elijah evans, jr.
1915-2002
Life Story
From Newton County to Chicago and Home Again
Elijah Evans Jr., also referred to as “Uncle Make,” was born in Newton, Mississippi, on November 20, with surviving records differing over whether the year was 1914 or 1915. His World War II draft registration gives November 20, 1914, while later Social Security and census records support November 20, 1915. He was the son of Eligah Evans Sr. and Fannie Chapman Evans, members of a large African American family rooted in Newton County.
Like several of his brothers and sisters, Elijah’s life eventually carried him from rural Mississippi to Chicago. Yet his story ultimately came full circle when he returned to Newton County, where he spent his later years.
Early Life in Newton County
Elijah grew up in Newton County, Mississippi, surrounded by a large family.
In the 1920 census, he was living with his parents and siblings in Beat 4. Among the children in the Evans household were his older sister Hattie, his brother Fred, and other brothers and sisters who would appear in later family records.
By 1930, the family was living on Main Street in Newton. The household included Elijah and siblings such as Hattie, Fred, Charlie, Juary, Huey, Reholbert, and others.
The surviving records occasionally render the children’s names differently. Juary, for example, appears under variant spellings in historical records, while Huey’s name was sometimes recorded incorrectly as “Hugh” or similar forms. Using the names by which the family members were actually known helps distinguish their identities from census and record-keeper errors.
Marriage and Farming
By 1940, Elijah had entered adulthood and was living in Newton County with his wife, Mary.
He was working as a farmer, continuing the agricultural life that had shaped much of his childhood and the lives of many African American families in rural Newton County.
His marriage to Mary represents another area where additional records may eventually tell us more. At present, the surviving census evidence establishes the marriage, but more research would be useful to determine Mary’s maiden name, the date of their marriage, and the full composition of their family.
World War II Draft Registration
On October 16, 1940, Elijah registered for the World War II Selective Service draft in Newton, Mississippi.
The registration card gives his name as Eligh Evans, apparently reflecting the way his name was written or interpreted on the document. Significantly, the card records a birth date of November 20, 1914, one year earlier than the 1915 date found in later records.
At the time of registration, Elijah was working for Walter Spivy.
The difference between the 1914 and 1915 birth years should remain visible in his biography rather than being silently reconciled. The draft registration was created while Elijah was living and relatively young, while later Social Security and other records support 1915. Until a birth record or another early source resolves the discrepancy, both dates should be acknowledged.
Migration to Chicago
By 1950, Elijah had left Mississippi and was living in Chicago, Illinois.
His move was part of a broader pattern within the Evans family. His sister Hattie Mae Evans Johnson had also established herself in Chicago, as had other relatives who left Newton County during the middle decades of the twentieth century.
The 1950 census places Elijah in the household associated with Hattie Mae Johnson on Wabash Avenue. His brother Reharb Evans, also known as Reholbert, was there as well.
Elijah was working in construction, marking a significant occupational transition from the farming life he had known in Mississippi.
The household is especially important because it demonstrates that the Evans migration to Chicago was not simply a series of unrelated individual moves. Several members of the family were living together or near one another, preserving family ties even after relocating hundreds of miles from Newton County.
The Evans Family in Chicago
The presence of Hattie, Elijah, and Reharb in the same Chicago household provides a particularly vivid example of how family migration often operated.
One relative might establish a foothold in a Northern city, followed by brothers, sisters, cousins, or other family members. Housing, employment information, transportation, and personal support could all move through these family networks.
The records do not tell us whether Hattie directly encouraged Elijah or Reharb to come to Chicago, so that should not be assumed. What they do establish is that by 1950, three members of the Evans family who had grown up together in Newton County were once again sharing family life—this time in Chicago.
Return to Newton County
Elijah eventually returned to Newton County, Mississippi.
In his later years, he lived along Route 1 and Stephens Road, once again residing in the area where he had been born and raised.
His return followed a pattern seen in other members of the Evans family: migration did not always mean a permanent separation from Mississippi. Some family members built lives elsewhere and later returned home, maintaining ties to the land, churches, relatives, and communities that had shaped their early lives.
For Elijah, the geography of his life formed a circle:
Newton County → Chicago → Newton County.
Family
Eliga was the father of Evenell Evans Sanders, who survived him and continued his branch of the Evans family.
Evenell later died in 2015.
Additional research may reveal whether Eliga and Mary had other children, but Evenell is the daughter presently documented in the available family information.
Death
Elijah Evans Jr. died on February 9, 2002, after a life that spanned more than eight decades.
By the time of his death, he had witnessed enormous changes in both Mississippi and the United States. He had been born during the Jim Crow era, grown up in rural Newton County, registered for the draft as the country prepared for war, migrated to Chicago during the era of the Great Migration, worked in construction, and eventually returned to the community where his life had begun.
Legacy
Elijah Evans’s biography is particularly meaningful when viewed alongside the lives of his siblings.
His sister Hattie Mae Evans Johnson also moved to Chicago before eventually returning to Newton County. His brother Fred Henry Evans established himself in the Chicago area as well. By 1950, Elijah and Reharb were living in Hattie’s Chicago household.
Together, their stories reveal something larger than the migration of individual people.
They show a family migration network.
The Evans children who had grown up together in Newton County carried those relationships north with them. Chicago became another point on the family’s map, but Mississippi remained home.
Elijah’s eventual return to Newton County reinforces that connection. His life stretched across two very different worlds—rural Mississippi and urban Chicago—but ended close to where it had begun.
His story therefore belongs not only to the history of one man, but to the larger history of an African American family adapting to the opportunities and disruptions of the twentieth century while maintaining its ties across generations and across distance.
Resting Place
Unknown
Photos/Albums
Sources
- Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census, Beat 4, Newton, Mississippi; Roll: T625_888; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 98.
- Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census, Newton, Newton, Mississippi; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 51-1; FHL microfilm: 2340898.
- Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census, Newton, Mississippi; Roll: m-t0627-02053; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 51-2.
- Ancestry.com, 1950 United States Federal Census, Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 2337; Page: 2RD; Enumeration District: 103-1163.
- Selective Service Registration Card for Eligh Evans, Serial No. 1513, Order No. 2479, 16 October 1940, Local Board No. 1, Newton County, Mississippi; National Archives at St. Louis, Missouri.
- Social Security Administration, U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014, Elijah Evans, SSN 425-03-0430, Newton, Mississippi.
- Social Security Administration, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007, Elija Evans / Elijah Evans, SSN 425-03-0430.
- U.S., Public Records Index, 1950–1993, Volume 1, Elijah Evans, Newton, MS 39345.
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