When Bessie Mae Collins was born on 13 May 1918, in Mount Airy, Surry, North Carolina, United States, her father, Noah Washington Collins, was 29 and her mother, Pearlie Mae Hiatt, was 22. She married Lewis Calvin Moore Sr on 26 February 1938, in Hillsville, Carroll, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. She lived in Stewarts Creek Township, Surry, North Carolina, United States in 1920 and Dobson Township, Surry, North Carolina, United States in 1930. She died on 3 April 2001, in North Carolina, United States, at the age of 82, and was buried in Brims Grove, Stokes, North Carolina, United States.