Morris Evans Sr. (abt. 1750 - 1834)

Born about 1750 in Lunenburg, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Evans — married about 1772 (to before 1784) in North Carolina

Husband of Liddy (Anderson) Evans — married 8 Dec 1784 in Granville, County, North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 25 Aug 1834 at about age 84 in Wake, North Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Scott Fulkerson [send private message] and Angela Hart [send private message]

Biography

Morris Evans Sr. is a part of US Black heritage.

Morris Evans Sr. was born circa 1750 in Lunenburg County, Virginia.

Marriage

Morris married twice:

1. Elizabeth Evans (abt.1746-), daughter of Thomas Evans and Nelly Stewart, likely prior to Nancy's birth circa 1772. Some sources state they were married in North Carolina, while others cite Mecklenberg County, Virginia.
2. Liddy (Anderson) Evans (abt.1763-bef.1830) 8 Dec 1784 in Granville County, North Carolina, daughter of Lisha Anderson. She was born circa 1763 in Granville County, North Carolina, and died BEF 1830 in Wake County, North Carolina.

Children

Children of Morris and Elizabeth were:

1. Polly (Evans) Harris (abt.1773-). Polly married Hardy Harris 22 Oct 1793 in Wake County,North Carolina.
2. Parsons Evans (abt.1777-abt.1850)
3. Jordan Andrew Evans (abt.1779-1865). Jordan married Delilah REYNOLDS 21 Nov 1805 in Wake County, North Carolina. She was born 1782 in Wake County, North Carolina, and died 1860 in Daviess County,Kentucky.
4. Morris Evans Jr (abt.1780-abt.1880)
5. William Evans - born circa 1781 in Wake County, North Carolina, and died BEF 1840 in Wake County, North Carolina. He married Dilly BARNS 11 May 1806 in Wake County, North Carolina.
6. Rebeccah Evans - born circa 1782 in Wake County, North Carolina. She married Aaron HOLDER 20 Apr 1805 in Wake County, North Carolina. He was born 1778 in Wake County, North Carolina, and died 1850/1860 in Wake County, North Carolina.

Children of Morris and Liddy were:

1. Sally Evans - born 1787 in Wake County, North Carolina.
2. Delia Evans - born 1789 in Wake County, North Carolina.
3. Thomas Evans (1790-1867)
4. Sylvania Evans - born 1797 in Wake County,North Carolina, and died 1870/1880 in Wake County,North Carolina.
5. Patsy Evans - born circa 1802 in Wake County, North Carolina, and died BEF 1837 in Wake County,North Carolina.
6. Rody Evans - born circa 1805 in Wake County,North Carolina, and died 1840/1850 in Wake County,North Carolina.
7. Elizabeth Evans - born circa 1806 in Wake County,North Carolina, and died 1877 in Wake County, North Carolina."

Death

Morris passed away 25 Aug 1834 in Wake County, North Carolina.

Research Notes

INCLUDED TO KNOW WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE IN THE MORRIS EVANS LINEAGE:

• Currently, it is unknown who Morris EvansS' first wife may have been, however, recently I have seen a tree on Ancestry.com (6/3/2007) showing a wife 'ELIZABETH RUBLE', b. 1740 Lunenburg Co.,VA, d. 1793 Frederick Co.,VA., daughter of ULRICH RUBLE (b.1710 Germany or Switzerland, d. Aug. 4, 1761 Frederick Co.,VA) & JANE BURSON (b. 1713 Bucks Co.,PA, d. 1792 Frederick Co.,VA). There is no Sourcing for this info, so I don't know how accurate it is, but I will be looking into it further for confirmation. If this is correct, which doesn't seem likely, it could explain a lot about why some of Morris' family was listed as white, while others were black or mulatto. After contacting the person with that info, they aren't sure if this was the same person in their tree and I also am still not convinced that one person had anything to do with the other, but I am leaving this info in this file for future reference, as well as for any other researcher coming across this file to know what has been researched, and hopefully they will use good research habits and NOT include the RUBLE Family in their tree without very thorough investigation, and not just copy someone else's tree. So many people are copying that info into their trees, not one of them have any source info, and as far as I'm concerned that info sounds ridiculous because there is no indication whatsoever that the 'Morris Evans' who is the subject of this file has anything to do with the RUBLE family, and believe it should be discounted.
  
• There has been conflicting info about what the race of this EVANS family may have been, in particular since they were alternately listed as Free Colored, Mulatto or White in the the census records at various times. Morris Evans was most often listed as a 'Person of Color', while, strangely enough, his brothers, GILBERT & WILLIAM, were always listed as white. The only explanation I can think of is that perhaps MORRIS was darker than his brothers, as were most of his children, although his son, MORRIS EVANS JR., was always listed as white. It seems strange that family living in the same County would not all be listed as the same race, yet this is apparently what the case was when it came to this particular family. It must be noted, however, that as time went by, many of MORRIS' later generations who moved away did start to also be considered as "white", and the EVANS family of Wake County can probably be considered a prime example of the fact that race distinctions in early records were all a matter of the opinion of the individual making the record at the time.
• The fact that the ancestry of these EVANS brothers seems to go back to the MORRIS EVANS who died in 1739, also indicates that the family was of mixed heritage, with the descendants intermarrying with various races throughout their histories.
• Additionally, there is a lot of misinformation about the age of this Morris Evans. That spurs from a newspaper article written 25 August 1834, which said he died supposedly at the age of 105 years, was reported in the Raleigh Star on 4 September 1834 and Hillsborough Recorder of 10 September 1834 [freeafricanamericans.com, by Paul Heinegg]. It is likely that the news story was exaggerated because MORRIS was old and may not have remembered exactly when he was born, as did many people in those times, especially since MORRIS and most of his family were illiterate. They would not have been able to make or read any family records.
• He has been confused by others with another MORRIS EVANS, b. circa 1710/d. 1754 Lunenburg Co., VA, who was the grand-uncle of this one.

DNA

INFO ON THE MORRIS EVANS LINES:   Of Note, the Haplogroup E1b1a is now referred to as E-M2: The E-M2 branches are the predominant lineage in Western Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, and the southern parts of Eastern Africa. E-M2 has several subclades.   8/24/2015 - DW More DNA Results from Descendants of MORRIS EVANS. In checking the latest results of the EVANS DNA PROJECT, which is the results from male descendants taking the Y-DNA Tests, there are currently 7 members from the MORRIS EVANS 1675-1739 ancestry, all of whom show they belong to the E-M2 Haplogroup, which is a sub-Saharan African group, an indication that MORRIS EVANS was of African origins. I think that this can now lay to rest the stories that MORRIS was Welsh, and that researchers can now concentrate on the actual names of their family members rather than trying to prove ethnicity. For those interested in the results, here is the link to the EVANS DNA PROJECT Results page, which can be checked on a regular basis for any new updates:   https://www.familytreedna.com/public/EVANSDNAProject?iframe=yresults   =======================================================   3/14/2014- DW Another descendant of MORRIS EVANS, from the line of JORDAN EVANS, has contacted me, and I think that it is now obvious that all claims that MORRIS EVANS was of Welsh descent are proven to be wrong. Additionally, this also disproves claims about the family of a descendant of MORRIS EVANS, b. 1665, also named MORRIS EVANS (1750-1834) who had a son named JORDAN EVANS (1779-1865). JORDAN's wife, DELILAH REYNOLDS, has most often been claimed to be a Native American, mostly because of several stories passed down about her. Following is part of my correspondence with J. NEEL, of Kentucky, dated 3/13/2014, 7:10 a.m.:   I have read some of your posts on the subject of this families' origin. I am a descendent of Jordan Evans and Delilah Reynolds, through Duncan Evans. I have recently participated in the Ancestry.com DNA project. The findings show no connection to Native Americans. There are two trace lines from Africa, Senegal and Bantu. As I proceed with my research on these lines, I can now center my search on free African Americans and their predecessors. I know there are family members, including a book on the subject, who insist on an Indian and Cherokee connection. But, none of their information is documented by anything other than family tales. Some of their finding simply are not logical.   =========================   11/12/2013-DW Please note that while the below info indicates that MORRIS EVANS was likely of African descent due to DNA results, I am looking further into this since new info has come to light which may indicate the person tested may not have been from MORRIS' line, after all. Additional tests and research are being done and I do hope to have further details in the near future. (Note that as my updated info above shows, the results are confirmed to match the currently 6 others who tested from the MORRIS EVANS line)   Sept. 19, 2011-DW For years, it was thought that MORRIS EVANS may have been of Welsh descent, but a few days ago I was contacted by a direct descendant who had DNA tests done and it was proved that the family was of African descent. Following is the portion of the message discussing the results: "Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2011 12:33 PM Subject: Regarding the Ancestral Origins of Morris Evans (b. 1675) My name is G. Evans. I am a direct descendant of Morris Evans as follows: Morris (b.1675) Charles (b. 1696) Richard (b. 1740) Richard (b. 1776) Fielding (b. 1812) George (b. 1853) Charles Robert (b. 1889) George Maze (b. 1915) Preston (b. 1933)   I am the 7x great grandson of Morris (b. 1675) and his direct patrilineal descendant. As a result, I carry a near identical y-chromosome package. I recently had a Y-Chromosome DNA test done. The results of that test were unambiguous. I am positive for a SNP marker that indicates that my patrilineal line originates in West Africa and specifies my haplogroup as E1B1a. Heavy concentrations of this haplogroup are found among the Mandenka and Yoruba. I also had a mitochondrial DNA test done that indicated an admixture that is 73% African (Mandenka/Yuroba) and 27% European (Orkney Islands/Scots, Eastern European). This mixture obviously represents genetic contributions from both of my parents. These results indicate that Morris (b. 1675) was of African descent on his father's side. His father could have not been English/Welsh... ...I am also willing to share the test results with you as documentation. The testing was done by Family Tree DNA, the premier firm in this field." Note: MORRIS EVANS was apparently the oldest of the EVANS brothers who settled in Wake County.

Sources

• Possible Record?
  • "North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779-1782," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WT-5JWL : accessed 27 October 2016), Morris Evans, 15 Apr 1781; citing North Carolina, United States, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh.
• "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFSS-TH4 : 8 July 2016), Morris Evens and Sidda Anderson, 1784.
• "United States Census, 1790", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VJ1N-8ZZ : 29 May 2015), Morris Evins, 1790.
• "United States Census, 1800", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRD-C3F : 10 June 2015), Morris Evans, 1800.
• "United States Census, 1810", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLM-NQH : 1 December 2015), Morris Evans, 1810.
• "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPV-L3R : 18 August 2015), Morris Evans, Wake, North Carolina, United States; citing 490, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 125; FHL microfilm 18,091.

See also:

• http://genforum.genealogy.com/evans/messages/14718.html
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dwilliams-1&id=I744
• http://thestoms.com/StomTree/6423.htm