First ladies and gentlemen of Texas

The first ladies and gentlemen of Texas, under both 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.

Texas governors mansion

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 in the process of obtaining a divorce from Eliza Allen, his estranged wife in Tennessee.^[1] Houston's 1838-41 successor Mirabeau B. Lamar was a widower during his term in office.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] When his wife Miriam A. Ferguson won two non-consecutive terms as governor, James Ferguson became the state's only first gentleman.^[6]

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.^[7] Rita Crocker Clements not only restored the Governor's Mansion, but also had been a mover and shaker in politics decades before she married Bill Clements.^[8] Former first lady Anita Thigpen Perry has a background in nursing and two nursing educational endowments bear her name.

Republic of Texas

First ladies of the Republic of Texas

Name	Image	Birth–Death	Term	President	Ref(s)
Hannah Burnet		(1800–1858)	March 16 – October 22, 1836	David G. Burnet	[9]
—	—	—	October 22, 1836 – December 10, 1838	Sam Houston	[10]
—	—	—	December 10, 1838 – December 13, 1841	Mirabeau B. Lamar	[FN 1]
Margaret Lea Houston		(1819–1867)	December 13, 1841 – December 9, 1844	Sam Houston	[10]
Mary Smith Jones		(1819–1907)	December 9, 1844 – February 19, 1846	Anson Jones	[12]

State of Texas

First ladies and gentlemen of the 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	[13]
Martha Evans Gindratt Wood		(d. 1861)	December 21, 1847 – December 21, 1849	George T. Wood	[14]
—	—	—	December 21, 1849 – November 23, 1853	Peter Hansborough Bell	[15]
Laura A. Hooker Henderson		(d. 1856)	November 23, 1853 – December 21, 1853	James W. Henderson	[16]
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	[18]
Margaret Lea Houston		(1819–1867)	December 21, 1859 – March 18, 1861	Sam Houston	[10]
Martha Melissa Evans Clark			March 18, 1861 – November 7, 1861	Edward Clark	[19]
Adele Baron Lubbock		(1819–1882)	November 7, 1861 – November 5, 1863	Francis R. Lubbock	[20]
Sue Ellen Taylor Murrah		(b. 1835)	November 5, 1863 – June 17, 1865	Pendleton Murrah	[21]
—	—	—	June 11, 1865 – June 16, 1865	Fletcher Summerfield Stockdale	[22]
Mary Jane Bowen Hamilton		(1828–1916)	June 17, 1865 – August 9, 1866	Andrew J. Hamilton	[23]
Ann Rattan Throckmorton		(1828–1895)	August 9, 1866 – August 8, 1867	James W. Throckmorton	[24]
Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease		(1813–1905)	June 8, 1867 – September 30, 1869	Elisha M. Pease	[17]
Anne Elizabeth Britton Davis		(b. 1838)	January 8, 1870 – January 15, 1874	Edmund J. Davis	[25]
Mary Evans Horne Coke		(1837–1900)	January 15, 1874 – December 21, 1876	Richard Coke	[26]
Janie Roberts Hubbard		(1848–1887)	December 21, 1876 – January 21, 1879	Richard B. Hubbard	[27]
Frances Wickliffe Edwards Roberts		(1819–1883)	January 21, 1879 – January 16, 1883	Oran Milo Roberts	[28]
Anna Maria Penn Ireland		(1833–1911)	January 16, 1883 – January 20, 1887	John Ireland	[29]
Elizabeth Dorothy Tinsley Ross		(1846–1905)	January 18, 1887 – January 20, 1891	Lawrence Sullivan Ross	[30]
Sarah Ann Stinson Hogg		(1854–1895)	January 20, 1891 – January 15, 1895	James Stephen Hogg	[31]
Sallie Harrison Culberson		(1861–1926)	January 15, 1895 – January 17, 1899	Charles A. Culberson	[32]
Orline Walton Sayers		(1851–1943)	January 17, 1899 – January 20, 1903	Joseph D. Sayers	[33]
Sarah Beona Meng Lanham		(1845–1908)	January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907	S. W. T. Lanham	[34]
Fannie Bruner Campbell		(1856–1934)	January 15, 1907 – January 17, 1911	Thomas Mitchell Campbell	[35]
Alice Murrell Colquitt		(1865–1949)	January 17, 1911 – January 19, 1915	Oscar Branch Colquitt	[36]
Miriam A. Ferguson		(1875–1961)	January 19, 1915 – August 25, 1917	James E. Ferguson	[37]
Willie Cooper Hobby		(1876–1929)	August 25, 1917 – January 18, 1921	William P. Hobby	[38]
Myrtle Mainer Neff			January 18, 1921 – January 20, 1925	Pat Morris Neff	[39]
James E. Ferguson		(1871–1944)	January 20, 1925 – January 17, 1927	Miriam A. Ferguson	[37]
Mildred Paxton Moody		(1897–1983)	January 17, 1927 – January 20, 1931	Dan Moody	[40]
Maud Gage Sterling		(1874–1963)	January 20, 1931 – January 17, 1933	Ross S. Sterling	[41]
James E. Ferguson		(1871–1944)	January 17, 1933 – January 15, 1935	Miriam A. Ferguson	[37]
Joe Betsy Miller Allred		(1905–1993)	January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939	James V. Allred	[42]
Merle Estella Butcher O'Daniel		Unknown	January 17, 1939 – August 4, 1941	W. Lee O'Daniel	[43]
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	[45]
Marialice Shary Shivers		(1910–1996)	July 11, 1949 – January 15, 1957	Allan Shivers	[46]
Jean Daniel		(1916–2002)	January 15, 1957 – January 15, 1963	Price Daniel	[47]
Nellie Connally		(1919–2006)	January 15, 1963 – January 21, 1969	John Connally	[48]
Ima Mae Smith		(1911–1998)	January 21, 1969 – January 16, 1973	Preston Smith	[49]
Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe		(1923–2000)	January 16, 1973 – January 16, 1979	Dolph Briscoe	[50]
Rita Crocker Clements		(1931–2018)	January 16, 1979 – January 18, 1983	Bill Clements	[8]
Linda Gale White		(b. 1942)	January 18, 1983 – January 20, 1987	Mark White	[51]
Rita Crocker Clements		(1931–2018)	January 20, 1987 – January 15, 1991	Bill Clements	[8]
—	—	—	January 15, 1991 – January 17, 1995	Ann Richards	[FN 4]
Laura Bush		(b. 1946)	January 17, 1995 – December 21, 2000	George W. Bush	[53]
Anita Thigpen Perry		(b. 1952)	December 21, 2000 – January 20, 2015	Rick Perry	[54]
Cecilia Phalen Abbott		(b. 1960)	January 20, 2015	Greg Abbott	[55]