benjamin evans
1840-bef. 1910
Life Story
Landholder, Patriarch, and Early Builder of the Altare Community
Enslavement and Emancipation
Benjamin “Ben” Evans was born enslaved around 1840 in Mississippi. Although the names of his parents remain unknown, surviving records confirm that he spent his early life on the plantation of Henry Evans, located south of Newton along what is now Highway 15.
Ben’s first documented appearance occurs in Henry Evans’ 1858 Last Will and Testament, where he was listed among the enslaved individuals assigned to Henry’s youngest son, Curtis Evans. Emancipation came before Curtis could claim ownership, and with freedom Ben began the difficult transition from enslaved laborer to independent farmer.
Like many freedmen, his path forward would be defined by land.
Family Life in Bondage and Freedom
During slavery, Ben formed a relationship with Jane Evans, an enslaved woman on the same plantation, born around 1849. From this union, the following children were born:
Levin Evans (born 1862)
Emma Evans (born 1864)
Melinda Evans (born 1866)
Dilsey Evans (born 1867)
Andrew Evans (1873–?)
Elias Evans (1875–1951)
On October 28, 1879, Ben married Josephine Walker (born 1852), linking him to one of the oldest Walker lines in the county.
By the time of their marriage, both Ben and Josephine brought children into the union, forming a blended household typical of the Reconstruction era. In the 1910 census, recorded after Ben’s death, Josephine reported that she had given birth to fifteen children, eleven of whom were living. Some of these children were from relationships prior to her marriage to Ben, while others were born within their marriage. As was common in post-Emancipation families, biological lines and household responsibility did not always perfectly align.
Children attributed to Ben and/or raised within his household include:
Warren Evans (1877–1955)
Arline Evans (1882–?)
Louiser Evans (1884–1944)
Laney Evans (1885–1913)
Virenda Evans (1887–1936)
Lela Evans (1890–?)
Iley Evans (1892–1917)
Annie Evans (1894–1914)
Additional children likely brought into the household through Josephine’s earlier relationships include:
Lissie Evans (1870–?)
Alvin Evans (1872–?)
Pleas Evans (1876–1927)
Regardless of precise biological attribution, Ben assumed responsibility for a large and interwoven family network that would shape the Altare and Bethel communities for generations.
A Rare Postwar Opportunity: Land Ownership
In early 1879, just months before marrying Josephine, Ben secured an extraordinary opportunity for a formerly enslaved man.
On March 27, 1879, William Jackson (W.J.) Walker—grandson of Henry Evans and son of Josiah Walker—deeded Ben forty acres located in Section 14, Township 5, Range 11 East. The tract included valuable road frontage in what would later become the Altare community.
The purchase price was $120—a significant sum for a freedman in the 1870s.
Land ownership marked Ben as part of the first generation of African American farmers in Newton County to acquire property after emancipation. His forty acres became one of the foundational farm sites of early Altare.
Navigating the Crop-Lien System
Land ownership did not guarantee financial security.
Beginning in the 1880s, Ben entered the deed-of-trust credit system, a form of agricultural financing common across the South. Between 1886 and 1899, he executed approximately fourteen deeds of trust with Newton merchant Matthew John Lucas Hoye and later members of the Hoye family.
For loans ranging from $25 to $94, Ben pledged:
- his forty acres
- oxen, cows, calves, mules, heifers, and steers
- wagons and tools
- the year’s cotton crop
Under this system, the merchant advanced supplies and retained the right to sell the crop, deduct the debt, and return any remaining balance.
This structure was not unique to Ben. It defined the economic reality of nearly all small farmers—Black and white—during the late nineteenth century. It required discipline, careful harvest management, and constant negotiation.
Ben’s farming operation became a family enterprise. Older children, including Emma and her husband Jim Lewis, appeared on at least one deed of trust in 1897. When not working, the children attended school at Altare or Saint John, establishing educational roots alongside agricultural ones.
Through decades of borrowing and repayment, Ben retained his land.
Death and the Continuing Land Legacy
Benjamin Evans died sometime before the 1910 census. The exact date and place of burial remain unknown. Mississippi did not require death certificates until 1912, and no confirmed church record or grave marker has been located. Family tradition suggests he may have been buried at Altare M.B. Church or in the Evans Cemetery in the Bethel community.
After his death, the forty-acre homestead passed to multiple heirs. The property later faced foreclosure during a period of shared ownership, but in 1919 the Evans family successfully restored the land to family control. That episode—though occurring after Ben’s lifetime—underscores the enduring significance of the land he first acquired in 1879. For more information on the land transactions after Ben’s death see The Long Road Home: Debt, Foreclosure, and the Resilience of the Evans Family.
Legacy
Benjamin Evans stands as one of the central patriarchs of early Altare, alongside the Chapman, Walker, and Arrington patriarchs.
Through land acquisition, agricultural labor, and an expansive blended family, he helped anchor:
- the Evans–Chapman connections
- the Evans–Arrington branches
- the Evans–Walker and Evans–Coleman ties
- founding membership in Altare Baptist Church
- the base enrollment of the Altare Colored School district
Ben’s life reflects the broader story of freedmen across the South—men who moved from bondage to landholding within a single generation.
His forty acres were more than property.
They were foundation.
Resting Place
Unknown Gravesite
Photos/Albums
Sources
- The Newton Record, Yesterday in Newton, Newton Families – Hoye, Wed, Oct 04, 2006 ·Page 3
- History of Newton County Mississippi, From 1834-1894, Alfred John Brown, 1894, p.133
- 1850 Federal Slave Schedule
- 1860 Federal Slave Schedule
- 1870 Federal Census
- 1880 Federal Census
- 1900 Federal Census
- Tennessee, Death Records, Louise Evans Chapman Obituary, 1908-1958
- Mississippi, U.S., State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951
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