Anthony Wayne’s Great Grandson Served His Country

Anthony Wayne’s great grandson served his country just as those Wayne family members before him. His time was the Civil War.

William Wayne Evans, who later took the name William Wayne, was born December 6, 1828, in Willistown, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Issachar Evans and Mary Wayne Atlee, and the grandson of Margaretta (Wayne) Atlee, and great-grandson of General Anthony Wayne.

He worked as a farmer, and married Hannah J. Zook in 1853. Around this time, he inherited “Waynesborough” from Isaac Wayne and changed his name to William Wayne. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was an avid supporter of the Union Cause, and shortly after the fall of Fort Sumter, helped organize a home guard unit among the farmers and other citizens of Paoli, Pennsylvania.

In August of 1861, Wayne was authorized to help raise a company of recruits for the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry. Wayne recruited Company K in mid-November 1861 and served as its captain.

In December of 1861, the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry received orders to proceed to South Carolina to participate in the follow-up to Du Pont’s Port Royal expedition. In the first six months of 1862, Wayne led his company through the operations at Warsaw Sound, Georgia; Fort Clinch and Jacksonville, Florida; and Edisto, John, and James Islands, South Carolina. On September 10, 1862, while posted at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Wayne was detailed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for recruiting duty, after suffering health problems due to exposure. He remained quite active at Harrisburg, but submitted his resignation at the end of the year, which the War Department accepted in January 1863.

William Wayne returned to Paoli and resumed farming. He died November 20, 1901.

This is William Wayne’s campaign chest and his portrait, which is on display at Historic Waynesborough.