ezra Evans

ezra evans

1897-1985

Life Story

Laid to Rest: Evans Cemetery – Newton County, Mississippi

Early Life and Family

Ezra Evans was born around 1897 in Newton County, Mississippi, to Jarred Evans (1858–1934) and Matilda Mosley Evans (1870–?). He was part of the extended Evans–Mosley family whose roots, land, and labor shaped the rural communities surrounding Altare, Mt. Moriah, and the Bethel area.

Growing up on his father’s farm, Ezra worked as a farm laborer, contributing to daily agricultural work—plowing, tending crops, gathering firewood, caring for livestock—tasks essential to the survival of rural Black families during the early 20th century.

Marriage

On February 21, 1920, Ezra married Armilla Flowers (1904–1924). The couple lived in the Newton County area, close to the Evans and Flowers family networks.

Their marriage, though short, connects two significant African American families in the region.

The 1924 Tragedy

On April 20, 1924, Ezra’s wife Armilla Flowers Evans was shot and killed in a widely reported and tragic incident. Contemporary newspapers sensationalized the event, referring to him as “Hez Evans.” The articles describe that Armilla was ambushed while returning to the Chapman farm where she lived and worked.

Ezra was arrested and charged within days.

Trial and Conviction

During the August 1924 term of the Newton County Circuit Court:

Ezra initially filed a plea of insanity
The court allowed him to withdraw that plea
He then entered a plea of guilty to murder
A jury affirmed the verdict
He was sentenced to life in the Mississippi State Penitentiary

His case appears multiple times in court records and newspaper reports.

Petitions for Pardon (1928–1930s)

Newspaper clippings reveal that Ezra submitted a formal Notice for Pardon to Governor Theodore G. Bilbo on December 19, 1928. In his petition, he asserted:

That he was not guilty of murder
That he had already been sufficiently punished
That he had behaved obediently in prison

A separate petition—signed by community members including members of the Walker family—also requested clemency, noting:

He had “served seven years”
His father was aged and needed his help on the farm
His family were “good law-abiding citizens”
They believed he had acted “in a fit of passion”

These petitions show the complicated ways families and communities navigated the criminal justice system during Jim Crow Mississippi.

Transfer to the State Hospital

By the early 1930s, Ezra was no longer housed at Parchman.
The 1930 U.S. Census lists him as a patient at the Mississippi State Insane Asylum in Jackson, working as an unpaid gardener—a common labor assignment for long-term patients.

Newspaper reports state:

He had served 7½ months of his sentence before being transferred
He remained under psychiatric care for decades
Officials petitioned for his commutation due to age and institutionalization

Commutation of Sentence

In the early 1960s, Governor Ross Barnett commuted Ezra’s life sentence to “time served.” The governor noted that Ezra:

Had long been under psychiatric care
Was about 70 years old
Was no longer housed in prison
Needed family support in his declining years

This commutation effectively ended the penal portion of his sentence.

Later Years

A 1978 Newton Hospital patient register lists Ezra Evans among those treated, indicating that he continued to live in the local community during his later life, likely under family supervision as officials had requested decades earlier.

Ezra lived into old age and passed away on April 1, 1985, more than 60 years after his 1924 conviction.

Burial

He was laid to rest at the Evans Cemetery, among generations of his family.

Legacy

Ezra Evans’s life story reflects:

The challenges of mental health in rural Black communities
The harshness of early 20th-century courts and prisons
The tendency of newspapers to sensationalize stories involving African Americans
The role of family in protecting, petitioning for, and ultimately caring for their own
The long impact of trauma, poverty, and social pressure on individuals and families

His story is a window into the realities of Black life in the Jim Crow South—complex, painful, and intertwined with community memory. Despite the tragedy surrounding his early adulthood, Ezra’s long life closed within the family circle where it began.

SIDEBAR: Legal Timeline of Ezra Evans (1920–1963)

1920

February 21, 1920
• Ezra Evans marries Armilla Flowers in Newton County, Mississippi.

1924 – The Incident and Arrest

April 20, 1924
• Armilla Flowers Evans is shot and killed while returning to the Chapman farm.
• Newspapers identify her husband as “Hez Evans.”

April 22–23, 1924
• Ezra is arrested while sleeping at a home near Lawrence.
• He admits involvement, according to newspaper accounts.

August 1924 – Trial and Sentencing

August 1924 Term – Circuit Court of Newton County
• A plea of insanity is filed, then withdrawn.
• Ezra enters a guilty plea to murder.
• Jury verdict: Guilty.
• Sentence: Life in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

1928–1929 – Petitions for Pardon

December 19, 1928
• Ezra submits a formal Notice for Pardon to Governor Theo G. Bilbo, asserting innocence and stating he has been “sufficiently punished.”

December 1928 – January 1929
• A separate petition—signed by community members, including W.E. Walker, T.L. Walker, and J.E. Walker—asks the governor to pardon Ezra.
• Supporters argue that:
– He acted “in a fit of passion.”
– He has served long enough.
– His elderly father needs him to help save the family farm.
– His family are “good law-abiding citizens.”

1930 – Institutional Transfer

1930 U.S. Census
• Ezra appears as a patient at the Mississippi State Insane Asylum (Whitfield), listed as:
– Occupation: Unpaid worker in gardening
– Status: Long-term psychiatric care

1930s–1950s
• Newspaper reports indicate Ezra remained at Whitfield for decades under continued mental health supervision.

1963 – Commutation of Sentence

Early 1963
• Governor Ross Barnett commutes Ezra’s life sentence to “time served.”

Reasons cited:
– Ezra had served 7½ months before being transferred to the asylum.
– He had lived under psychiatric care for years.
– He was now approximately 70 years old.
– Hospital officials believed his family should care for him in his final years.

1978 – Later Life

April 10–27, 1978
• Ezra appears in the Newton Hospital patient register, confirming he was living back in the Newton community.

1985 – Death

April 1, 1985
• Ezra Evans passes away and is laid to rest at Evans Cemetery.

Resting Place

Evans Cemetery

Photos/Albums

Sources

1910 Federal Census
1920 Federal Census
1930 Federal Census
U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current
U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
U.S., World War I Civilian Draft Registrations, 1917-1918
U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
Sun Herald, Barnett Commuted the Sentence of Ezra Evans, Thu, Mar 07, 1963 ·Page 6
The Newton Record, Notice for Pardon, Thu, Jan 10, 1929 ·Page 4
The Newton Record, Negro Woman Shot to Death by Husband, Thu, Apr 24, 1924 ·Page 1
The Newton Record, Newton Hospital, Wed, May 03, 1978 ·Page 9
The Newton Record, State vs. Ezra Evans, Thu, Sep 04, 1924 ·Page 1
The Newton Record, Notice of Pardon, Thu, Jan 07, 1932 ·Page 4
The Winona Times, Hez Evans Murder Wife and Baby, Fri, May 02, 1924 ·Page 9

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