andrew evans
1873-unknown
Life Story
Early Life
Andrew Evans was born around 1873 in Newton County, Mississippi, to Benjamin Evans (1840-1910) and Jane Evans (1849-?). He entered the world during Reconstruction, a turbulent period in which formerly enslaved families were striving to secure land, economic stability, and permanence in a society still structured against them.
Mississippi had been readmitted to the Union in 1870, but the state’s economy remained unstable. Cotton dominated agricultural life, and African Americans—who comprised a large portion of the population—faced systemic discrimination under emerging Jim Crow laws. Land ownership was both opportunity and vulnerability.
In 1885, Andrew was listed as enrolled in school. However, like many farm children of the era, he did not complete his education, likely leaving to assist with labor on his father’s farm.
Marriage and Occupation
Around 1894, Andrew married a woman named Isabella. No confirmed records of children from this union have been identified.
Andrew’s primary occupation was farming. In 1900, early in his marriage, he and Isabella were renting a home. By 1930, census records show that Andrew owned both his home and farm in Newton County—an important indicator of economic progress in an era when Black landownership was often fragile.
The 1914 Foreclosure of the Evans Homestead
The most significant chapter in Andrew’s life involved the forty-acre Evans homestead in Section 14.
After the death of his father, Benjamin Evans, the land passed to multiple heirs as tenants in common, meaning each heir held an undivided interest in the entire tract.
In 1911, several of Andrew’s siblings executed a deed of trust securing a loan against the property. When the debt went unpaid, foreclosure proceedings followed.
On December 28, 1914, the forty-acre homestead was sold at public auction. D.E. (Dan) Chapman purchased the property for $175.50.
Although some heirs—including Andrew—had not signed the original loan, Mississippi foreclosure law permitted sale of the entire tract, with ownership interests adjusted accordingly.
The family land was legally lost.
Consolidation and the $40 Deed of 1915
In 1915, Andrew and three other heirs—Virenda Walker, Van Arrington, and Louiser Chapman—executed a deed transferring their remaining undivided interests in the property to Daniel (Dan) E. Chapman for $40.
Verenda, Andrew, and Louise were siblings. Van Arrington held interest in the land through his marriage to Andrew’s sister, Annie Evans, who tragically died in 1914 from complications following childbirth. Annie had been married to Van for only three years.
The $40 payment consolidated Chapman’s title to the land.
At that point, the Evans homestead appeared permanently lost.
Redemption and Family Restoration, December 1919
But the story did not end there.
On December 29, 1919, Andrew Evans purchased the entire forty-acre tract back from D.E. Chapman and his wife, Oma Chapman, for $450.00.
The following day—December 30, 1919—Andrew and Isabella conveyed a portion of that same land to Denson Chapman and wife for $225.00.
Denson Chapman was not an outside buyer. He had originally been named in the foreclosure proceedings and, more importantly, his wife Louiser was Andrew’s sister. Denson was Andrew’s brother-in-law.
These back-to-back transactions reveal that Andrew first restored clear title to the entire forty acres and then immediately redistributed part of the land within the Evans sibling network.
By the end of December 1919, all forty acres of the original homestead were once again under Evans family control.
The foreclosure of 1914 had been reversed.
Community Investment and the Altare School
When Denson and Louiser Chapman secured their portion of the land, they demonstrated the family’s continued investment in the community.
On February 17, 1925, they deeded one acre to the Trustees of the Altare Colored School for $15. The land was designated exclusively for school purposes, with a reversion clause stating that if school activities ceased, the land would return to them.
This act reflects the Evans family’s broader commitment not only to land retention, but to education and community development within the Altare area.
Later Land Transactions
On September 18, 1936, Andrew and Isabella conveyed approximately twenty acres of land to Will Coleman for $300.
Will Coleman, the son of Brown and Sarah Coleman, had married Mary Lee Chapman. The Coleman family was an integral part of the Altare community, and this transaction reflects continued land circulation within interconnected Black family networks.
Legacy
Andrew Evans’ life illustrates the complexity of Black landownership in early twentieth-century Mississippi.
He experienced foreclosure.
He experienced consolidation.
And ultimately, he participated in the restoration of his father’s homestead.
Through strategic repurchase and coordinated family transactions, Andrew helped ensure that the Evans name remained tied to Section 14.
His story reflects not only vulnerability within the credit and foreclosure system, but also persistence, kinship coordination, and long-term land stewardship in Newton County. For more information on Andrew Evans see The Long Road Home: Debt, Foreclosure, and the Resilience of the Evans Family.
Resting Place
Unknown
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1900 Federal Census
- 1930 Federal Census
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