scott evans
1875-1925
Life Story
Biography of Scott Evans (c.1875–1925)
Scott Evans was born around 1875 in Newton County, Mississippi, to Augustus “Gus Evans (1847-1926) and Melissa Ann Evans (1851-?). At the age of ten, he was enrolled in the Newton Election School District along with his sisters Ida and Matilda Evans. He was born into a generation of African Americans working to establish independence, stability, and landownership in the decades following emancipation. Though little is known about his early childhood, Scott grew up in a rural county where farming was the foundation of life and where Black families relied on hard work, cooperation, and community support to survive.
Marriage and Family Life
In 1899, Scott married Nancy Bolton (1865–1965), beginning a union that would shape one of the largest and most enduring branches of the Evans family. Together, they raised a large family of children who were central to the life of the St. John and Mt. Moriah communities. Their children were:
- Melt Evans (1895–?)
- Fanny Evans (1896–?)
- Carry Evans (1898–?)
- Virgie Evans (1901–?)
- Gus Evans (1903–?)
- Arch G. Evans (1904–1979)
- Charlie Evans (1905–?)
- Velma Evans (1909–?)
- Essie J. Evans (1911–?)
- Myra Evans (1914–1983)
- Nancy Evans (1915–1976)
- Scott Evans Jr. (1919–?)
- Charles “C. B.” Evans (1919–1978)
Scott worked as a farmer, a labor-intensive occupation that required physical strength, skill, and endurance. Like many farmers of his era, he rose before dawn, tended crops and livestock, and worked long days to provide for his household. His efforts ensured food, stability, and opportunity for his wife and their thirteen children.
A Life of Responsibility and Quiet Strength
Scott’s life was marked by commitment—to his work, to his faith community, and especially to his family. He and Nancy built a household where their children were taught the values of labor, respect, and cooperation. Several of their children later became prominent members of the Evans family line, known throughout Newton County.
Illness and Passing
Scott Evans passed away on March 19, 1925, in Newton County at approximately 50 years old. His son, Arch G. Evans, served as the informant on his death certificate, reflecting both the closeness between father and son and the responsibility carried by the older Evans children as the family patriarch passed on.
He was laid to rest at the Evans Cemetery on Mt. Moriah Road, among the generations of Evans relatives who shaped the early African American history of the community.
Legacy
Although his life was cut short, Scott Evans’s legacy lived on through his widow, Nancy, who survived him by forty years, and through the many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who carried forward the Evans family name. His descendants helped shape the Pilgrim Grove and St. John communities, served in local churches, maintained family land, and preserved the stories that keep the Evans family history alive today.
Scott Evans stands as an anchor in the larger Evans genealogy: a hardworking farmer, a devoted husband, and a father whose life helped establish the foundation for generations to come.
Resting Place
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1880 Federal Census
- 1900 Federal Census
- 1910 Federal Census
- 1920 Federal Census
- U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
- Educable African American Children – Newton Election District – 1885
- U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
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