daisy bell thompson evans
1935-1998
Life Story
Early Life in Hinds County
Daisy Bell Thompson was born on September 24, 1935, in Mississippi, the daughter of John William “J.W.” Thompson and Rosie Lee Thompson.¹ She spent her childhood in Hinds County as part of a large Thompson family.
In 1940, four-year-old Daisy was living with her parents and siblings in Hinds County.² Her father, J.W. Thompson, was a son of William and Isabella Thompson.
By 1950, the family’s living arrangement had changed. J.W. and Rosie Lee had moved their family into the home of J.W.’s parents, William and Isabella Thompson, on Lilly Street in Jackson, Mississippi. Fourteen-year-old Daisy was therefore living in a multigenerational household that included her parents, siblings, and paternal grandparents.³
Together, the two census records provide useful glimpses of Daisy’s childhood. They show her growing up with her parents while also maintaining close proximity to the older generation of the Thompson family.
Marriage and Family Life in Lawrence
As a young woman, Daisy eventually left the Jackson area and established her adult life in Newton County, Mississippi. She married Curley Evans Sr., and the family made its home in the rural Lawrence community, with records placing Daisy along Route 1 and U.S. Highway 80.⁴
Daisy was the mother of a large family. Her known sons were Clarence Gray, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, Melvin Evans, and Robert P. Henry. Her daughters were Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, Felsia, and Hellean. As adults, several of her daughters appeared in records under their married surnames: Georgia Johnson, Brenda Alexander, Dale Perez, Linda Robinson, and Hellean Turner.⁵
Daisy was the mother of twelve known children: sons Clarence Gray, Robert P. Henry, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, and Melvin Evans, and daughters Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, Hellean, and Felisa. Robert P. Henry had a different father. The paternal identity of Clarence Gray has not yet been established with certainty. Daisy’s remaining ten children were children of her marriage to Curley Evans Sr.
Robert P. Henry served in the United States Army and died before his mother.⁶ Daisy’s later obituary would note that one son had preceded her in death. Other family information identifies Robert as that son. His earlier death explains why he was absent from the list of surviving sons in Daisy’s 1998 obituary.
As Daisy’s children reached adulthood and established families of their own, another generation followed. By the end of her life, her obituary reported thirty-five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.⁷
Community Involvement in Lawrence
Daisy’s life in Lawrence extended beyond her own household.
In February 1983, she was serving as Membership Committee Chairperson for the Lawrence Busy Bees Rural Development Club.⁸ Her position provides direct evidence of her participation in organized community affairs in the Lawrence area.
This documented role gives us something more substantial than simply describing Daisy as a “community leader.” It identifies a specific organization in which she participated and a particular responsibility she held within it.
Faith and Civic Life
Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrence was an important part of Daisy’s adult life. She was a member of the congregation, sang in the choir, and served with the church’s Pastor’s Aide Society.⁷
Her community participation also extended beyond the church. Daisy was a member of the Newton County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).⁷
Together, these records document several different dimensions of Daisy’s community life. Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church connected her to the religious life of Lawrence; the Lawrence Busy Bees involved her in organized rural community development; and the Newton County NAACP connected her to an organization concerned with civil rights and civic participation.
A Growing Family
By the late 1990s, Daisy’s children had established homes in several communities across central Mississippi.
Her 1998 obituary named five surviving sons: Clarence Gray of Jackson, Larry Evans of Newton, Curley Evans Jr. of Forest, Darrin Evans of Morton, and Melvin Evans of Lawrence. Her four surviving daughters were Georgia Johnson and Brenda Alexander of Jackson, and Dale Perez and Linda Robinson of Newton.⁷
The nine children named in the obituary represented those who survived Daisy. They were not, however, all of the children she had during her lifetime.
Her son Robert P. Henry had already died. Two other children—daughters Felsia Evans and Hellean Turner—were still living as Memorial Day 1998 began but would die in the same accident that claimed their mother’s life.⁹
Daisy also remained part of a large Thompson sibling group. Her obituary named seven surviving brothers: Steven Thompson, Donnie Thompson, Jerry Thompson, Jimmy Thompson, J.W. Thompson Jr., Henry Thompson, and Charles Thompson. Her surviving sisters were Ethel Jenkins, Rosie Handford, Jacqueline Childress, Lucy Ephrom, and Mable Evans.⁷
Memorial Day 1998
Daisy’s life ended suddenly on Memorial Day, May 25, 1998, when she was killed in an automobile accident at the age of sixty-two.⁹
The same accident claimed the lives of two of her daughters, Felsia Evans and Hellean Turner.⁹
A contemporary notice concerning Felsia’s death provides direct confirmation of the tragedy and of the relationships among the three women. It reported that Felsia had been killed in an automobile accident on Memorial Day and that her mother, Mrs. Daisy Evans, and her sister, Hellean Turner, were also killed.⁹
The notice further reported that Felsia was a graduate of the Slaughter JTPA Program and was the mother of two young daughters.⁹ The accident therefore brought the simultaneous loss of three members of two generations of the Evans family.
Although the circumstances of Daisy’s death were tragic, they represent only the final event in a much larger life. Long before 1998, the historical record had documented her as a mother and grandmother, church participant, rural development club officer, and member of the Newton County NAACP.
Final Services
Funeral services for Mrs. Daisy Bell Evans were held at 2:00 p.m. on May 30, 1998, at the Newton Municipal High School Auditorium in Newton, with Rev. Robert Denmark officiating.⁷
Daisy’s obituary described the service as occurring on “Sunday, May 30, 1998.” There is a calendar discrepancy in the published notice: May 30, 1998, was a Saturday. Until another contemporary source establishes whether the funeral occurred on Saturday, May 30, or Sunday, May 31, the date printed in the obituary can be preserved without assigning a day of the week.
Following the service, Daisy was interred in Lawrence Cemetery in Lawrence, Mississippi. W. F. Mapp Funeral Home handled the arrangements.⁷
Her husband, Curley Evans Sr. of Lawrence, survived her. Her obituary reported five surviving sons, four surviving daughters, seven brothers, five sisters, thirty-five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and other relatives. It also stated that one son had preceded her in death.⁷
Reconstructing Daisy’s Twelve Children
Daisy’s family provides an excellent example of why obituaries must be read as survivor lists rather than necessarily as complete lists of a person’s children.
Her obituary names nine surviving children—five sons and four daughters—and states that one son had preceded her in death.⁷ Other family evidence identifies that deceased son as Robert P. Henry.
A separate contemporary newspaper account establishes that daughters Felsia Evans and Hellean Turner died in the same Memorial Day automobile accident as Daisy.⁹ Because they died with their mother, neither could be included among the surviving daughters listed in Daisy’s obituary.
When the records are combined, the numbers reconcile:
Daisy had twelve known children: six sons and six daughters.
Her known sons were Clarence Gray, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, Melvin Evans, and Robert P. Henry. Her daughters were Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, Felsia, and Hellean.
By the time Daisy’s obituary was prepared, Robert had died earlier, while Felsia and Hellean had died with their mother. The remaining nine children are precisely the five sons and four daughters named as survivors in Daisy’s obituary.
The comparison demonstrates the value of using multiple records to reconstruct a family. Daisy’s obituary accurately describes her surviving children, while the separate records concerning Robert, Felicia, and Heleanne allow the larger family to be restored.
Legacy
Daisy Bell Thompson Evans’s sixty-two years connected two Mississippi communities and two extensive family networks.
She began life in Hinds County, the daughter of John William “J.W.” and Rosie Lee Thompson. By adolescence, she was living in Jackson in a household shared by her parents, siblings, and paternal grandparents. As an adult, her life became centered in Lawrence, Newton County, where she married Curley Evans Sr. and raised a large family.
The surviving records also preserve dimensions of Daisy’s life beyond her family relationships. At Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church, she sang in the choir and participated in the Pastor’s Aide Society. Within the Lawrence Busy Bees Rural Development Club, she served as Membership Committee Chairperson. Through the Newton County NAACP, she participated in another organization serving the broader community.
By the time of Daisy’s death, the family had expanded considerably. Her obituary reported thirty-five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorial Day 1998 brought a devastating conclusion to Daisy’s life when she and daughters Felsia and Hellean died in the same automobile accident. But the accident should not define the sixty-two years that preceded it. The documentary record preserves the broader story of Daisy Bell Thompson Evans—a daughter of the Thompson family of Hinds County, mother of twelve known children, wife of Curley Evans Sr., church participant, community organization officer, NAACP member, grandmother, and great-grandmother whose adult life became closely connected to the Lawrence community of Newton County.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1. Social Security and/or death record for Daisy Bell Thompson Evans, born September 24, 1935, Mississippi; died May 25, 1998.
- 2. 1940 U.S. census, Hinds County, Mississippi, population schedule, household of John William “J.W.” Thompson and Rosie Lee Thompson, including their daughter Daisy Bell Thompson, age four.
- 3. 1950 U.S. census, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, population schedule, Lilly Street, household of William and Isabella Thompson; also including their son John William “J.W.” Thompson, his wife Rosie Lee Thompson, their daughter Daisy Thompson, age fourteen, and other members of the Thompson family.
- 4. Marriage, residence, and public records for Daisy Bell Thompson Evans and Curley Evans Sr., Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi, including records associated with Route 1 and U.S. Highway 80.
- 5. Family, obituary, and other records identifying Daisy’s twelve known children. Her known sons were Clarence Gray, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, Melvin Evans, and Robert P. Henry; her daughters were Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, Felicia, and Heleanne, with several daughters appearing in later records under their married surnames Johnson, Alexander, Perez, Robinson, and Turner. The currently available evidence establishes these individuals as Daisy’s children but does not establish that Curley Evans Sr. was necessarily the biological father of every child.
- 6. Military and family records for Robert P. Henry, documenting his relationship to Daisy and his service in the United States Army; Robert died before his mother.
- 7. “Mrs. Daisy B. Evans,” obituary, reporting Daisy Bell Evans, age sixty-two; died May 25, 1998; funeral at Newton Municipal High School Auditorium with Rev. Robert Denmark officiating; interment Lawrence Cemetery, Lawrence; member of Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church, its choir and Pastor’s Aide Society, and Newton County NAACP; survivors included husband Curley Evans Sr., five sons, four daughters, seven brothers, five sisters, thirty-five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren; one son predeceased her; W. F. Mapp Funeral Home in charge.
- 8. Newspaper coverage of the Lawrence Busy Bees Rural Development Club, February 1983, identifying Daisy Evans as Membership Committee Chairperson.
- 9. “We are saddened by the death of Ms. Felicia Evans,” Scott County Times (Forest, Mississippi), June 3, 1998, p. 17; reporting that Felicia Evans was killed in an automobile accident on Memorial Day and that her mother, Mrs. Daisy Evans, and sister, Heleanne Turner, were also killed in the accident; the notice further reported that Felicia was a graduate of the Slaughter JTPA Program and left two young daughters.
Leave a Reply