(By Ione and Marilyn Jones)

(Portrait of Charlotte Evans on upper right hand side of article)

Charlotte Parry Evans could easily be considered the first businesswoman in Malad, having established a restaurant here in the early 1880’s. She was in business for more than thirty years, closing her doors in March, 1915. At one time hers was the oldest restaurant in Malad, and for about fifteen years it was the only restaurant in the area. Aunt Charl (as she was known) stated in an ad of the May 12, 1910 edition of the Idaho Enterprise, that her restaurant and ice cream parlor was the “oldest and best cafe in Malad.” It was located on Bannock Street at the present site of Allen’s Western Wear, that building being the Old Davis Hotel. The hotel was built about a year after Aunt Charl closed her business.

Aunt Charl was born in Wales, December 21, 1854, to William Parry and Mary Ann Thomas. She came to America as a little girl, moving to Malad in 1869 at the age of fourteen. In 1880 she married David Richard Evans. She had two daughters, Maud and Mary, and two sons, David and William. Maud died a few months after her eighteenth birthday and Mary died a few days after her first birthday. Aunt Charl’s two sons, David (D. P.) and William (Creamery Bill) Evans went on to marry and live productive lives in Malad Valley. Aunt Charl suffered for about two years from cancer and was confined to her bed for the last few months before her death on June 16, 1924.

As was typical to the times one hundred years ago, Aunt Charl’s restaurant was clean and simple with just the right touches of home. Inside the restaurant there was a step down from the entrance to the long dining room with a long table that took up about two-thirds of the room. There were two shorter tables on the side. The kitchen was at the back with a big table in the center and a big coal stove which was used for cooking and baking. Since there were no cabinets on the walls, items used for cooking were placed around the edges of the center table.

Among those regular customers who stopped often at the cafe were out-of-town salesmen and the train crews. The coming of the train to Malad in 1906 brought much business to Aunt Charl’s as well as to the whole community.

Inside the restaurant, there was an area set aside for the traveler to wash up before he sat down to eat. Granddaughter Ione Jones remembers as a small child watching from the steps to the dining room, a salesman or “drummer” washing his face from a basin. She was so interested in what the man was doing that when he finished washing, he gave her a miniature Persian-type rug that came in the cans of tobacco that he was selling.

Aunt Charl provided “regular meals and short orders” with prices being very “moderate” (Idaho Enterprise, May 12, 1910). One of her most popular dishes was delicious homemade ice cream which sold for 5 cents a dish. She was also known for her lattice-top pies, cranberry being a notable favorite.

At that time there was a hall upstairs in the Evans Co-op building. Granddaughter Maud Jones remembers seeing armloads of food being carried from the restaurant, across the street, upstairs to the hall for a banquet. She remembers seeing about fifty to sixty pies all lined up ready to be served. This was quite a sight considering everything was cooked by Aunt Charl.

One time while Aunt Charl was cooking at the stove in the kitchen of the cafe, lightning struck the stovepipe and knocked a fork out of her hand. Although it only numbed her hand, she was scared of lightning for the rest of her life. Anytime there was lightning nearby, Aunt Charl would hide in the nearest closet along with any of the grandchildren who happened to be around!

Aunt Charl had the gift of a keen business mind. For a woman of her day, she was progressive and independent. She not only knew what it took to make a success of her restaurant, she also was able to take advantage of other opportunities and parlay those into profitable situations. She had the opportunity of buying a large piece of property on North Main between First and Second North, for the sum of $125. She then built two homes, one having an apartment in the back where she and her husband lived. These homes she rented out. Two more homes were eventually built there by sons, D. P. and “Creamery Bill.”

Aunt Charl was also known for kindness, generosity, and compassion toward others. Whenever there was an illness or death in town, she would take food to that family. But, she would always go at night because she didn’t want everyone to know what she was doing. One night after visiting such a family, she left by their back door for home. But, she became lost in the darkness as there were no street lights. It was sometime before she got home!

At the time of her death much was said about Aunt Charl by her family and friends. The June 19, 1924 edition of the Idaho Enterprise states: “It is always hard to part with such a good woman. She had always been a hardworking woman, doing much for the advancement and building of her community.” There are those who come and go in this world quietly doing for others. Charlotte Parry Evans was one of these.