infant daughter of robert lee and birdie neddum
1915-1915
Life Story
A Life Remembered
Birth and Family
On June 15, 1915, an unnamed infant daughter was born to Robert Lee and Birdie Neddum in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi.
Her father, Robert Lee, was a native of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, while her mother, Birdie Neddum, was born and raised in Newton County. Their daughter entered the world during a time when childbirth remained fraught with danger, particularly in rural communities where access to physicians, hospitals, and modern obstetrical care was limited.
Tragically, she was stillborn, with her birth and death occurring on the same day. Although her life never extended beyond the moment of birth, her existence was carefully documented through Mississippi’s system of vital records, preserving her place within her family’s history.
A Community’s Care
Following the family’s loss, members of the Lawrence community assisted in carrying out the responsibilities that accompanied such tragedies.
L.C. Price certified the medical details surrounding the stillbirth. On June 16, 1915, Wilson Guy served both as the informant for the state registration and as the undertaker, ensuring that the infant’s birth and death were properly recorded and that arrangements were made for her burial.
Their participation reflects the important role neighbors and community leaders often played in supporting grieving families in rural Mississippi during the early twentieth century.
Final Resting Place
Following her stillbirth, the infant daughter was laid to rest in Lawrence Cemetery, now known as Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, in Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi.
Although she never received a given name, her burial among generations of local families ensured that she remained part of the community into which she was born.
Legacy
The unnamed infant daughter of Robert Lee and Birdie Neddum lived only for the briefest of moments, yet her story reflects the realities faced by many families during the early twentieth century.
Stillbirths and infant deaths were tragically common before advances in prenatal care, obstetrics, and neonatal medicine. For parents, however, every child represented hope, and every loss carried immeasurable sorrow.
More than a century later, the official records preserve the memory of this little girl, ensuring that she is remembered not simply as a statistic, but as a daughter whose brief existence remains an enduring part of her family’s history in Newton County, Mississippi.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery
Photos/Albums
1915-1915
Sources
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate of the unnamed daughter of Robert Lee and Birdie Neddum (1915); documenting her stillbirth on June 15, 1915, in Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi.
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate; identifying the child’s father as Robert Lee, a native of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, and her mother as Birdie Neddum, a native of Newton County, Mississippi.
- The certificate records that the family was residing in the Lawrence community of Newton County at the time of the child’s birth.
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate; recording the child as stillborn, with both her birth and death occurring on June 15, 1915. During this period, Mississippi generally documented stillbirths through death certificates rather than separate birth records.
- During the early twentieth century, stillbirths remained tragically common in rural Mississippi due to limited prenatal care, the absence of antibiotics, inadequate obstetrical services, and restricted access to hospitals and trained physicians.
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate; identifying L C Price who certified the medical details surrounding the stillbirth.
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate; identifying Wilson Guy as both the informant and the undertaker, reflecting the important role local community members often played in assisting families with death registration and burial arrangements.
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate; documenting that the certificate was officially filed on June 16, 1915, the day following the child’s stillbirth.
- Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate; recording the infant’s burial in Lawrence Cemetery, known today as Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi.
- The unnamed infant daughter represents one of several documented infant losses experienced by Birdie Neddum during her lifetime. The surviving death certificates identify different fathers for these children, indicating that each loss occurred during a different period of Birdie’s life. Together, these records illustrate the difficult realities faced by many mothers in rural Mississippi during the early twentieth century.
- Although she never received a given name and lived only until birth, her stillbirth certificate preserves her existence and ensures that she remains a documented member of her family’s history.
- Family records, Mississippi vital records, Newton County cemetery records, and genealogical research collectively document the brief life and death of the unnamed daughter of Robert Lee and Birdie Neddum.
Sources Consulted
Mississippi Stillbirth Certificate of the unnamed daughter of Robert Lee and Birdie Neddum (1915); Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery Records (Lawrence Cemetery), Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi; Newton County Vital Records; Newton County Genealogical Research Collections; Lee and Neddum Family Records and Oral Histories.
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