she was "proving up" her homestead. She and William Lucht had four sons and I daughter, namely Frank, Otto, William, Christian, and Mary Lucht Dooley all of the Spokane area.
Another brother, SIMON, was issued a patent via the Timber Culture Certificate or tree claim to El/2-SW quarter of Section 6-146-60, March 3, 1893. Simon Evers also filed for another tract of land SW quarter of Section 8-146-60, which was dated November 22, 1897, under the Homestead Act.
AUGUST EVERS, a brother of John, filed under the Homestead Act for east 1/2 of the southeast quarter of Section 6-146-60 in Clearfield Township and got his title to the land March 27, 1895. He married Allie Ford, the daughter of his neighbor, BEN FORD, and continued to live on their adjoining land for some years. They had no children.
LOUIS EVERS - another brother was issued a Homestead Patent for NE quarter of Section 10-146-61 Kingsley Township, dated March 8, 1898.
To return to John or Johannes Evers - he was an expert of all trades - a plasterer, a stonemason, a tanner of wolf and badger hides, a small game hunter, a butcher, and a farmer. When he first came to North Dakota he carried a double-barreled pistol - hand-loaded - to shoot ducks, prairie chickens, geese, and rabbits for food. He took eggs from wild nests to use for food.
When he returned to Ontario to spend a few months to pick out a wife, he put in many hours roaming the forests with a sack, which he filled with tree seeds - ash and box elder. He had plowed a strip of land on the west edge of his homestead to plant into trees. It was a landmark for 40 years, at least. He sold small trees to both Binford and Cooperstown. Many of the older trees of both towns came from his shelterbelt. This freshly plowed shelterbelt saved the buildings from the great prairie fire.
John Evers also picked out a fine woman, Sarah Hellwig, to be his wife. They were married in Ontario and returned to the Evers homestead in North Dakota.
Living was hard, but they could see that they were slowly getting ahead. One fall there were only seven pennies left after the bills were paid. Sarah wondered how they would ever last through the winter, but springtime found the same seven pennies still saved.
Albert started farming in 1920 renting his parents farm for 1/3 of the gross. At that time men's wages were $10 to $30 per month and a woman's wage was $200 a year. Prices of things bought and sold were very different from what they are in 1975.
There are three living children all near Binford. ALBERT married Priscilla Colvin, daughter of W. E. Colvin and they have three sons and two daughters, JOHN, AUGUST, CLARENCE and RUTH.
NORMAN - John's son - married Olga Olson and they have one daughter, Shirley Evers Lundeby. Norman's son Norman Jr. is married and has three daughters and one son.
John and Sarah's daughter, Martha, lives in Cooperstown and is unmarried.
It was the Dakota Territory - the golden northwest and the land of paying wages - that John Evers started out for when he was just reaching manhood. He was born in Ontario, Canada, September 14, 1860.
In March of 1882 John Evers completed the trip to Sanborn by train with Con Wiesman, Harmon Hertel, Ben Betcher and Mr. Pole. That first summer he worked on the farm for W. T. McCulloch.
That fall Will Carter helped him build his two claim shanties on Section six of Clearfield Township. They were anything but spacious being only four by five feet. The lumber was hauled from Sanborn.
The next spring, in 1883, he built a 10 by 12 house and broke thirty acres of land. Evers then went back to work around Sanborn.
In the spring of 1884 Mr. Evers bought a team of horses and with his sister and brother came back to Griggs County to live on his homestead. When they left Sanborn, they were headed for the Fiero farm where they planned to put up for the night before starting the next leg of their journey. But west of Dazey they went the wrong direction at the turn at the bottom of the large hill. They continued all the time thinking that they were on the right road.
Towards noon it started to rain but they continued the journey. By dusk they reached a farmhouse, which they believed to be the Fiero farm. A woman, unknown to them, appeared at the door. She refused them when they asked permission to stay over night, but she did direct them to a place further along the road. The horses played out before they did get there so they turned back and notified the woman that they would have to stay. Places were made for them in the granary.
The next day the party retraced their trail to the turn at the foot of the hill and then turned the right direction to reach the Fiero farm by dark. But here there was no room and they were directed to cross Bald Hill Creek and continue to the Will Howden place on Section 32 in Clearfield Township. The creek came higher than the horses and only after much difficulty were they able to cross. The next day they finally reached the Evers' homestead.
John Evers lived in his shanty until 1891 when he went back to Ontario to marry Sarah Hellwig in 1892. They returned to North Dakota and built a new house in 1902.
Since that time John Evers has been farming steadily. Years that have been abundant and then the lean years all have gone to make fuller the life of one of Griggs County's pioneers.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 257