First Ladies and Gentlemen of Texas
The first ladies and gentlemen of Texas, both under the Republic of Texas and the State of Texas, have been a wide spectrum of personalities and abilities. The position of first spouse has been defined by individual achievements and perspectives of official spouses for over 75 years. Some enjoyed their positions and seized the opportunity to help shape the state's history. Others were there reluctantly.
Margaret Lea Houston can arguably be called the original first lady of Texas. Hannah Estey Burnet's husband David G. Burnet was ad interim Republic president before Sam Houston became the official first president. During Houston's first term, he was unmarried. Mirabeau B. Lamar followed Houston and was a widower. Margaret campaigned with her new husband when Houston ran for a second term as president, and rode in the presidential parade, in spite of her dislike of politics. There was no government housing for the family of the president of the Republic. The Houstons divided their time among properties they owned. No role model existed for Margaret. She saw herself not as a political wife, but as a homebody who was responsible for the health, welfare and religious education of her husband and her children. She became a virtual recluse when Sam Houston was elected Governor of Texas and refused any visitors inside the mansion except her own relatives.[1] Margaret Lea Houston's great-great granddaughter Jean Houston Baldwin Daniel also served as First Lady of Texas 1957–1963.
Frances Cox Henderson, wife of the state's first governor James Pinckney Henderson, was an outgoing supporter of women's suffrage, and a multi-linguist who had been a book translator before she met Henderson.[2]
The only first gentleman the state has had was James E. Ferguson, who first served as governor. He was impeached on charges of misapplication of public funds, and failing to respect and enforce the banking laws of the state and resigned from office in 1917.[3] When his wife Miriam A. Ferguson won two non-consecutive terms as governor, James Ferguson became the state's only first gentleman.[4]
Mildred Paxton Moody had been a newspaper columnist and a professor at Hardin-Simmons University before she married Dan Moody. She used her influence as a former first lady to get the Texas State Legislature to create the Board of Mansion Supervisors to oversee the finances of maintaining the official residence.[5] Rita Crocker Clements not only restored the Governor's Mansion, but had been a mover and shaker in politics decades before she married Bill Clements.[6] Former first lady Anita Thigpen Perry has a background in nursing and two nursing educational endowments bear her name.
Republic of Texas
Name | Image | Birth–Death | Term | President | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hannah Burnet | (1800–1858) | March 16 – October 22, 1836 | David G. Burnet | [7] | |
— | — | — | October 22, 1836 – December 10, 1838 | Sam Houston | [8] |
— | — | — | December 10, 1838 – December 13, 1841 | Mirabeau B. Lamar | [FN 1] |
Margaret Lea Houston | ![]() |
(1819–1867) | December 13, 1841 – December 9, 1844 | Sam Houston | [8] |
Mary Smith Jones | (1819–1907) | December 9, 1844 – February 19, 1846 | Anson Jones | [10] |
State of Texas
Name | Image | Birth–Death | Term | Governor | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frances Cox Henderson | ![]() |
(1820–1897) | February 19, 1846 – December 21, 1847 | James Pinckney Henderson | [11] |
Martha Evans Gindratt Wood | (d. 1861) | December 21, 1847 – December 21, 1849 | George T. Wood | [12] | |
— | — | — | December 21, 1849 – November 23, 1853 | Peter Hansborough Bell | [13] |
Laura A. Hooker Henderson | (d.1856) | November 23, 1853 – December 21, 1853 | James W. Henderson | [14] | |
Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease | (1813–1905) | December 21, 1853 – December 21, 1857 | Elisha M. Pease | [FN 2] | |
— | — | — | December 21, 1857 – December 21, 1859 | Hardin Richard Runnels | [16] |
Margaret Lea Houston | (1819–1867) | December 21, 1859 – March 18, 1861 | Sam Houston | [8] | |
Martha Melissa Evans Clark | March 18, 1861 – November 7, 1861 | Edward Clark | [17] | ||
Adele Baron Lubbock | (1819–1882) | November 7, 1861 – November 5, 1863 | Francis R. Lubbock | [18] | |
Sue Ellen Taylor Murrah | (b. 1835) | November 5, 1863 – June 17, 1865 | Pendleton Murrah | [19] | |
— | — | — | June 11, 1865 – June 16, 1865 | Fletcher Summerfield Stockdale | [20] |
Mary Jane Bowen Hamilton | (1828–1916) | June 17, 1865 – August 9, 1866 | Andrew J. Hamilton | [21] | |
Ann Rattan Throckmorton | (1828–1895) | August 9, 1866 – August 8, 1867 | James W. Throckmorton | [22] | |
Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease | (1813–1905) | June 8, 1867 – September 30, 1869 | Elisha M. Pease | [15] | |
Anne Elizabeth Britton Davis | (b. 1838) | January 8, 1870 – January 15, 1874 | Edmund J. Davis | [23] | |
Mary Evans Horne Coke | (1837–1900) | January 15, 1874 – December 21, 1876 | Richard Coke | [24] | |
Janie Roberts Hubbard | (1848–1887) | December 21, 1876 – January 21, 1879 | Richard B. Hubbard | [25] | |
Frances Wickliffe Edwards Roberts | (1819–1883) | January 21, 1879 – January 16, 1883 | Oran Milo Roberts | [26] | |
Anna Maria Penn Ireland | (1833–1911) | January 16, 1883 – January 20, 1887 | John Ireland | [27] | |
Elizabeth Dorothy Tinsley Ross | (1846–1905) | January 18, 1887 – January 20, 1891 | Lawrence Sullivan Ross | [28] | |
Sarah Ann Stinson Hogg | ![]() |
(1854–1895) | January 20, 1891 – January 15, 1895 | James Stephen Hogg | [29] |
Sallie Harrison Culberson | ![]() |
(1861–1926) | January 15, 1895 – January 17, 1899 | Charles A. Culberson | [30] |
Orline Walton Sayers | ![]() |
(1851–1943) | January 17, 1899 – January 20, 1903 | Joseph D. Sayers | [31] |
Sarah Beona Meng Lanham | ![]() |
(1845–1908) | January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907 | S. W. T. Lanham | [32] |
Fannie Bruner Campbell | ![]() |
(1856–1934) | January 15, 1907 – January 17, 1911 | Thomas Mitchell Campbell | [33] |
Alice Murrell Colquitt | ![]() |
(1865–1949) | January 17, 1911 – January 19, 1915 | Oscar Branch Colquitt | [34] |
Miriam A. Ferguson | ![]() |
(1875–1961) | January 19, 1915 – August 25, 1917 | James E. Ferguson | [35] |
Willie Cooper Hobby | ![]() |
(1876–1929) | August 25, 1917 – January 18, 1921 | William P. Hobby | [36] |
Myrtle Mainer Neff | January 18, 1921 – January 20, 1925 | Pat Morris Neff | [37] | ||
James E. Ferguson | ![]() |
(1871–1944) | January 20, 1925 – January 17, 1927 | Miriam A. Ferguson | [35] |
Mildred Paxton Moody | (1897–1983) | January 17, 1927 – January 20, 1931 | Dan Moody | [38] | |
Maud Gage Sterling | (1874–1963) | January 20, 1931 – January 17, 1933 | Ross S. Sterling | [39] | |
James E. Ferguson | (1871–1944) | January 17, 1933 – January 15, 1935 | Miriam A. Ferguson | [35] | |
Joe Betsy Miller Allred | (1905–1993) | January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939 | James V. Allred | [40] | |
Merle Estella Butcher O'Daniel | Unknown | January 17, 1939 – August 4, 1941 | W. Lee O'Daniel | [41] | |
Fay Wright Stevenson | (1896–1942) | August 4, 1941 – January 2, 1942 | Coke Stevenson | [FN 3] | |
Mable Buchanan Jester | Unknown | January 21, 1947 – July 11, 1949 | Beauford H. Jester | [43] | |
Marialice Shary Shivers | (1910–1996) | July 11, 1949 – January 15, 1957 | Allan Shivers | [44] | |
Jean Daniel | (1916–2002) | January 15, 1957 – January 15, 1963 | Price Daniel | [45] | |
Nellie Connally | ![]() |
(1919–2006) | January 15, 1963 – January 21, 1969 | John Connally | [46] |
Ima Mae Smith | (1911–1998) | January 21, 1969 – January 16, 1973 | Preston Smith | [47] | |
Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe | (1923–2000) | January 16, 1973 – January 16, 1979 | Dolph Briscoe | [48] | |
Rita Crocker Clements | ![]() |
(1931-2018) | January 16, 1979 – January 18, 1983 | Bill Clements | [6] |
Linda Gale White | (b. 1942) | January 18, 1983 – January 20, 1987 | Mark White | [49] | |
Rita Crocker Clements | ![]() |
(1931-2018) | January 20, 1987 – January 15, 1991 | Bill Clements | [6] |
— | — | — | January 15, 1991 – January 17, 1995 | Ann Richards | [FN 4] |
Laura Bush | ![]() |
(b. 1946) | January 17, 1995 – December 21, 2000 | George W. Bush | [51] |
Anita Thigpen Perry | ![]() |
(b. 1952) | December 21, 2000 – January 20, 2015 | Rick Perry | [52] |
Cecilia Phalen Abbott | ![]() |
(1960–) | January 20, 2015 | Greg Abbott | [53] |
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
- ^ Seale, William (1992) [1970]. Sam Houston's Wife: A Biography of Margaret Lea Houston. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 64, 65 194, 195. ISBN 978-0806124360.
- ^ Farrell, Mary D. "France Cox Henderson". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
- ^ "Pa Ferguson". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ "Miriam A. Ferguson". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ McQueary, Carl (2003). Dining at the Governor's Mansion. Texas A & M University Press. pp. 131, 132, 134. ISBN 978-1-58544-254-6.
- ^ a b c "Rita Crocker Clements Personal Papers". TAMU. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ "Hannah Este Burnet". Dress Collection. Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; Malone, Anne Righton (Winter 1995). "Reviewed Works: Star of Destiny: The Private Life of Sam and Margaret Houston by Madge Thornall Roberts; The Raven's Bride: A Novel of Eliza Alien and Sam Houston by Elizabeth Crook". Western American Literature. University of Nebraska Press. 29 (4): 370–371. doi:10.1353/wal.1995.0038. JSTOR 43021400. S2CID 166095573.
- ^ Gambrell, Herbert. "Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ "Mary (Mrs. Anson) Jones Letters". Texas Archival Resources Online. University of Houston. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Biles (2014), pp. 85–88
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; Vincent, Louella Styles (January 1917). "Governor George Thomas Wood". The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Texas State Historical Association. 20 (3): 269–276. JSTOR 30234713.
- ^ Hooker, Anne W. "Peter Hansborough Bell". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ Kemp, L. W. "James W. Henderson". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ a b "Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease". Dress Collection. TWU. Retrieved January 9, 2016.Smyrl, Vivian Elizabeth. "Governor's Mansion". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 11 March 2012.; Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481
- ^ Harper Jr., Chris. "Hardin Richard Runnels". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Martha Melissa Evans Clark". Dress Collection. TWU. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Adele Baron Lubbock". Dress Collection. TWU. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Sue Ellen Taylor Murrah". Dress Collection. TWU. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "Fletcher Summerfield Stockdale". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Mary Jane Bowen Hamilton". Dress Collection. TWU. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Ann Rattan Throckmorton". Dress Collection. TWU. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Ann Davis Gown". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Mary Evans Horne Coke". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Janie Roberts Hubbard". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Frances Wickliffe Edwards Roberts". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Anne Maria Penn Ireland". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Elizabeth Dorothy Tinsley Ross". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Sarah Ann Stinson Hogg". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Sallie Harrison Culberson". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Orline Walton Sayers". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Sarah Beona Meng Lanham". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Fannie Irene Bruner Campbell". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Alice Fuller Murrell Colquitt". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Miriam Amanda Wallace Ferguson". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Willie Chapman Cooper Hobby". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Myrtle Mainer Neff". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Mildred Paxton Moody". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Maude Abbie Gage Sterling". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Joe Betsy Miller Allred". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Merle Estelle Butcher O'Daniel". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Texas Governor Coke Stevenson". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 11 March 2012."Coke Stevenson". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Marialice Shary Shivers". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Jean Houston Baldwin Daniel". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Idanell Brill Connally". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Ima Mae Smith Smith". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Linda Gale White". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "Ann Richards". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Laura Welch Bush, 1995–2000". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Alvarez, Plocheck (2011). p. 481; "Anita Perry, 2000 to 2015". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "Cecilia Abbot, 2015 to Present". Texas Woman's University. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
References
- Alvarez, Elizabeth Cruce; Plocheck, Robert (2011). Texas Almanac 2012–2013. Texas A & M University Press. ISBN 978-0-87611-247-2.
- Biles, Stephen P. (2014). Encyclopedia of Early Texas History: A Compendium of Texas Antiquity for the Inquisitive Mind. Charleston, SC: The History Press. ISBN 978-1-62619-454-0.
Further reading
- Kirkland, Kate Sayen (2009). The Hogg Family and Houston: Philanthropy and the Civic Ideal. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-79377-4 – via Project MUSE.
- Wilson, Carol O'Keefe (2014). In the Governor's Shadow: The True Story of Ma and Pa Ferguson. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-563-6 – via Project MUSE.