On the morning of Oct. 6, St. Paul's United Methodist Church (UMC) in Birdsboro held a plaque dedication ceremony for Evan Evans, a founding member of the church who served in the Revolutionary War.

The event was in partnership with the Governor Joseph Hiester Chapter of the National Society of Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), the William P. Duval chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the color guard.

Shelley Klausman, a descendant of Evans and a member of the DAR, spoke at the event.

"The Evans family, one of the earliest established families in Berks County, has contributed to the prominence in peace and war," Klausman said. "The family has always been noted for its honesty and integrity of its members, some of whom have filled positions of imminence in their life."

The plaque was placed on the church's original steps, which Evans helped construct. It denotes his service in the Revolutionary War, as well as his later service as a private and clerk to Captain John Robeson in the Third Battalion of the Berks County militia. Klausman noted that Evans might have also fought in the French and Indian War, but that records on the matter are not clear.

Located at 1136 Geigertown Road, Birdsboro, St. Paul's UMC was founded in 1773; the current church building was constructed in 1858. It does worship from 9 to 10 a.m. on Sundays, with Sunday school taking place from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Lou Hornberger is the pastor; he also spoke at the event.

"This church has a lot of history, and we're digging into it," said Donald McMonagle, a trustee of the church. "Just digging through the history of the Evans family, we've learned a lot more stuff (about the church) that we were unaware of before. It's really interesting."

The ceremony was years in the making. Klausman and company spent countless hours digging through family records and verifying facts with local historians and the historian general in Washington, D.C.

"Every generation, you have to have two documentations, like a marriage certificate or maybe a family Bible that someone has, and you have to track it down," Klausman explained. "Unfortunately, the Welsh double-name their families. Evan Evans, I mean, if you try doing that for three generations, the only way you can do so is tedious. ... In fact, the name passed down so long that I have (another) great-grandfather that fought in the Civil War, and he was Evan Evans."

After all of the research was done, it had to be verified with the historian general. After Klausman got that stamp of approval, she got a family bar number that will be with the descendants of her family forever.

"It's a pleasure," she said. "After all these years of researching, I feel very close to him, even though it's been 250 years."