“In the Good Old Summer Time” is one of the best-known American songs of the early 1900s, and its composer is buried in Streator’s Riverview Cemetery. George “Honey Boy” Evans was not born here, but Streator is the town he called home. For more on the city’s past, visit our History of Streator.
From Wales to Illinois
George Evans was born on March 10, 1870, in Pontlottyn, Wales. He came to America as a young man, and the coal town of Streator became his hometown. Streator has long claimed him as a native son, and local tributes call it his hometown. His birthplace, though, was in Wales.
Into Show Business
Evans began his stage career in the early 1890s as a singer and comedian, first with a vocal quartet and then in touring minstrel companies. By the 1900s he was a headliner known everywhere as “Honey Boy,” and one of his best-known songs was “I’ll Be True to My Honey Boy.”
“In the Good Old Summer Time”
In 1902 Evans wrote the music for “In the Good Old Summer Time,” with lyrics by Ren Shields. The song became a huge hit and has been recorded and sung ever since. It turns up in films, barbershop quartet repertoires and summer singalongs more than a century later. Evans wrote many other popular songs, including “Come Take a Trip in My Airship” and “Down Where the Watermelon Grows.”
The Honey Boy Minstrels
In 1910 Evans bought the Cohan & Harris Minstrels for $25,000 and renamed the company the Honey Boy Minstrels, touring the country at the head of his own show. Blackface minstrelsy was then one of America’s most popular forms of entertainment. Today it is rightly recognized as built on racist caricature, and that context is part of an honest account of his career. Evans is also credited with introducing W. C. Handy’s “The Memphis Blues” on the vaudeville stage.
A Baseball Fan
Evans loved baseball. In March 1908 he spent two weeks with the Philadelphia Phillies at spring training in Savannah, Georgia, and the team named its group of younger players the “Honey Boys” in his honor. Beginning that same year he presented a silver cup each season to the major leagues’ top batter. Honus Wagner won the first in 1908, and Ty Cobb won the next four, from 1909 to 1912. Read about baseball in Streator on our baseball history page.
Other Songs
Evans’s catalog included “Standing on the Corner Didn’t Mean No Harm,” “When It’s Moonlight on the Levee, Caroline,” “Look Out for the Hoodoo-Doo-Doo Man” and “O’Brien Has No Place to Go.” Sheet music for several of his songs, some with his portrait on the cover, survives in collections such as Duke University’s historic American sheet music archive.
Death and Burial in Streator
Evans died of stomach cancer in Baltimore on March 5, 1915, five days before his 45th birthday. His body was brought back to Streator and buried in Riverview Cemetery.
Remembering Honey Boy
Streator honors Evans in several ways. A memorial to him is associated with the Streator Elks Lodge, and a downtown mural at 202 N. Park Street pays tribute to him and his famous song. Every summer, the song’s title is a natural fit for local festivals.
Related Streator History
- Streator History Overview
- Clarence E. Mulford: Streator's Creator of Hopalong Cassidy
- Streator Baseball History: The Reds, the Boosters and the Gold Glove
- The Majestic Theatre: A Century of Streator Entertainment
Sources
- George "Honey Boy" Evans – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_%22Honey_Boy%22_Evans
- In the Good Old Summer Time – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Good_Old_Summer_Time
- "George Evans, Minstrel, Dead," The New York Times, March 6, 1915 (TimesMachine). https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/
- Streator Public Art – murals. https://www.streatorpublicart.com/art
- Streator, Illinois – Wikipedia (Notable people). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streator,_Illinois
