Our Unique Stories

sallie curry evans

1898-1972

Life Story

A Life of Faith, Family, and Service

Early Life and Family Roots

Sallie Curry Evans was born on April 2, 1898, in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi, to Jake Curry and Sarah Windham Curry. She was raised in Beat 4, where the Curry family had established deep roots as farmers and landowners. Sallie grew up in a bustling household that eventually included ten children, learning from an early age the values of hard work, family cooperation, and faith.

By 1910, twelve-year-old Sallie was already contributing to the family farm while attending school. Like many children in rural Mississippi, she balanced her education with the responsibilities of agricultural life. These early experiences instilled in her the work ethic and resilience that would characterize the rest of her life.

Marriage and Building a Home

Around 1912, Sallie married Willie (also recorded as William) Evans, and together they established their home in the Lawrence community of Newton County. Their marriage spanned decades, and they built a household centered on faith, family, and perseverance.

Sallie and Willie became the parents of six children:

  • Bessie Mae Evans Davis
  • Margaret (Marguerite) Evans Malone
  • Woodrow (also recorded as Woodson) Evans
  • Grady William Evans
  • Douglas Evans
  • Willie Lee Evans Ellis

As their children matured, the family expanded beyond Mississippi. Some remained in their home state, while others joined the Great Migration, settling in cities such as Detroit, Michigan, and Joliet, Illinois. Through her children and grandchildren, Sallie’s influence reached far beyond the fields of Newton County.

A Working Wife and Mother

Like many African American women of her generation, Sallie’s labor extended well beyond the walls of her own home.

Federal census records document her occupation as a cook on two separate occasions, reflecting employment outside the household while she continued raising her family. Whether preparing meals for private households or working in other community settings, her work contributed to the family’s financial stability during decades marked by economic hardship, including the Great Depression and the years that followed.

Balancing employment with the responsibilities of motherhood required tremendous dedication. Sallie represented a generation of women whose contributions often went unnoticed but were essential to the success and well-being of their families.

Faith and Community

Faith remained the cornerstone of Sallie’s life.

She was a lifelong member of Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrence, where she was remembered as a faithful Christian worker and devoted church member. Her obituary describes her as a woman whose commitment to her church never wavered, reflecting a lifetime of quiet service to both her congregation and community.

For Sallie, the church was more than a place of worship. It served as a center of fellowship, encouragement, and spiritual strength throughout her life.

Final Years

By the early 1970s, Sallie had become the last surviving child of Jake and Sarah Curry, marking the passing of an entire generation that had witnessed Reconstruction’s legacy, the rise of Jim Crow, two World Wars, and the Civil Rights Movement.

As her health declined during the latter months of 1972, she relocated to Laurel, Mississippi, where her daughter, Bessie Mae Davis, lovingly cared for her during her final illness.

Sallie Curry Evans passed away on November 28, 1972, at 7:30 p.m. at the age of seventy-four.

Funeral services were held on December 2, 1972, at Union Chapel United Methodist Church in Lawrence, with the Rev. R. Whitehead officiating. Family, friends, neighbors, and fellow church members gathered to celebrate the life of a woman whose quiet faith and steadfast devotion had touched generations.

She was laid to rest at Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Lawrence, returning to the community where her life’s story had begun more than seven decades earlier.

Legacy

Sallie Curry Evans lived during one of the most transformative periods in American history.

Born at the close of the nineteenth century, she witnessed the expansion of Jim Crow, the hardships of the Great Depression, the sacrifices of two World Wars, the migration of countless family members to northern cities, and the victories of the Civil Rights Movement.

Through it all, she remained anchored by her faith, her family, and her willingness to serve others.

As a devoted wife, loving mother, hardworking cook, faithful church member, and respected matriarch, Sallie left a legacy measured not by public recognition but by the generations she nurtured and the values she passed forward.

Today, her descendants continue to honor the example she set—a life of perseverance, humility, compassion, and unwavering faith that remains woven into the history of the Lawrence community and the enduring legacy of the Curry and Evans families.

Resting Place

Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery

Photos/Albums

Sources

  • Mississippi birth records, census records, and her obituary identify Sallie Curry Evans as having been born on April 2, 1898, in Newton County, Mississippi, to Jake Curry and Sarah Windham Curry.
  • 1900 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Jake Curry; documenting Sallie Curry as a young child living with her parents and siblings in the Lawrence community.
  • 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Jake Curry; documenting Sallie Curry attending school while working as a farm laborer on the family farm.
  • 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census records identify Jake and Sarah Curry’s household as one of the larger farming families in the Lawrence community of Newton County.
  • Census records and family records indicate that Sallie Curry married Willie (William) Evans around 1912 and established their home in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi..
  • 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950 U.S. Census records document the household of Willie and Sallie Evans and identify their children, including Bessie Mae, Margaret (Marguerite), Woodrow (Woodson), Grady William, Douglas, and Willie Lee.
  • 1930 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, household of Willie Evans; documenting Bessie Mae Evans as the daughter of Willie and Sallie Evans.
  • The migration of several of Sallie Evans’s children to cities including Detroit, Michigan, and Joliet, Illinois, reflects the broader movement of African American families during the Great Migration of the twentieth century.
  • 1940 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, household of Willie Evans; identifying Sallie Evans’s occupation as cook.
  • 1950 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, household of Willie Evans; again identifying Sallie Evans’s occupation as cook, demonstrating her continued employment outside the home while raising her family.
  • African American women in rural Mississippi frequently combined household responsibilities with wage-earning occupations such as domestic service and cooking to supplement family income during the first half of the twentieth century.
  • The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), December 6, 1972, obituary of Sallie Curry Evans; describing her as a lifelong Christian worker and faithful member of Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrence.
  • The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), December 6, 1972; documenting that Sallie Evans was the last surviving child of Jake and Sarah Curry.
  • The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), December 6, 1972; reporting that during her final illness she was cared for by her daughter, Bessie Mae Davis, in Laurel, Mississippi.
  • The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), December 6, 1972; recording Sallie Curry Evans’s death on November 28, 1972, at the age of seventy-four.
  • The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), December 6, 1972; documenting funeral services held on December 2, 1972, at Union Chapel United Methodist Church in Lawrence, officiated by the Rev. R. Whitehead.
  • Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi; cemetery records documenting the burial of Sallie Curry Evans.
  • Family records, census records, newspaper accounts, cemetery records, and genealogical research collectively document the life of Sallie Curry Evans as wife, mother, cook, faithful church member, and matriarch of the Curry and Evans families.

    Sources Consulted
    1900–1950 U.S. Federal Census Records; The Newton Record (December 6, 1972); Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery Records; Mississippi Vital Records; Newton County Genealogical Research Collections; Curry and Evans Family Records and Oral Histories.

Leave a Reply