Finding the Parents of (James) Steven Evans: Part 3

One of the exciting things about trying to take your tree up another generation is that in addition to extending your tree backwards, you also have the opportunity to expand your tree outwards. That is to say, when you’re looking for parents, you’ll likely also find siblings. And that was absolutely the case in my search for the parents of my paternal 2x-great-grandfather (James) Steven Evans.

(Are you all caught up on this series? If not, start here and then work your way forward. Ready? Let’s go!)

 

As I’ve researched (James) Steven and the folks I’ve identified as his probable parents, Daniel Evans and Jennette (aka Anna Jane) Welch, I’ve also been introduced through the records to five of my distant great-aunts and uncles: Nelson, William, Alfred, Sarah, and Rachel Evans. These are names I’d never before heard, because, in fact, I didn’t really know that much about my great-great-grandfather except what I’d learned through researching his son, my great-grandfather, Steve Evans (aka Theodore Johnson). What I knew about (James) Steven Evans was limited to the family he created through marriage, not the family he was born into. 

But, if the relationships I’ve built out through mostly indirect evidence  - I’m lacking a smoking gun in the form of birth records or a known DNA match) - are correct, this research project has helped me change that. And, in fact, sibling relationships are part of what support the case that Dan and Jennette are (James) Steven Evans’ parents.

I came across Nelson, William, Alfred, Sarah, and Rachel both working forwards and backwards as I researched (James) Steven, Daniel, and Jennette/Anna Jane. Nelson (age 9), William (age 7), and Alfred (age 4) all appear in the 1880 U.S. Census alongside a 2-year-old Steven Ivins, all listed as the sons of Daniel and Genett Ivins, living in Dooley, Montgomery County, Alabama.

The "Ivins" family begins at the bottom of one sheet and continues to the top of the next. The Mitchel family lives in their household, but their relationship to the Evans family is not stated and I have not yet researched it.

Jumping forward twenty years to 1900 (because the 1890 U.S. Census was the victim of a fire), we again find William in the household of Danial and Janette, this time accompanied by two younger sisters, Sarah (age 15) and Rochella/Rachelle (age 14), plus a wife and children of his own.

In 1910, I find Daniel and Jennette with daughter Rachel again in their household:

 

I haven’t been able to find Dan or Jennette (or most of their children) in the 1920 Census, and Dan may have actually passed away in the 10-year interim. However, I do find Jennette, as “Anna J” in 1930 and “Jennett” 1940. In both years, she is living in the household of a woman named Sarah Harris, and Jennette is identified as Sarah’s mother. Also living in the household in both of these years is a man named Nelson Evans, identified as Sarah’s brother.

1930 U.S. Census for Dooley, Montgomery County, Alabama

1940 Census for Dooley, Montgomery County, Alabama

So, we’ve already got some parent-child and sibling-sibling relationships being established. Other records strengthen these connections. For example, when Nelson Evans passes away in 1959, it’s Sarah Harris – his sister per the federal census records – who is listed as the informant on his death certificate. She provides the names Dan Evans and Anna Jane Welch as those of his parents.

Source: "Alabama, Deaths, 1908-1974", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J6RQ-M9G : Sun Mar 10 06:44:48 UTC 2024), Entry for Nelson Evans and Dan Evans, 1959. Document accessed via Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

When William Evans passes away in 1928, his widow, Anna (Bostick) Evans gives Dan Evans and Jeanette as the names of his parents. Apparently she didn’t know his mother’s maiden name. (The image is a bit unwieldy, so I've omitted it.) Likewise, online extracts of records for which I’m awaiting the original documents show that Rachel (Evans) Miles provides variations of the names Dan Evans and Jennette Welch as those of her parents.

So, these records connect the siblings to each other, and their parents. But beyond the 1880 Census, are there other records that connect them more directly to (James) Steven Evans? Yes!

When Rachel (Evans) Miles passes away in 1965, the informant listed on her death certificate is none other than James Henry Evans, son of (James) Steven Evans. (James Henry Evans had also been the informant on his father’s death certificate three years prior, in 1962.) Who did he list as Rachel’s parents? Dan Evans and Anna Jane Evans.

Source: Alabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics

Whoever wrote her obituary, by the way, mentioned that she was survived by her sister, Sarah Harris.

Alabama Journal, 26 May 1965, p.20. Accessed via Newspapers.com, courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

And when Sarah passed way two years later, in 1967, who was the informant on her death certificate? Another of (James) Steven Evans’s children, daughter Jestine (Evans) Gray. If you look closely, it appears they were residing at the same address before Sarah’s death: Route 2 Box 46B, Ramer, Alabama. And who did Jestine list as Sarah’s parents? Dan Evans and Annie J. Tolliver.

Source: "Alabama, Deaths, 1908-1974", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JX6G-683 : Sat Mar 09 19:12:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Sarah Harris and Dan Evans, 1967. Document accessed via the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Whoever penned Sarah’s funeral notice explicitly named 8 of her nieces and nephews.

Alabama Journal, 1 February 1967, p. 13. Newspapers.com. Courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Six of these nieces and nephews are the children of (James) Steven Evans: Justine (Jestine, per other records), Janie Mae, Sarah (that “Payne” is likely supposed to be Paymon), Steve (my great-grandfather, with an interesting “J” as a middle initial), Marshall, and Henry. The other two nieces – Edna and Corene – are Sarah’s brother William’s daughters.

So, we’ve now got (James) Steven Evans linked into the sibling relationship network, as well as to his presumed parents, Daniel and Jennette. 

I’ll also mention that it seems my great-great-grandfather may have reflected a few of his familial relationships in the names of his children. As you saw above, he had a daughter named Sarah, possibly named after his sister. His son Marshall, mentioned above, carried the first name William, possibly after his Uncle William, (James) Steven’s brother. In turn, by the way, William Marshall Evans had a daughter named Rachel, variously used as her first or middle name across documents. Was she named after her great-aunt Rachel, her grandfather’s sister?

But perhaps the clearest naming link is that between (James) Steven Evans’ mother Jennette (aka Anna Jane in her later years) Welch and his daughter - or perhaps, daughters – Jenette and Anna Jane Evans. Why don’t I know if this is singular or plural? Because Jenette (born 1902) appears in the 1910 Census, no Anna Jane. But then there’s an Anna Jane (born 1906) in the 1920 Census, no Jenette. They might be the same person, despite the 4-year age difference – they probably are, given what we know about both the imprecision of ages in census records and about (James) Steven’s mother’s name change across records. But, I haven’t been able to trace either the 1910 daughter or the 1920 daughter forward through time (yet) to say for sure.

Anyway, all of this – everything that I’ve shared across these past 3 posts – is basically to say: I feel pretty comfortable saying that Daniel Evans and Jennette (aka Anna Jane) Welch are the parents of my 2x-great-grandfather (James) Steven Evans. 

But, I still wish that I had a smoking gun. What would that look like?

1. A birth record created at the time of his birth. A Birth Certificate or listing in a Register of Births isn’t an option, as neither were mandated at either the state or county levels in Alabama when he was born (ca. 1878). But perhaps a midwife’s record, or a doctor’s? A baptismal record? A Delayed Birth Certificate would be imperfect, since it wouldn’t have been created at the time of his birth, but the attestations from those supporting the date of his birth and his parentage might be compelling, depending on who provided them. (And who knows what other jewels such a record might contain!)
2. A DNA connection to known descendants of Dan Evans and Jennette Welch. I have connections to the generation after them, connections that link me to several children of (James) Steven Evans, but between the information that is (and isn’t) available via genetic genealogy sites and my ongoing need to thoroughly trace down the trees of (James) Steven Evans’ documented siblings, I’m just not there. Yet.

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Do you know anything about the family of Daniel Evans and Jennette Welch? Are you a descendant, or do you know one? Or just have a thought to share? Drop a note in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!