Silliman Evans
Silliman Evans
Page last updated
Dec. 15, 2007
Silliman Evans was the publisher of the Nashville Tennessean and one of the founders and publicity director of American Airlines. His son Silliman Jr. was the airline’s first president. He was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the post of 4th Assistant Post Master General.
He began his newspaper career as a printer’s apprentice at the De Leon Free Press at age 12 during his father C.A. Evans’ tenure as pastor of the First Methodist Church (1909-1910). He begin writing for the Free Press in 1910 working for the then publisher W.C. Lighfoot and with another youngster named R.L. Scott who later purchased the paper. Evans gained a good deal of notoriety from an article he wrote about the death of a Bull Dog which was really about the death of a prominent De Leon citizen. Around 1914 he left De Leon moving to Fort Worth where he joined the the Fort Worth Star Telegram. There he began is his lifelong relationship with Amon G. Carter. During the Desdemona oil boom he became the Star Telegram’s prime reporter covering the boom.
He eventually joined the staff of the Dallas Morning News but later returned to the Star Telegram where he became its Washington D.C. correspondent.
He married a Cisco girl around 1924.
He died of a heart attack in a hotel room in Fort Worth while he was in town to attend the funeral of his long-time friend Amon G. Carter, the publisher of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
His sons are Silliman Evan Jr. and Amon Carter Evans.
He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery (probably in Fort Worth).
His brother was married to Phynis Pittman daughter of B.J. Pittman. They were divorced.
See mar 3, 1933 Free Press