ezra dukes
1901-1974
Life Story
Early Life & Family Roots in Jasper County
Ezra Dukes was born on February 3, in Jasper County, Mississippi, near the community of Montrose. Historical records vary concerning his birth year, with census records suggesting dates between 1898 and 1903. However, both his World War II draft registration and Social Security records identify his birth date as February 3, making those records the strongest evidence for his birth.¹
Ezra was the son of George Dukes and Flora Gray Dukes, members of a large farming family whose roots extended deep into Jasper County. He grew up surrounded by numerous brothers and sisters, including Eddie, Aaron, Maney L., Freeman, George W., Willie, Brook, and Arthur.
The 1910 census found the family farming in Beat 3, Jasper County, where Ezra attended school and learned to read and write. Like many African American children raised in rural Mississippi during the early twentieth century, he divided his time between his education and the work required to help support the family farm.
By 1920, as a young adult, Ezra was working alongside his father and brothers as a farm laborer, learning the agricultural skills that would provide for his own family throughout his life.
Marriage & Establishing a Home
On November 12, 1922, Ezra married Nina Mae Evans in Jasper County, Mississippi. Her name appears in various records as Nina, Niner, and Eavens, variations that were common in handwritten county records of the period.
Together they established a home and began raising a family. Their early years were blessed with the births of sons Marten Dukes and Robert Lee Dukes, who spent their childhood helping with the work of the family farm.
During the late 1920s, Ezra and Nina relocated a short distance north into neighboring Newton County, though they remained within the same close-knit region of eastern Mississippi.
A Lifetime on the Land
For more than four decades, farming remained the center of Ezra’s working life.
The 1940 United States Census recorded Ezra renting a farm in Newton County while operating it on his own account. Having completed the fifth grade, he devoted approximately fifty hours each week to cultivating his crops, a demanding schedule that reflected the realities of small-scale farming during the closing years of the Great Depression.
Unlike many African Americans who left Mississippi during the Great Migration, Ezra chose to remain in the rural communities where his family had lived for generations. His decision reflects another important chapter of African American history—those who stayed and continued building lives on the land despite economic hardship and limited opportunities.
World War II Registration
On February 16, 1942, Ezra registered for the World War II draft in Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi.
His registration card offers a detailed physical description of the forty-one-year-old farmer. He stood 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 185 pounds, and was described as having a dark brown complexion, black hair, and black eyes.
The card identified Thomas Watkins as the person who would always know his address, providing another glimpse into the close family and community relationships that characterized rural Newton County.
Although there is no evidence that Ezra entered military service, his registration reflects the nationwide mobilization that touched nearly every American family during World War II.
Family Life Along Lawrence-Bethel Road
By 1950, Ezra and Nina were living along Lawrence-Bethel Road in Newton County.
There, Ezra continued working as a sharecrop farmer, supporting his household through one of Mississippi’s oldest occupations. Living with them was their young grandson, J. C. Dukes, illustrating that even after nearly three decades of marriage, the Dukes household remained active with the responsibilities of raising children and maintaining a working farm.
Throughout these years, Ezra remained firmly rooted in the Lawrence community, where family relationships, church life, and agriculture continued to shape everyday existence.
Later Years
Ezra spent virtually his entire life within the neighboring counties of Jasper and Newton, witnessing enormous changes in Mississippi society during the twentieth century.
He experienced the decline of the lumber boom, the hardships of the Great Depression, the mobilization of World War II, and the gradual transformation of agriculture during the postwar years.
In 1965, he applied for a Social Security card in Mississippi, documenting another milestone in a lifetime of honest labor.
Ezra Dukes passed away in December 1974, with his final residence recorded in Newton, Mississippi.
Legacy
Ezra Dukes belonged to a generation whose lives were closely tied to the land.
While many relatives and neighbors sought new opportunities elsewhere, Ezra remained in eastern Mississippi, investing his life in farming, family, and community. Through decades of hard work, he provided for his household and preserved the traditions of rural life that had shaped the Dukes family for generations.
His story is not one of dramatic migration or public recognition.
Instead, it is the story of a man whose quiet perseverance helped sustain his family through some of the most challenging decades in American history. His legacy lives on through the generations he nurtured and through the enduring presence of the Dukes family in Newton and Jasper Counties.
Resting Place
Unknown
Photos/Albums
Sources
- U.S. Federal Census records, 1900–1950, Jasper and Newton Counties, Mississippi.
- Jasper County marriage record for Ezra Dukes and Nina Mae Evans, November 12, 1922.
- World War II Draft Registration Card for Ezra Dukes, February 16, 1942.
- Social Security records for Ezra Dukes.
- Mississippi death records, December 1974.
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