benjamin evans
1913-1914
Life Story
A Brief Life in the Lawrence Community
Benjamin Evans was born on May 5, 1913, in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi. He was the son of Tom Jefferson Evans, Sr. and Lillie (Sallie) Cooper Evans, members of a large farming family whose roots in the community stretched back to the years following emancipation.
Benjamin entered a household already bustling with older brothers and sisters. He was born into a family that earned its livelihood through farming and was surrounded by a close-knit network of relatives living throughout Beat 4 of Newton County. Although his time on earth was brief, he was part of a family whose history would become deeply woven into the story of the Lawrence community for generations.
An Early Loss
Benjamin’s life was tragically cut short during infancy.
He died on November 1, 1914, at the age of one year, five months, and twenty-seven days. His Mississippi death certificate records that he died in Newton County and notes that no physician attended him, a reminder of the limited availability of medical care in many rural Mississippi communities during the early twentieth century. His father, Tom Evans, served as the informant for the death record.
The following day, November 2, 1914, Benjamin was laid to rest in Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in the Lawrence community, where generations of the Evans family would eventually be buried alongside him.
Remembering Benjamin
Although Benjamin Evans lived less than two years, his life remains an important part of his family’s history. His death reminds us of the challenges faced by rural families in an era when childhood illness and limited access to medical care claimed far too many young lives.
Today, his grave at Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery stands as a quiet reminder that every life, no matter how brief, is worthy of remembrance and has a place within the larger story of the Evans family.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery
Photos/Albums
Sources
- Mississippi Death Certificate No. 20769, Benjamin Evans, November 1, 1914, Newton County, Mississippi; Mississippi Department of Health.
- Photograph of the gravestone of Benjamin Evans, Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi, photographed by Cassandra Watts, author’s collection.
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