Blog no. 52
Jesse Eugene Evans was born on March 24, 1805, in Williamson County, TN, to Daniel Evans and Elizabeth “Betsy (Johnston) Courtney. He had 10 siblings, and their names were Polly (Evans) Smith, Sinai (Evans) Smith, James Robertson Evans, David Johnston Evans, Lourania “Laura” (Evans) Slaughter, Martha C. (Evans) Cox Williams, Elizabeth J. (Evans) Crutcher, Lucinda J. (Evans) Wilkinson, Pamela (Evans) Thompson, and a half sister, Nancy (Courtney) Beasley. Jesse’s maternal grandmother was Ann (Robertson) Johnston Cockrill, a member of the founding family of Nashville, TN.
On December 19, 1845, in Maury County, TN, Jesse married Martha Jasper Amis. They had 6 children. Their names were James Frank “Frank” Evans, Mary Elizabeth (Evans) Timmons, Susan Alice (Evans) McCrew, Nancy Catherine “Nannie” (Evans) Timmons, Jesse Walter Evans, and Henrietta Rose “Etta” (Evans) Reynolds. After Jesse’s death, Martha married Esq. Squire H. Timmons and had one son with him, whose name was John Amis Timmons. It is said that Jesse had been previously married, but I cannot find any proof of that being true.
Jesse’s son, Frank, at one point lived at the home or on the property of 626 Baker Road, which some say that his father might also have lived. The original home on that site has since been rebuilt around the year 1900, but the history behind it still lives. As of 2023, the rebuilt home still stands on a property of almost 100 acres, but soon will be demolished and 144 homes are to be built there.
During the early parts of the Civil War, there was a man named Abner “Ab” Alley, who had Confederate beliefs and helped warn the Confederate soldiers of the Union soldiers heading for Columbia, TN, but within a few months, switched beliefs. Ab, now trying to help the Union Army, went about buying meat for them, and one day, came across Jesse selling meat in the Columbia, TN town square. Jesse refused to sell him any meat because he wanted it to go to the Confederate soldier’s families in the county, which infuriated Ab. A few days later, on September 20, 1862, Ab was in a store in the southeast corner of the town square and saw Jesse about to pass by. Ab then stepped out of the store with his double-barrel shotgun and shot Jesse in the back, which killed him instantly and put Ab in jail. Ab’s friends helped him escape thereafter, and later, after the war and a move of trial to Lewis County, TN, he was cleared of all charges. However, Jesse’s son, Frank, was still angry at Ab and was now infuriated that he was set free, so he sent word to Ab to stay out of town, but he didn’t listen. Ab and Frank met one day in town and Frank attacked his father’s murderer. Ab forever after that stayed out of Columbia, TN and bought a farm in Bedford County, TN.
Jesse was a very well-respected Christian man of the area and was buried in Evans Cemetery on what is now private property on Baker Road. His grave inscription reads “was willfully murdered on September 20, 1862 – What I say unto you I say unto all – watch.”
Jesse Evans is The Ancestor Detector’s 4th Great-Granduncle!
THE ANCESTOR DETECTOR 
Leave a comment