So Many Mothers Lost

March is National Women's History Month. I have been blessed to be a mother and I'm very grateful that I've been able to see the woman my daughter has grown up to be. She makes me very proud. Being a mother was very challenging and stressful at times, but my daughter and I have had a lot of fun together, too. Though being a mother is not a requirement of all women, it's a wonderful aspect of being female. 

One thing I find all too often in my family tree that grieves me is a woman who died during or after having given birth. It's so sad to know that she didn't get to see her children grow up. Incredibly sad to think that her children had to grow up without her. 

Though I don't have positive proof in all cases, these are the mothers in my family tree who likely died of complications during or after childbirth. Five of these women are my direct ancestors. Their deaths all occurred in the mid 1800's. This make me very grateful for the progress made in the medical field. 


Susannah Case Lee (1816-1851) my Third Great Grandmother, died the same day she gave birth to her third child. She was 34. Her son, Thomas died about four months later. My Second Great Grandmother was two years old at the time and her father never remarried.



Mary Abigail Bliss Smith (1829-1866) my Third Great Grandmother, died "in confinement" in 1866.  The baby boy was born three days before her death and he died almost three months later. Mary was almost 38 years old. She left my Second Great Grandmother Henrietta, age 18, Annie age 14 and Carrie age 5. Mary's husband John remarried five months after her death. 

In 1889, daughter Carrie also died of pereperal eclampsia after the premature death of an unnamed baby girl who also died. She had no other children that I know of. 

I Believe this may be
Ruth Smith Simmons Webb. This is
the only picture I have of any
of these women.

Ruth Smith Simmons Webb (1819-1863) also my Third Great Grandmother, died at about age 44, 10 days after her 9th child was born. This information came from the affidavit of a woman who was present when the boy was born. I believe in this case he was adopted and went on to live a full life.  Ruth had five children with her first husband, my second Great Grandmother Rachel was her oldest. Rachel was married and had two children of her own when her mother died. Ruth's husband Cyrus Webb mustered into Camp Butler a few months after her death and died one month later. Ruth's children are all in separate households in the 1870 census. 

Ruth's second daughter, Rosilla, died at age 22, also possibly after giving birth to a son or another baby within a couple years of her sons birth in November of 1864.


Mary Jane Hull Clemie Jones (1818-1854) another Third Great Grandmother, died at age 37. I have no record proving her death was due to childbirth, but the same year she died, she gave birth to her 8th child. a son George. I don't know his birth date. My Second Great Grandmother, Nancy Jane, was 16 at that time and was left with her step-father and five younger step-siblings at home. Her two older brothers may have been around home yet also. Mary Jane's husband Edward Jones remarried in the next two years.


Hiley Ann Decker Spann (1836-1884) my Second Great Grandmother, possibly died due to childbirth, I don't know for sure. She was 47 years old and I only say she might have died from childbirth because her youngest child was just two. So she had a child at 45. Hiley Ann had 10 children, all of them lived to at least 22 years. One or two of her daughters may have also died of causes related to childbirth. Her husband Benjamin remarried within a few years.  

Mattie Conley Spann (?-1894) After Ben's first wife died, he married Mattie who gave him six more children, though only three survived. A descendant of Mattie's told me that she died from the birth of twin boys and the twins also died. 

Mittie Ramsey Bell (1873-1900) was my Great Grandfather Cicero Bell's first wife. She died of cholera just after giving birth to their fourth child. That boy also died, as well as three year old daughter Leavey, one month later. Two sons ages 8 and 6 were left without their mother. Had it not been for Mittie's death, I would not be here. I am the great granddaughter of Cicero and his second wife Allie. They married six months after Mittie's death.


Catherine Negley Dorman (1843-1870) the sister of my Great Grandfather Josiah F. Negley died when she was 26. She had given birth to a daughter the same month of her death. Years ago a descendant of hers told me that was how she died. I don't know how long the girl lived. 


Henrietta Thompson Spalding (1786-1826) was my husband's third Great Grandmother. She died just days after giving birth to her sixth child when she was 40 years old. The boy was my husband's direct ancestor. Henrietta was her husband Richard's second wife, I'm unsure of how his first wife died. He then married again about a year later.


No doubt there are many more women in my tree who lost their lives due to complications of giving birth. This only covers the past six generations. In some cases following a mothers death a step-parent entered the home, in others the children were sent to other homes. In all cases they learned to deal with the loss of their mother.