Born, Adel Hall, near Livingston, Alabama, USA, 1902 (date unconfirmed); died 1964. A cook and washerwoman all her life, who also sang folk songs, country blues, and old-time spirituals of the 19th century. There is often confusion about her name. She was born Adel Hall, but adopted her nickname, Vera Hall, at an early age. Furthermore, she was married and separated a number of times, changing her name on each occasion. Other names she is known by are: Adel Hall, Vera Ward Hall, Vera Ward, and Adel Ward.

Her musical output was recorded by John Lomax, the renouned ethnomusicologist. More recently, her rendition of the early spiritual Troubled So Hard was sampled by Moby on his 1999 hit album Play in the song Natural Blues.