In a message dated 11/10/97 1:02:44 PM, hgdonald@leo.infi.net wrote: << Louise will be able to tell you more than I, but FRANCES MEBANE was the daughter of ALEXANDER MEBANE, JR. and MARY ARMSTRONG, the daughter of James Armstrong (b. 1701, Ireland) and Mary (Mollie) Bird. James and Mollie Bird Armstrong moved to Orange County in 1750; they had six children. Their second daughter, MARY (Frances Mebane's Mother) was born in 1749 in PA, and their eldest son WILLIAM ARMSTRONG was my ancestor, and his son JAMES ARMSTRONG married MARY MEBANE. We don't know exactly who she was. James and Mary Mebane Armstrong lived in Williamson County, TN near Franklin (20 miles South of Nashville). There were Mebanes in Sumner County, TN We have also been unable to identify the parents of Mary (Mollie) Bird, who would have been born about 1720 or before. PLEASE let me know if you have any info on the BIRDs. Helen Gant Donald hgdonald@leo.infi.net>> Cousin Helen, I am delighted that you caught my posting of the Mebane/Graham mystery relationship. I do not descend from Frances Mebane, but her successor, Mary Bird, daughter of James Bird and his wife Mary Ashford, who settled in Caswell County, North Carolina. I do not have a document that says the Mary "Mollie" Bird that was James Bird's sister is yours, but I believe it to be true. James Bird was born between 1720 and 1724. James and his wife Mary Ashford were married in November of 1745 at Old Swede's Church, Wilmington, Deleware. James' parents (and I believe Mollie's as well) were Thomas Bird and Sarah Empson. I have not established the parentage of Thomas as yet; he may have entered the country alone; Sarah Empson was the daughter of Cornelius and Mary Sanderson Empson, born at Goole Grange, New Castle County, 20 July 1687. She and Thomas were married ca 1700/10; Thomas died in 1726; Sarah married second Edward Robinson. This makes the whole scenario understandable now, why Alexander Mebane was a witness to the will of James Bird when he died in 1805; and how John Graham met his second wife, Mary Bird. She was a cousin of Frances Mebane Graham. Thomas and Sarah Empson Bird's children were Robert, John, Thomas, Joseph, Frances, Rebecca, Empson, Richard, JAMES, MARY(MOLLIE), Susanna, Elizabeth, and an unnamed child, unborn at the time of Thomas' death. You have made my day. ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange List archives are at http://lists.rootsweb.com/~archiver/NCORANGE-L/97/