Abe Evans

1. Abe Evans (1766-1830) was the owner of the Red Bank Plantation from at least 1804, when its position was marked on James Robertson's 1804 map of Jamaica, located approximately 2 miles south-south-west of the centre of present-day Mandeville. Here he owned up to 47 slaves and 11 head of taxable stock. Evans fathered between 8 and 10 children with one or more un-named quadroon partners, namely Elizabeth (1801-after 1843), Margaret (1802-after 1831), George (b. 1807), Catherine (b. 1808), Richard (1810-1887), John James (b. 1813), Abe (b. 1813), William (b. 1814), Thomas (b. 1814), and Ann (1815-1831).

2. In 1810, he was made one of the trustees for a new road from Marlborough Mount Gate, Vere, to the wharf at Alligator Pond, the purpose of which was to facilitate the transport of coffee from the Manchester estates to Kingston. In 1817, he served as Vestryman for the new Manchester Parish.

3. On 18 Dec 1820, he married Ann McConnell (b. 1795 in Trelawny) at the Bloomfield Plantation, Mandeville, his unofficial partner having presumably died. She seems to have inherited Red Bank, as she is listed as owner of 46 slaves and 3 head of stock there in 1830. He seems to have made poor provision for his "mestee" boys, who were put into a trade, Richard becoming a blacksmith, John James a planter, and Thomas a carpenter.

4. Felix McCullough was a commissioner for taking affidavits in St Catherine in 1839.

5. Abe Evans, Red Bank, was buried 02/01/1830, aged 64 1/2. His widow may be the Anne Evans, widow, who married Felix McCullough of St Catherine Esquire at Manchester, 04/01/1831.

1. Jamaica Givings-in for Parishes from the Jamaica Almanacs: St. Elizabeth, 1811, 1816, 1817; Manchester, 1820, 1823, 1828, 1829.

2. The Laws of Jamaica ... VI (1817) 41.

3. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

4. Jamaica Almanac (1839).

5. Familysearch.org, Jamaican parish registers, Manchester Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1816-1838 pp. 311, 329.

We are grateful to Dr Michael Rhodes and Paul Hitchings for their assistance with compiling this entry.