Caswell County Midwives
Discussed here and elsewhere is the 1913 trial of Henrietta Phelps Jeffries (1857-1926). In a Caswell County Superior Court she was convicted of practicing medicine without a license due to her activities as a midwife. The judge famously set aside the verdict.
Many have speculated that others in Caswell County also provided midwifery services but were never identified. Midwives did, and do, assist women in childbirth.
It appears that a Semora woman functioned as a midwife. She is Addie Sallie Royster (1884-1944). The 1940 United States Federal Census describes her as a negro/black female, 60 years old, with the following as her line of work:
Occupation: "mid Granny"
Industry: "Births"
Worker Class: "In Private Work"
Note that the above is not entirely legible on the original census form. She lived on the Semora-Milton Road with a household of fifteen people. Earlier censuses gave her occupation as "Home Laundress," which presumably meant that she did laundry in her home.
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