bertha lee evans buckley hughes
1907-1991
Life Story
Early Life and Family Roots
Bertha Lee Evans was born on August 9, 1907, in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi. She was the daughter of Tom Jefferson Evans, Sr. and Lillie Cooper Evans, members of a large farming family whose roots in the Lawrence community extended back to the years immediately following emancipation.
Growing up in Beat 4 of Newton County, Bertha was surrounded by a large circle of brothers and sisters, including William, Easmond, Albert, Luella, Alberta, Thomas, Vaster, Elmo, Fannie, Dessie, and Northa. Like many children raised on rural Mississippi farms, she learned the values of hard work, cooperation, and family responsibility from an early age.
The 1920 Federal Census shows twelve-year-old Bertha attending school while also living on the family farm. She learned to read and write and completed seven years of formal education, achievements that reflected the determination of her parents’ generation to provide educational opportunities unavailable to their formerly enslaved parents.
Marriage and Building a Family
Around 1925, Bertha married Seabron (“Seab”) Buckley, and together they began building a family that would become one of the larger households in the Lawrence area.
The couple briefly resided along the Salem–Sebastopol Road in neighboring Leake County before returning to Newton County, where they spent most of their married life.
Together they raised a large family that included:
- Lenora Buckley
- Willie B. Buckley
- Gladys Buckley Ratliff
- Emma Jean (Immogene) Buckley
- Spurgeon Buckley
- James Melvin Buckley
- Gerlean (Jearlean) Buckley
- Bobby Buckley
- Bertha J. Buckley
- Joe Lee Buckley
- Otis L. Buckley
- Robert Buckley
Raising such a large household required extraordinary dedication. Like many African American farm wives of her generation, Bertha balanced the responsibilities of motherhood with the demanding physical labor required to sustain a working farm.
Life on the Farm
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Bertha devoted herself to both her home and the family farm.
The 1940 census records her working approximately sixty hours each week as an unpaid family worker. Although census schedules often categorized women’s agricultural labor as “unpaid,” their contributions were essential to the survival of family farms. Bertha’s work likely included tending gardens, caring for livestock, preparing meals for a large household, preserving food, laundering clothing, and assisting with seasonal farm work alongside her husband and children.
By 1950, the Buckley family had established their home on South Seventh Street in Newton, while remaining closely connected to the surrounding agricultural community.
Community Life
Bertha remained actively involved in the Lawrence and Newton communities throughout her life.
A newspaper account from October 1973 records her participation in activities supporting the Lawrence 4-H Club during its annual 4-H Sunday observance. Her involvement reflects a lifelong interest in encouraging young people and supporting community organizations that strengthened rural families.
Later records indicate that Bertha eventually used the surname Hughes. Social Security records show that her account was updated under the name Bertha E. Hughes in January 1982, although additional documentation would be needed to determine the circumstances surrounding that name change.
Legacy
Bertha Lee Evans Buckley Hughes passed away on June 9, 1991, at the age of eighty-three.
She spent nearly her entire life in Newton County, where she helped raise a large family while contributing countless hours to the work of the family farm and the life of her community.
Her story represents that of many rural African American women whose labor often went unrecognized in official records. Yet through their work, families were sustained, farms endured, children were raised, and communities flourished.
Today, Bertha’s legacy lives on through the many descendants of the Buckley family and through the enduring history of the Lawrence community that she helped shape.
Resting Place
Unknown
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, population schedule, Tom J. Evans household; National Archives microfilm publication T624.
- 1920 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, population schedule, Tom J. Evans household; National Archives microfilm publication T625.
- 1930 U.S. Census, Leake County, Mississippi, Salem–Sebastopol Road district, population schedule, Seabron Buckley household; National Archives microfilm publication T626.
- 1940 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, population schedule, Seabron Buckley household; National Archives microfilm publication T627.
- 1950 U.S. Census, Newton, Newton County, Mississippi, South Seventh Street, population schedule, Seabron Buckley household; National Archives.
- The Newton Record (Newton, Miss.), October 1973, article on Lawrence 4-H Club and annual 4-H Sunday activities, mentioning Bertha Buckley.
- Social Security Administration records, Bertha E. Buckley/Hughes, showing an update to the name Bertha E. Hughes in January 1982.
- Mississippi Death Index, Bertha Lee Evans Hughes, died June 9, 1991.
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