addie moore bobbett
1901-1925
Life Story
Addie Moore Bobbett’s life was rooted in the farming community of Lawrence in Newton County, Mississippi. Though she lived only a short time, the surviving records reveal a young woman who was part of a large, hardworking Black family whose daily life was shaped by land, labor, and kinship.
Early Life on the Family Farm
Addie Moore was born on July 2, 1902, in Newton County, Mississippi, though some records suggest she may have been born in 1901. She was the daughter of Jeff Moore and Judy Beale Moore and grew up in a busy household with at least eight siblings.
The Moore family lived in Beat 4, where farming structured everyday life and family labor was essential to survival. In 1910, Addie was recorded as a nine-year-old schoolgirl, evidence that her parents sought to provide education for their children despite the limited opportunities available to Black families in the Jim Crow South. By 1920, however, she was listed as a farm hand on the family farm, working alongside her brothers Andrew, Phillip, Frank, Velma and Gilbert. Like many young women in rural Mississippi, Addie’s life balanced the hope of schooling with the practical demands of agricultural labor.
Marriage and Motherhood
In the early 1920s, Addie married Chester Bobbett. The couple remained in the Lawrence area, where they began building a household of their own among the same community ties that had shaped Addie’s upbringing.
On October 6, 1925, Addie gave birth to a daughter, Nicey Mae Bobbett. For a brief time after the birth, she appeared to be recovering normally. According to the testimony of Dr. Dudley Stovall, Addie was resting at home and seemed to be progressing well in the days following childbirth.
A Sudden Death
The promise of this new chapter was tragically cut short. On October 22, 1925, just sixteen days after giving birth, Addie died suddenly at the age of twenty-three. Her death certificate recorded that she “died suddenly following labor,” language commonly used in that era for postpartum complications. While the exact cause cannot be stated with certainty, such wording often reflected conditions such as infection, hemorrhage, or embolism.
She was buried on October 27, 1925, in Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Lawrence, Mississippi.
Legacy
Although Addie’s life was brief, her story did not end with her death. She left behind her husband and her infant daughter, Nicy Mae Bobbett, who later married and became Nicy Mae Forrest. Nicy Mae lived a long life, passing away in 2001 at the age of seventy-five. Through her daughter and later descendants, Addie’s place within the Moore and Bobbett family lines endured.
Her biography also reflects a larger truth about Black women in the rural South: their lives were often marked by labor, family devotion, and sacrifice, even when the written record preserved only fragments. In those fragments, Addie emerges not simply as a name on a death certificate, but as a daughter, wife, mother, and member of a multigenerational Newton County family.
Summary of Records
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Birth | July 2, 1902, Newton County, Mississippi |
| Parents | Jeff Moore and Judy Beale Moore |
| Spouse | Chester Bobbett |
| Child | Nicy Mae Bobbett (later Forrest) |
| Occupation | Farm Hand on family farm |
| Death | October 22, 1925, Lawrence, Mississippi |
| Burial | Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery |
Genealogical Research Note
The 1920 census provides an important multigenerational detail: Jane Moore, age 73, was living in the household with Addie, her parents, and her siblings. Identified as Addie’s grandmother, Jane offers a direct link to the family’s earlier history in Mississippi and helps place Addie within a lineage that stretched back into the nineteenth century.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Graveyard
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1910 Federal Census
- 1920 Federal Census
- U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
- U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
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