The daughter of Henry Lane Mordecai and Martha Ann Hinton Mordecai, Margaret came from an affluent family of North Carolina elite. In fact, Margaret’s father, Henry, had inherited the plantation at whose heart was the Mordecai House.

Margaret lived on the plantation until 1870 when she married Dr. William Little and moved with him to their own home in Raleigh. Margaret and William had five children — Henry, George, William, Albert, and Burke. After William passed away in 1879, Margaret and the children moved back to the Mordecai House and shared the home with her younger sister, Patty, until Margaret died in 1918.

When Margaret’s sister Patty passed away in 1949, Margaret’s youngest son, Burke Haywood Little, inherited the Mordecai House property and he was the last family member to live there. When Burke died, the homestead was purchased by the City of Raleigh and, in 1972, the property was opened to the public as the Mordecai Historic Park.