From colonial times to the present day, many women -- and one man -- have occupied the role of "first lady" or "first gentleman" to North Carolina's governors. And in a few cases where a wife predeceased her husband, a daughter assumed the role of first lady or "little mistress of the mansion" to her father the governor (see Helen Fowle and Angelia Morrison). No two of these spouses lived similar lives or inhabited the role of first lady or first gentleman in the same way - their stories are as individual as they were.
This collection will continue to grow as more biographies are researched and written.
See Also: North Carolina Governors, History of Governorship in North Carolina
North Carolina Governors |
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First Ladies/Gentlemen/Spouses |
Governor |
Years in Office |
| Kristin Cooper | Roy Cooper | 2017 - present |
| Ann Gordon Sturgis McCrory | Patrick McCrory | 2013 - 2016 |
| Robert W. Eaves Jr. | Beverly Eaves Perdue | 2009 - 2012 |
| Mary Easley | Michael F. Easley | 2001 - 2009 |
| 1993 - 2001; 1977- 1985 | ||
| Dorothy Ann McAulay Martin | James Grubbs Martin | 1985 - 1993 |
| Patricia Ann Hollingsworth Holshouser | James Eubert Holshouser, Jr. | 1973 - 1977 |
| Jessie Rae Osborne Scott | Robert Walter Scott | 1969 - 1973 |
| Jeanelle Coulter Moore | Dan Killian Moore | 1965 - 1969 |
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1961 - 1965
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1954 - 1961
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1953 - 1954
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1949 - 1953
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1945 - 1949
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1941 - 1945
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1937 - 1941
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1933 - 1937
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1929 - 1933
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1925 - 1929
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1921 - 1925
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1921 - 1925
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1917 - 1921
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1913 - 1917
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1909 - 1913
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1905 - 1909
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1901 - 1905
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1897 - 1901
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1893 - 1897
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1891 - 1893
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1889 - 1891
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Catherine Bullock Henderson Scales
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1885 - 1889
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Mary Woodson Jarvis
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1879 - 1885
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Harriett Newell Espy Vance
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1877 - 1879; 1862 - 1865
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1874 - 1877
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Miverva Ruffin Cain Caldwell
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1870 - 1874
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Louisa Virginia Harrison Holden
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1868 - 1870; 1865
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Martitia Daniel Worth
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1865 - 1868
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Mary Weeks Parker Hargrave Clark
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1861 - 1862
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Mary McKinley Daves Ellis
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1859 - 1861
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Isabella Cuthbert Bragg
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1855 - 1859
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1854 - 1855
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Henrietta Williams Settle Reid
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1851 - 1854
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Charity Hare Haywood Manly
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1849 - 1851
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Susannah Sarah Washington Graham
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1845 - 1849
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Ann Eliza Lindsay Morehead
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1841 - 1845
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Elizabeth Henry Haywood Dudley
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1836 - 1841
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1835 - 1836
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Eleanor White Swain
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1832 - 1835
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Rachel Montgomery Stokes
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1830 - 1832
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Lucy Ann Brown Owen
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1828 - 1830
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Frances Johnston Treadwell Iredell
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1827 - 1828
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Sarah Wales Jones Burton (Joyner)
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1824 - 1827
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Mary Smith Hunter Holmes
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1821 - 1824
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Maria Perkins Franklin
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1820 - 1821
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Elizabeth Foort Branch
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1817 - 1820
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Lydia Anna Evans Miller
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1814 - 1817
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Ann Swepson Boyd Hawkins
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1811 - 1814
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Sarah Rhett Dry Smith
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1810 - 1811
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Hannah Turner Stone
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1808 - 1810
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Elizabeth Chauncey Jones Williams
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1807 - 1808; 1799 - 1802
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Margaret Polk Alexander
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1805 - 1807
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Ann Cochran Turner
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1802 - 1805
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Sarah Jones Davie
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1798 - 1799
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Elizabeth Jones Merrick Ashe
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1795 - 1798
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Mary Jones Leech Spaight
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1792 - 1795
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1789 - 1792; 1782 - 1785
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Frances Cathcart Johnston
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1787 - 1789
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Sarah Heritage Caswell
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1784 - 1787; 1776 - 1780
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Mary Freeman Burke (Doherty)
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1781 - 1782
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Mary Whitting Jones Nash (Witherspoon)
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1780 - 1781
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North Carolina Colonial Governors |
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| Elizabeth Martin | Josiah Martin | 1771 - 1775 |
| James Hasell | 1771 | |
| Margaret Wake Tryon | William Tryon | 1765 - 1771 |
| Justina Davis Dobbs (Nash) | Arthur Dobbs | 1753 - 1763 |
| Elizabeth Rowan | Matthew Rowan | 1753 - 1754 |
| Mary Bursey Rice | Nathaniel Rice | 1752 - 1753; 1734 |
| Frances Button Johnston (Rutherford) | Gabriel Johnston | 1734 - 1752 |
| Penelope Golland Maule Lovick Phenney Johnston | Gabriel Johnston | 1734 - 1752 |
| George Burrington | 1731 - 1734 | |
North Carolina Lords Proprietors |
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| Susannah Kidder Everard | Richard Everard | 1725 - 1731 |
| George Burrington | 1724 - 1725 | |
| Jane Reed | William Reed | 1722 - 1724 |
| Esther Wilkinson Pollock | Thomas Pollock | 1722; 1712 - 1714 |
| Penelope Golland Eden | Charles Eden | 1714 - 1722 |
| Catherine Rigby Hyde | Edward Hyde | 1711 - 1712 |
| Catherine Glover (Knight, Porter) | William Glover | 1706 - 1710 |
| Mary Davis Glover | William Glover | 1706 - 1710 |
| Thomas Cary | 1705 - 1711 | |
| Martha Wainwright Daniel | Robert Daniel | 1703 - 1705 |
| Ann Lillington Walker (Moseley) | Henderson Walker | 1699 - 1703 |
| Ann Dobson Archdale | John Archdale | 1695 - 1696; 1683 - 1686 |
| Sarah Catherine Laker Harvey (Gale) | Thomas Harvey | 1694 - 1699 |
| Frances Culpeper Stephens Berkeley Ludwell | Philip Ludwell | 1690 - 1691; 1692 - 1693; 1693 - 1695 |
| Thomas Jarvis | 1690 - 1694 | |
| John Gibbs | 1689 - 1690 | |
| Anna Willix Riscoe Blount Sothel | Seth Sothel | 1682 - 1689 |
| Joanna Jenkins (Harvey) | John Jenkins | 1680 - 1681; 1676 - 1677; 1672 - 1675 |
| Henry Wilkinson | 1680 | |
| Dorothy Tooke Harvey | John Harvey | 1679 |
| Thomas Miller | 1677 | |
| Thomas Eastchurch | 1675 - 1676 | |
| Peter Carteret | 1670 - 1672 | |
| Frances Culpeper Stephens (Berkeley, Ludwell) | Samuel Stephens | 1667 - 1669 |
| Sarah Prescott Drummond | William Drummond | 1664 - 1667 |
Governor of the County of Clarendon |
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| Margaret Foster Berringer Yeamans (Walley) | John Yeamans | 1665-1667 |
Commander of the Southern Plantation |
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| Frances Culpeper Stephens (Berkeley, Ludwell) | Samuel Stephens | 1662 - 1664 |
Original Virginia Colony |
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Tomasyn Cooper White [not known to have been on Roanoke Voyage] |
John White | 1587 |
| [not known to have married] | 1585 - 1586 | |