About this collection:

➤ Esther Field Fletcher Evans was born on November 11, 1882 in Wheeling, West Virginia to John F. Fletcher and Julia Baxter Fletcher. She had three sisters, Lydia, Nellie and Emma. Esther married Arthur Stockwood Evans in 1901 and had three daughters, Esther Florence, Helen, and Winifred. Arthur Evans was the son of William S. Evans, who emigrated from England to the United States and invented the Evans repeating rifle. The Evans family lived in the Edgewood neighborhood of Wheeling, then later moved to Triadelphia. In 1926, Esther Florence married Harold Charles Harpfer, a doctor in Wheeling, WV, and had a son, Harold Evans Harpfer in 1931.

The collection consists of two scrapbooks created by Esther Fletcher Evans of Wheeling, WV from 1897-1954. One scrapbook documents her family history, noting birth, marriage and death dates for her grandparents, siblings, and grandchildren. Loose material kept within this book, which included correspondence, church programs, clippings and poems, was removed and placed into folders and labeled with corresponding family member. Evans was a member of the First Baptist Church in Wheeling, and several church programs and leaflets are included in this collection. She was also involved in other women’s groups, including the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). The second scrapbook consists of Wheeling area newspaper clippings pasted into an existing book. Tucked into this book is a handmade valentine given to Evans’ mother, Julia Fletcher, in 1897.  

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