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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.
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.
| 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] | |
| 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 | _(page_30_crop).jpg) |
(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 | _(page_46_crop).jpg) |
March 18, 1861 – November 7, 1861 | Edward Clark | [19] | |
| Adele Baron Lubbock | .jpg) |
(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 | _(page_62_crop).jpg) |
(1828–1916) | June 17, 1865 – August 9, 1866 | Andrew J. Hamilton | [23] |
| Ann Rattan Throckmorton | _(page_74_crop).jpg) |
(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 | _(page_82_crop).jpg) |
(b. 1838) | January 8, 1870 – January 15, 1874 | Edmund J. Davis | [25] |
| Mary Evans Horne Coke | _(page_86_crop).jpg) |
(1837–1900) | January 15, 1874 – December 21, 1876 | Richard Coke | [26] |
| Janie Roberts Hubbard | _(page_90_crop).jpg) |
(1848–1887) | December 21, 1876 – January 21, 1879 | Richard B. Hubbard | [27] |
| Frances Wickliffe Edwards Roberts | _(page_100_crop).jpg) |
(1819–1883) | January 21, 1879 – January 16, 1883 | Oran Milo Roberts | [28] |
| Anna Maria Penn Ireland | _(page_106_crop).jpg) |
(1833–1911) | January 16, 1883 – January 20, 1887 | John Ireland | [29] |
| Elizabeth Dorothy Tinsley Ross | _(page_110_crop).jpg) |
(1846–1905) | January 18, 1887 – January 20, 1891 | Lawrence Sullivan Ross | [30] |
| Sarah Ann Stinson Hogg | _(page_116_crop).jpg) |
(1854–1895) | January 20, 1891 – January 15, 1895 | James Stephen Hogg | [31] |
| Sallie Harrison Culberson | .jpg) |
(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 | _(page_136_crop).jpg) |
(1845–1908) | January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907 | S. W. T. Lanham | [34] |
| Fannie Bruner Campbell | _(page_142_crop).jpg) |
(1856–1934) | January 15, 1907 – January 17, 1911 | Thomas Mitchell Campbell | [35] |
| Alice Murrell Colquitt | _(page_150_crop).jpg) |
(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 | .jpg) |
(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 | .png) |
(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 | _(cropped).jpg) |
(b. 1952) | December 21, 2000 – January 20, 2015 | Rick Perry | [54] |
| Cecilia Phalen Abbott |  |
(b. 1960) | January 20, 2015 | Greg Abbott | [55] |
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