The entire community was shocked by the sudden death of Martha Mahan.  In 1902 Her husband Herman and his brother Thomas Mahan sold orchards lands to the Follansbee Brothers upon which the city of Follansbee was built.

Martha was stricken with apoplexy, falling unconscious until her death.  Her maiden name was Martha Elizabeth Everett.  She was born in Wellsburg, July 5, 1863, and resided in Brooke County all of her life, ”the last number of years in this place, having been one of the founding Mothers of Follansbee.”

“Those left to mourn her were her husband, Herman B. Mahan, and their two sons, Herman Lee who was with the Evacuation Hospital Corps in France, and Walter at home; three sisters and one brother: Mrs. Bracken of Loraine, Ohio; Mrs. T. H. Caldwell, Miss Leola Everett, and J. Lee Everett, of Wellsburg.”  Her son, Walter “Red” Mahan, later became an All American Football player at WVU. Interment was private at Brooke Cemetery in Wellsburg.

• Follansbee Review, “Mrs. Herman Mahan Passes Away,” Apr. 5, 1918, p. 8.