August 24, 2026
Introduction: In this third of a three-part series, James Pylant explores the Mobley family tree, which has connections to Hollywood. James is an editor at GenealogyMagazine.com and author for JacobusBooks.com, is an award-winning historical true-crime writer, and authorized celebrity biographer.
This three-part series has taken a wide-ranging look at the genealogy of the Mobley family, which produced two notable Hollywood actresses: former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, who appeared in dozens of TV shows and made seven films – including two with Elvis Presley; and Anne (Mobley) Ramsey, who appeared in numerous TV shows and films, most notably in Throw Momma from the Train (1987), with Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito – a role which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared at the 1988 Academy Awards ceremony, just four months before she died of cancer.
According to WikiTree, William Moberly and Ann (Osborn) Moberly of Prince George’s County, Maryland, were the parents of a son named William Stewart Moberly. (1) However, no records have surfaced confirming the kinship, only that he was one of the Prince George’s County Moberlys.
By his own account, William Stewart Moberly/Mobley was born in Prince George’s County, Maryland, in1750, migrated to North Carolina, and settled in Guilford County – where he was drafted into military service in 1780, according to the Revolutionary War pension application he filed in 1845 at age 95. In a letter to the Commissioner of Pensions on 23 December 1852, attorney H. C. Spalding stated that William Stewart Moberly’s application had been suspended. “The Soldier is now dead, and the power of attorney comes from Nathan Mobley his legal heir,” Spalding wrote.
According to his tombstone, Nathan Mobley was born on 13 July 1809. He married Mary Peay on 3 December 1835 in Rockingham County, North Carolina. There, the 1850 census listed Nathan, 41, as a North Carolina native with real estate valued at $500.
Nathan’s wife Mary was presumably the 39-year-old female listed on the next page of that 1850 census as “M.T. Mobley.” Eight children are reported living with Nathan and Mary, ranging in age from 14 to 1, including a 12-year-old male, C. W. Mobley.
“C. W.” is Calvin Washington “Wash” Mobley, born to Nathan and Mary in Rockingham County on 5 May 1837, according to his son John W. Mobley. Wash’s education was limited to elementary school. He farmed and served as a private in the 5th Regiment, Company D, of the North Carolina Cavalry in the Confederate Army. (2)
On 26 November 1861, he married Mary L. Irvin in Rockingham County. The 1870 census listed four children in their household, ranging in age from 6 to 1. Wash’s real estate was valued at $800, while his personal property was $300.
Wash died in his birthplace county at age 81 on 22 August 1918, as reported in a death notice.
Shortly after his death, granddaughter Mildred Mobley made headlines as the first female inducted into the U.S. Marines.
John William Mobley, son of Calvin Washington Mobley and Mary (Irvin) Mobley, was born on 5 September 1864 in Reidsville and died on 4 October 1936 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He married Clay Norman.
The 1900 census listed John W., 35, a traveling shoe salesman, and wife Clay, 31, in Reidsville with one-year-old son Nathan, who was born there on 2 October 1898.
As a young adult, Nathan won an oratorical contest in 1919. The following year, he graduated from the University of North Carolina and soon began a career in the insurance industry. (3)
By February 1927, Nathan lived in Chicago and worked as special agency supervisor for the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland.
While on that February business trip to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1927, he met young socialite Eleanor Smith. The two began dating.
They became engaged during the summer.
Their wedding took place on 3 January 1928 in Omaha. (4)
Mobley Family’s Second Path to the Silver Screen – Anne (Mobley) Ramsey
In 1930, Nathan, an insurance executive, wife Eleanor, and their one-year-old daughter Anne lived in Great Neck, New York, as reported on the census that year.
Anne was born on 27 March 1929 when the Mobleys lived in Omaha. (5) The family was in Great Neck in 1940, by which time two other children had been born. Sadly, their second daughter, Eleanor, died suddenly and was buried on her second birthday. Another daughter was born to the couple in 1943, a year before the family relocated to Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1944.
Anne made her debut into society at the Westchester Cotillion at the Shenorock Shore Club in Rye, New York, in 1947. (6)
She was a student at Bennington College in Vermont in 1950. Four years later, the Mobleys announced their daughter’s engagement.
After exchanging vows in Greenwich on 26 June 1954, the couple made their home in New York City. They had met when she was an apprentice and he was a director at the Surrey Playhouse, a summer theatre in Maine. Both continued in show business, with dozens of appearances in movies and television.
Surgery for throat cancer caused a partial removal of her tongue, leaving a speech impediment. Still, it did not stop her from landing her big break after a 37-year acting career. In 1987, at age 58, Anne enthusiastically took the titular role in the highest-grossing film of the year, Throw Momma from the Train.
During filming, she had to undergo oral surgery. Despite the intense pain, she never asked to be excused from work. That role led to an Academy Award nomination. When cancer recurred in April 1988, Anne began chemotherapy treatments.
She lost her battle with the disease on 11 August 1988.
Nathan Mobley outlived his famous daughter by eight years, dying on 13 September 1996.
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Note on the header image: close-up of Anne Ramsey, nominated for “Throw Momma from the Train,” at 1988 Academy Awards. Credit: Alan Light; Wikimedia Commons.
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(1) J. Thomas Scharf, “History of Western Maryland: Being a History of Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties from the Earliest Period to the Present Day” (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1882), pp. 501-502, stated that William Mobberly signed a petition for the creation of All Saints’ Parish in St. George’s County in 1742.
(2) “Death of C. W. Mobley, One of Our Oldest Citizens,” Reidsville Review (Reidsville, N.C.), 27 August 1918, p. 1.
(3) “Nathan Mobley Enters Insurance Field Here,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.), 18 February 1921, p. 9.
(4) “Much Interest in Mobley-Smith Wedding Recently in Nebraska,” Charlotte Observer, 8 January 1928, p. 7.
(5) Anne Mobley, no. 043269472, “U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007,” online database with images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 3 March 2026).
(6) “Ramsey-Mobley,” Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pa.), 14 May 1954, p. 27.
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