Last month I dragged my husband to Natchez, MS in search of his Evans ancestors. I was particularly interested in searching the Cathedral Church records to see if the Robert Evans mentioned in my last post was the father of the three Evans boys. That date fit in with what I expected for the parents of John William Evans and his two brothers, James Thomas and Jeptha M. Evans. I set up an appointment for Thursday with the volunteer archivist of the church. The Cathedral Church has a rich history and is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen.
Anne was wonderful, sharing her knowledge of the history of Natchez as well as helping me find the records of the Evans children baptized at the church. Unfortunately the children listed as Robert C. Evans children were not John, James, and Jeptha. Robert C. Evans' children were baptized after his death along with his sister, Eliza. Eliza's baptismal record mentioned that she had been previously baptized at the Episcopal Church.
On Friday, while I was plowing through the deed records at the courthouse, Robert used his smart phone to find the address to the Episcopal Church (4 blocks from the courthouse) and called them to see what kind of records they had and if we could see them. The church was closing at 4:00pm so we left the courthouse for the church. The secretary at the church had already pulled the record book with the years we needed when we arrived. She was so helpful. We found John Evans born on January 22, 1857 with parents, Robert and Margaret Evans. Our John William, according to the census records was born in December 1857. Maybe? There was also a birth for Thomas Evans with the same parents, born December 19, 1855. (Could this be James Thomas Evans?) We also found the marriage record for Robert Evans and Margaret Ferguson. Unfortunately the marriage was after the probable birth year of Jeptha in 1851.
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