Martha E. Cram Bates (August 25, 1839 – March 23, 1905) was an American writer, journalist, and newspaper editor. She was widely known throughout the Grand Traverse region, and throughout the State of Michigan as well, having been closely identified with literary work since childhood. She was, perhaps, the first woman in the state who engaged in regular newspaper work, having been connected with the Grand Traverse Herald, of which her husband, Thomas Tomlinson Bates, was editor, since 1876.