(1837-1909)
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Information in the Book of Girls is erroneous: Martha Frances was not the daughter of Lt. Gov. Giles Mebane; she is not among his children listed in the census reports, and her age is wrong to be his child. Martha was a charter member of Mebane Presbyterian Church, 1868, along with her mother, her brother Dr. Benjamin F. Mebane and his wife Fannie, and her sister Bettie Ann [1].
Martha Frances Mebane was a member of an extensive family of Mebane, Holt, and Yancey forebears and cousins who gave their names to many towns and sites in Orange, Alamance, and Caswell counties. In 1868 she was a charter member of the Mebane Presbyterian Church near the Bingham School. She inherited a good amount of property from her father’s estate; the will includes the caveat that if Martha Frances were never to marry, her brothers would inherit her share after her death. Mary Frances was listed as a teacher in Greensboro on the 1880 census, living with relatives including her brother Cornelius and his wife Julia Sloan and their five children, the youngest being twins. She is also listed under Cornelius’s family in the 1900 census. More research needs to be done to determine where she taught [2].
Martha was called Mattie.
Martha Frances Mebane was born on February 19, 1837, in Orange County, NC. usgwarchives.net/nc/Guilford/cemeteries/green10 [3]She died on March 6, 1909, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Greensboro, NC.
. Mary's father, Alexander Mebane, Jr. and Martha's grandfather, David Mebane, were brothers.