luther boykin
1890-1977
Life Story
A Life of Resilience and Service
Early Life in Mississippi
Luther Boykin was born on May 31, 1890, in Mississippi, reportedly in the Crystal Springs area, during the harsh realities of the Jim Crow era. He was the son of Charlie K. Boykin and Mattie Boykin, whose surname appears in records under several spellings, including Boikin and Boykin. Luther grew up in Hinds and Newton County, Mississippi, in a large Black family and was one of at least five children in the household.
Like many rural children of his generation, Luther’s early life was shaped by both labor and learning. By the age of thirteen, he had already experienced the demands of country life while also attending school for several months each year. Those early years reflect the balancing act common to Black families in the rural South: survival required work, but education remained a hard-won priority.
Marriage, Migration, and Military Service
As a young man, Luther’s life followed two defining paths of his generation: migration in search of work and military service in time of war. By 1917, he was living in Santa Rosa County, Florida, where he worked as a laborer. On his World War I draft registration, he was described as a man of medium height and build, with black hair and black eyes.
Just before entering military service, Luther married Deriah Thomas—whose name also appears in records as Dina, Diana or Dineah—on June 19, 1918, in Santa Rosa County, Florida. Not long after his marriage, he entered the U.S. Army during the First World War.
His military service included the following:
- Enlistment: August 3, 1918
- Unit: 546th Engineers Service Battalion
- Rank: Private
- Departure for overseas service: September 25, 1918, from New York aboard the Oxfordshire
- Discharge: Honorably discharged on July 2, 1919
Luther’s service placed him among the many Black soldiers who answered the nation’s call despite returning to a country still marked by segregation and limited opportunity.
Work and Family in the Gulf South
After the war, Luther returned to civilian life and resumed the hard work of building a family. In 1920, he and Dina were living in Santa Rosa County, Florida, on Milton and Brunton Road, where he worked as a laborer on a turpentine farm. His occupation reflects the grueling and dangerous labor that sustained many Black families across the Gulf South in the early twentieth century.
Newton County Years: Land, Community, and Hardship
By the late 1920s, Luther had returned to Mississippi, establishing himself in Newton County—a critical but previously undocumented chapter of his life.
A 1929 tax sale notice published in The Newton Record places Luther Boykin as a landholder in the town of Newton:
- Listed property: W½ Lot 15, Block ___, Tatum Addition
- Status: Property subject to tax delinquency sale (1928 taxes due)
This record confirms that Luther was not only residing in Newton County but had acquired town property, reflecting a level of economic advancement beyond farm labor.
However, like many Black landowners of the era, his ownership was precarious. The appearance of his name in a tax sale list suggests the economic strain of the late 1920s, just before the onset of the Great Depression—when even small debts could result in land loss.
Additional community evidence further places him in Newton County during this period. A local newspaper listing of “Additional Members of the Newton County Red Cross” includes:
- Luther Boykin
This indicates that Luther was not merely a resident but an active participant in civic and relief efforts, aligning with broader patterns of Black community engagement through organizations like the Red Cross.
Taken together, these records strongly support that Luther spent a significant portion of the late 1920s and likely early 1930s in Newton County, even though the 1930 Census entry has not yet been located.
Migration to Louisiana During the Depression
By 1940, Luther and his family had moved west to Tensas Parish, Louisiana. There he continued to labor in agriculture during the difficult years of the Great Depression. The 1940 census records him as a farm laborer earning about $300 a year, living with his wife Diana and their fifteen-year-old daughter, Carrie. Though the pay was modest, the record shows a man who remained steadily employed and committed to supporting his household through difficult times.
Later Years in Jackson
In his later years, Luther returned to his home state of Mississippi and settled in Jackson, where his life took on a more stable urban rhythm. By 1950, he was living at 370 Perkins Street in Hinds County. During this period, he worked as a janitor for the Veterans Administration, a fitting role for a man who was himself a veteran of World War I.
While earlier records identify his first wife as Deriah (Dina/Dineah/Diana) Thomas, later documentation reveals additional chapters in Luther’s personal life. After this earlier marriage, Luther married Minnie O. Boykins, with whom he appears in Jackson city directories in 1954 and 1959, firmly establishing them as residents of the Perkins Street community.
By the time of his death, however, Luther’s marital status had changed once more. His 1977 Veterans Administration headstone application identifies:
- Mrs. Willie Ann Boykin
- Address: 244 E. Ash Street, Jackson, Mississippi
- Relationship: Wife
This record confirms that Luther was married to Willie Ann Boykin at the end of his life. Taken together, the evidence suggests that Luther experienced at least three documented marital relationships:
- Deriah (Dina/Dineah/Diana) Thomas – his first wife, married in 1918
- Minnie O. Boykins – his wife during his established years in Jackson (1950s)
- Willie Ann Boykin – his wife at the time of his death in 1977
These transitions reflect the often complex and evolving nature of family life across decades, particularly when gaps in records leave portions of personal history undocumented.
His move from farm and turpentine labor to government service represents an important shift in his life—a transition from the physically demanding work of the rural South to more stable employment in the city during his later years.
Death and Legacy
Luther Boykin died on May 10, 1977, in Jackson, Mississippi, just weeks before his eighty-seventh birthday. His life stretched across an extraordinary period of American history, from the post-Reconstruction South to the modern Civil Rights era.
He was born into a world still shadowed by the aftermath of slavery, came of age under Jim Crow, served his country during World War I, labored through the Depression, and lived long enough to witness the great social transformations of the twentieth century. His story is one of endurance, duty, and quiet perseverance.
Resting Place
Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1900, 1920, 1940, 1950 Federal Censuses
- Florida, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1823-1982
- U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
- The Newton Record, John Boykin Obituary, Wed, Jul 27, 1966 ·Page 2
- U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939
- U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010
- U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985
- U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918
- U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
- U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940
- U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
- U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
- U.S., WWI Civilian Draft Registrations, 1917-1918
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