Evelyn Liggins

Evelyn Liggns Jenkins ✝ 1921-1965

My paternal grandmother is the former Evelyn Liggins ✝ who married my grandfather Levi Jenkins ✝ in the late 1930s. Unfortunately any pictures of her were lost at the time of her transition in May 1965. One of her daughters the late Magnolia Morris was said to have closely resembled her mother Evelyn.

Obituary from St. Louis Post Dispatch - May 16, 1965

Evelyn was the oldest daughter of Fannie Chester McKnight Nickerson ✝. Her father was Joe Harrison  Liggins ✝ and she was his only child. However, Evelyn herself had one brother and two other sisters which includes the late James B. (Uncle Buddy) Nickerson ✝ of East St. Louis, Illinois and the late Sara Lee Ross ✝ of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

McKnight

I've been elated to find the possible origins of the McKnights. Through census records I found the origin of both Fannie McKnight and her mother Sally McKnight from the state of Louisiana. In fact there was a census record from 1910 out of St. Helena Parish, Louisiana where Fannie was shown living with her brothers and sisters with their mother Sally and father Taylor McKnight.

A record was also found via Ancestry of a marriage certificate of Rev. Taylor McKnight to a woman named Lucinda Wilson. Could Lucinda be Sally McKnight?

Some other names were on that marriage record which is of a Leander McKnight as a witness who was the son of Taylor from a prior marriage. However, there are DNA matches that come from some of Taylor's children from an earlier marriage. Especially to a Irwin McKnight who is another of Taylor's children.

Sarah Lee and her younger sister - who will not be named as to respect her privacy as she's still living - had mentioned an uncle and thus their mother Fannie's brother known only as Mitchell.

Mitchell McKnight unfortunately was said to have passed away in December 1937 attempting to save his daughter named Sallie Mae from a truck as she ran out on a highway near Mound Bayou, Mississippi per Mitchell's grand-daughter. And from some video I filmed of a ride in the Mound Bayou, county-side Mitchell was buried at a cemetery attached to the now defunct Shiloh Church per his niece whom he never met.

The above paragraph could be something of a cover story. One of his granddaughters had been able to procure a death certificate and records that Uncle Mitchell was shot. And perhaps he was shot as he attempted to protect his daughter from an abusive situation. 

Sarah Lee as a young girl was reported to be one of the many caretakers of her first cousin Sallie Mae who was often seen or carried around on pillows.

Mitchell had married a woman named Queen Anne Fair and before his untimely passing they had three daughters: Fannie Lee, Sallie Mae, and Thelma. Sallie Mae was the most recent and the last of Mitchell's children to pass away.

Fannie Lee - who possibly was the namesake of her aunt and my great-grandmother Fannie - was said to have been murdered in a domestic violence situation in the 1960s. A fact recounted by one of Fannie Lee's nephews - son of Sallie Mae McKnight.

Mitchell's widow Queen Anne died in a fire in Chicago in the 1950s living in what is now known as the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side. This fact was recalled by Sara Lee at one point when she was talking about her people when visiting her home in Milwaukee. 

Queen Anne and a number of her grandchildren had perished in this fire then. A fact recalled by her descendants.

A DNA connection has been established with the family of Mitchell McKnight and I had the pleasure of talking to two members of that family to discuss their family history.

While I haven't been able to establish about when Fannie McKnight was born, she was said to have passed away when her youngest daughter was about 11 years of age. Her daughter witnessed her mother's passing having reported that she had heard her mother take a deep breath and couldn't wake her in the morning when she got up. So she likely died in about 1954 in Mound Bayou, MISS.

Also I haven't been able to establish when Sally was born - or even establish who her parents were - however, she was said to have passed away in about 1968 or 1969. She had for sure outlived her daughter Fannie, son Mitchell, and granddaughter Evelyn at that point.

Below is a map of St. Helena Parish, Louisiana which is where the home of Taylor and Sally McKnight was located in the 1910 U.S. Census. A few McKnights had also settled into Amite County, MISS which is directly to the north of St. Helena Parish. To the east of Amite County is Pike County which is the home to a number of Jenkins.

St. Helena Parish, Louisiana

Liggins

Joseph Harrison Liggins was the son of John Liggins and Emma Hannon. His family origins is also out of Louisiana in the city of Bernice in Union Parish, Louisiana. At some point he moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi to have his only child with Fannie McKnight.

Joe Liggins I learned was a U.S. Army veteran and his grave is in Jefferson Barracks in Missouri (also the final resting place of Uncle Buddy - James Nickerson). He had passed away at a veterans home in Tennessee in 1962. 

His grandchildren had met him - perhaps only once - and recalled a man with gray curly hair that was said to be like possibly an American Indian. I wish I could know the man that they had the fortune of meeting. What was it like meeting their maternal grandfather?

While Joe Liggins had no other children there is recorded knowledge of other kinfolks on that side of the family tree. One of my older uncles actually resided with his mother's paternal cousins in his youth. Especially the family of Q.B. Liggins.

Here's a map of Union Parish, Louisiana. It's probably closer to the Delta region of Mississippi as it's located on the southern state line with Arkansas. St. Helena Parish is located on the southern state line with Mississippi. The town of Bernice is underlined as it's the reported birthplace of my great-grandfather Joe Liggins. 

Union Parish, Louisiana

Child of Fannie McKnight Nickerson & Joe Harrison Liggins who has transitioned

• Evelyn Liggins Jenkins ✝ (1921-1965)

Children of Fannie McKnight Nickerson who have transitioned

• James Bernard Nickerson a.k.a Uncle Buddy ✝ (1923-1995)
• Sara Lee Ross Ford ✝ (1930-2006)

Children of Levi Jenkins Sr. & Evelyn Liggins Jenkins who have transitioned 

• Levi Jenkins Jr. ✝ 1948-1997
• Willie Mae Jenkins Surles ✝ 1939-2016
• Lurenzo Jenkins  ✝ 1954-2021
• Magnolia Jenkins Morris ✝ 1943-2024

Oh Wait, there's more

As far as the origin of the McKnights, genealogical research potentially leads the family origin to a place in Ireland, known as Ulster. Today Ulster is split between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which is still associated with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

My own theory is that Taylor or perhaps his father often identified as Aaron Crawford McKnight were possibly biracial and both men were at one point in their lives slaves. It is possible that Taylor McKnight may well have had family who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War as he's often in family trees with a man named Hiram McKnight who is shown in his Confederate uniform with his wife. However, so far no actually proof of any relationship exists.

Also I should add that there are some DNA matches with the Frierson family out of South Carolina. On my own family tree one of Taylor McKnight's ancestors is a woman named Jane Frierson and there are matches shown on ancestry through her sisters. Which proves a relationship with that family

Although using my own DNA data shows that I have an estimated 5% Scottish and 2% Irish attributed to my father. And more than likely that's as a result of any heritage from the McKnights.

If you are related to the Liggins, McKnights or even the Friersons feel free to e-mail me.

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Published April 16, 2025