Sally Ruth Evans (52 Ancestors)

     I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors Challenge in Ahnentafel order, and week nine is about one of my paternal great-grandmothers.  I know I'm behind but I don't even know how far - one week or two? I went on vacation and I'm all mixed up.

     Sally Ruth Evans was born 17 August 1902 in Hart County, Georgia to John H Evans and Leila F Craft.   She was only eight years old when her father died, and 10 when her mother married James W Brown.  From the 1940 census, it appears that she attended school only through the 7th grade.  When she was 16 she married Bennie E Craft, and at 17 gave birth to her first of nine children.

     My Great-Grandmother is one of those cases where an ancestor's name is constantly in flux.  Sometimes she's recorded as Sallie or Sally, sometimes as Ruth.  As a child and a young wife, the census listed her as Sallie.  It seems like the older she got, the more likely she would be recorded as Ruth.  Later in life she often appeared as Sally Ruth.  When I asked my dad, he said she was Ruth.  I don't know if it's a case of going by her middle name but giving her legal name, or what.  It's just confusing though.

     She was the only great-grandparent still living when I was born and I have a vague recollection of meeting her once at a family reunion.  I don't remember much, just the image of an elderly lady in a wheelchair coming down the isle between picnic tables.

     She died 20 June 1999 in Hart County, Georgia, and was buried with her husband at the Rock Branch Baptist Church in Elbert County, Georgia.

Tombstone Tuesday - The Evans Family Plot

     This is the Evans family plot at the Rock Branch Baptist Church in Elbert County, Georgia. Buried in this plot are, from left to right, Harriett Partain Evans and William A Evans (3x Great Grandparents),  Leila Craft Evans Brown and John Evans (2x Great Grandparents),  Ethel Evans (daughter of Leila and John), Leila Evans (daughter of Harriett and William), Luther Evans (daughter of Leila and John). At the end of this row is another grave, one that may or may not belong in the Evans plot. I can't read the stone:

Here are the other stones in the plot:

 

Surname Saturday - Evans

     My Evans family line is somewhat short, only tracing back to 1850 and my Great-Great-Great Grandfather.  Here's the line:

1. Sally Ruth Evans [Great-Grandmother]
--- born: 17 Aug 1902, Hart County, Georgia
--- died: 20 Jun 1999, Hartwell, Hart County, Georgia
--- married: Bennie E Craft, abt 1918

2. John H Evans [Great-Great Grandfather]
--- born: 28 May 1879, Elbert County, Georgia
--- died: 9 Jul 1911, Gaines, Elbert, Georgia
--- married: Leila Frances Craft, abt 1897

3. William A Evans [Great-Great-Great Grandfather]
--- born: 18 Sep 1850, Hart County, Georgia
--- died: 2 Oct 1917, Ira, Anderson, South Carolina
--- married: Harriett Ann Partain, abt 1872

4. Unknown Evans
--- born: ?
--- died: bef 1860
--- married: Bedie / Beady

     Having written that out, I see that not only does this line go back very far, but it has been elusive regarding marriage licenses!

     The initial problem with this line is that I can't find the family in the 1850 census. William's parents should have been married, perhaps just starting out together. I also haven't found a marriage record for a Mr Evans to a Bedie / Beady in Georgia.  It's likely they were both from South Carolina, which doesn't have as many available records. I don't see this line a brick wall, so much as a temporary road block.  I need to spend (a lot of) time going through records to find GGGG Grandpa Evans. I'm sure there's some record of him somewhere. There are a few online trees, that do not give sources, that say he was Powell Evans from Cherokee County, South Carolina.  But without sources, I have no idea where this idea comes from and have yet to come across any substantiating evidence myself.

     Interestingly, this is a family line that I have confirmed via DNA.  My dad and I match two sisters, who are descendants of Mr Evans and Bedie's son James L Evans. You can see where they show up on my dad's DNA on chromosome 6.

Wordless Wednesday - Not Anymore!

     I've previously posted this photo on Wordless Wednesday, which was fitting because I didn't know who the men in the photo were. I was 99.9% certain that they were the sons of William Barfield and S Frances Boatright, but I had no idea which man was which. Here's the photo:

     But now their identities have been revealed! Yesterday I was contacted by a distant cousin who is the daughter of one of the Barfield men in the photo. That makes her my 1st cousin, twice removed.  But it also turns out that she's related to me through my Evans family line, which also makes her my 2nd cousin, once removed. I had to sketch out the family tree to understand the connection.

     I think it's pretty neat that we're connected in two different ways.  She's going to mail me some additional information. I'm especially interested in what she knows about the John Evans and Leila Craft family, which is a different branch of the Craft family from my direct paternal line (though they do both go back to my 5x Great Grandfather, John Craft). Fingers crossed!

Tombstone Tuesday - Evans

     Ethel Evans was the daughter of John and Leila Evans of Elbert County, Georgia. She was born on 6 Mar 1907 and died on 5 Dec 1911. She was buried in the Rock Branch Baptist Church Cemetery in Elbert County, Georgia, next to her parents.

Tombstone Tuesday - Evans

"Little" Luther Evans is buried near his parents at Rock Branch Baptist Church in Elbert County, Georgia. He was the son of my Great-Great Grandparents, John H. and Leila Frances (Craft?) Evans. He was 1 year and 294 days old when he died on 28 June 1905.

Leila is #21

Following the Genea-Musing Saturday night blog prompt, I located my 21st ancestor on my Ahnentafel report.  Leila Frances (Craft) Evans Brown is #21.

Leila is my Great-Great-Grandmother - my paternal grandfather's mother-in-law.  She was born on 24 Apr 1881 and died on 24 Dec 1950 and lived her life in Elbert and Hart Counties, Georgia..  Her parents, according to her death certificate, were Ruebin Monroe Craft and Leila McCurley (who I think is acutally Susan Jane McCurley).  Leila is one of those ancestors who was born after the 1880 census and was married before the 1900 census.  These folks are the bane of my exhistance!

Leila married John Evans around 1897.  Their children were Janie, Sally Ruth, Luther, Ruby, Ethel and Mollie.  After John's death in 1911, Leila remarried around 1913 to John "Jim" Brown.  Their children were Fannie, James Jr. and Leonard.

Leila died in 1950 and is buried next to her first husband and some of their children in Rock Branch Baptist Cemetery in Elbert County.

Received the death certificate for Leila Frances (neé: unknown) Evans Brown. Turns out, her maiden name is Craft! So far I'm not having too much luck tracing her parents, Ruebin Craft and Leila McCurly. Fingers crossed.