Little information is found on the relatively prolific printmaker John William Evans, who was known for his highly detailed woodengraving reproductions of paintings. He was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 27, 1855 to English immigrants Felix Evans and Sarah Pitt Evans. He studied under P.R.B Pierson, and worked as a commercial artist and illustrator. In 1910 he was listed in the Federal Census as an engraver and in 1920 as an engineer in the wood industry. He married Hannah Matilda Armstrong in 1878 and they had three children. 

Evans' name is listed in the Musee d'Orsay, France, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. Exhibitions he participated in include the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, 1901 (medal); the St. Louis Exposition, 1904; the Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, 1915 (silver medal); and the AIC, 1916-1917. His work can be found in the collections of the New York Public Library, the Chicago Insititute of Art, and the Brooklyn Institute of Art and Science. John William Evans died in Elmira, Chemung County, New York in 1943.