First ladies and partners of California explained

Post:First Partner
Body:California
Incumbent:Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Incumbentsince:January 7, 2019
Style:Mrs. Newsom
Residence:Governor's Mansion
Inaugural:Harriet Burnett

The first lady of California or first partner of California is the spouse of the governor of California. The role of the spouse of the governor of California has never been codified or officially defined. The spouse figures prominently in the social life of the state, and some spouses have been assisted with a staff in the Executive Office of the Governor. As of 2023, all the state's governors have been men, and not all of them were married while in office.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the current spouse of the governor of California concurrent with the governor's term in office. Her predecessors held the informal but accepted title of First Lady but she opted for the title: First Partner. Governor Newton Booth wed after he retired from politics,[1] and Washington Bartlett was a lifelong bachelor.[2] Jerry Brown was a bachelor throughout his initial gubernatorial service but was married when he once again became governor decades later.[3]

Prior to entering politics, Jane Stanford joined her husband Leland Stanford to help him run a mercantile business in San Francisco. The couple co-founded Stanford University.[4] Bernice Layne Brown, wife of Governor Pat Brown, was also the mother of Governor Jerry Brown. Nancy Reagan was a career actress before her husband Ronald Reagan was first elected governor, and then President of the United States.

There are five living former first ladies: Gloria Deukmejian, widow of George Deukmejian; Gayle Wilson, wife of Pete Wilson; Sharon Davis, wife of Gray Davis; Maria Shriver, ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Anne Gust Brown, wife of Jerry Brown.

List of first ladies and partners of California

Spouses of the governors of California
NameImageBirth–Death<--Leave parentheses/brackets in place per MOS:BLPLEAD-->TermGovernorNotes
(1812–1879)1849–1851Born in Wilson County, Tennessee and raised in the Methodist faith. Married August 20, 1828, Governor Burnett credited her with being instrumental in his lifetime achievements. Children Dwight, Martha Letitia, Romeetta, John, Armstead and Sallie[5]
(1824–1862)1851–1852Born in Indiana, disliked California and returned to Indiana until 1852. Kept a diary of her ocean voyage. Children Sue, Caroline, Latham, William, Lillie. Died in childbirth. [6]
(c.1809–1873)1852–1856Born in New York. Outlived both her husband and daughter Virginia.[7]
(1830–1887)1856–1858Born in New Jersey. Hosted California's first gubernatorial inaugural ball. Children William and Bessie . Outlived her husband and remarried to Colonel Sylvester H. Day.[8]
Lizzie Weller(1828–1885)1858–1860Born in New York. The Governor had been married three times before Lizzie, and she had a previous marriage. Children Charles and Josiah, stepsons John and William. [9]
(1835–1867)1860–1860Born in New York. No children. Her husband was only Governor for 5 days before becoming United States Senator.[10]
(1836–1883)1860–1862First California-born gubernatorial spouse, and the first one of Mexican heritage. Her father Don Rafael Guirado was from Guaymas, Mexico. Maria and John Downey had no children.[11]
(1828–1905)1862–1863Born in New York. One son Leland Stanford Jr. died at age 15 of typhoid fever. She and her husband founded Stanford University to honor their son's life. Her death in Honolulu, via strychnine poisoning, is believed to have been murder.[12]
(1840–1910)1863–1867Born in Ohio. Daughter Flora. Fashion-conscious society hostess.[13]
(1834–1898)1867–1871Born in Missouri. Children Janette, Mary, Dugald, Henry H. Jr. and Louis. [14]
Vacant1871–1875Booth was unmarried while serving as Governor.
(1842–1913)1875–1875Born in Indiana. She was also a playwright. Children Romualdo and Maybella. So far, her husband has been the only Governor of Latino heritage in the state's history. [15]
Amelia Irwin(1843–1905)1875–1880Born in New York. One daughter Emma.[16]
Ruth Amelia Perkins(1843–1921)1880–1883Born in Ireland. Children Fannie, George, Susan, Fred, Milton, Ruth, and Grace. [17]
(c.1836–1915)1883–1887Born in Maryland. Children: Cornelius, George Jr., Katherine, and Adele [18]
Vacant1887–1887Bartlett never married; died 9 months after taking office.
(1829–1914)1887–1891Born in Canada. Active in charity work. Children: Mary, James, Helen, Waldo, Anna and Abby [19]
(1853–1934)1891–1895Born in Illinois, raised in Wisconsin, active in the Congregational Church after they moved to Pasadena, California. Children: Marie, Alice, Gertrude, Genevieve and Hildreth. Genevieve died shortly after Governor Markham took office. [20]
(1851–1911)1895–1899Born in Connecticut, her family relocated to Stockton, California where she met her husband James.[21]
(1863–1951)1899–1903Born in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Children Fanita, Lucilla, Francis, Volney and Arthur. [22]
(1857–1947)1903–1907Born in Massachusetts. A graduate of what is now San Jose State University, she spent a decade teaching in Oakland. Daughters Florence, Carol, Madeline and Helen. [23]
(c.1870–1946)1907–1911Born in San Francisco. Socialite and musician, she married widower James Gillett and became stepmother to his three children. Together, they had four more children Effie, Ethel, Horace and James. [24]
(1869–1955)1911–1917Born in Sacramento. Sons Hiram and Archibald .[25]
(1869–1931)1917–1923Born in Chicago, she attended higher education in California and taught school in Poway, California. Daughter Barbara.[26]
(1869–1955)1923–1927Born in Illinois. Children Ruth, Paul and John. [27]
(1880–1967)1927–1932Born in Alameda, California. Daughters Barbara and Lucy. The Young family survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. [28]
(1872–1956)1931–1934Born in San Francisco. Hosted tea parties in the governor's mansion, open to the general public. Children Annette, James and Georgina .[29]
(1869–1948)1936–1939Born in Iowa, married the widowed sitting Governor of California, no children. An advocate of women's issues and health care for the elderly.[30]
(1883–1939)1939–1939Born in Utah. Children Richard, John and Dean . Held all-night poker parties in the governor's mansion.[31]
(1893–1993)1943–1953Born in Sweden. Her first husband, Grover Meyers, by whom she had a son James, died in 1920. She married Earl Warren in 1925, and had five children with him: Virginia, Earl Jr., Dorothy, Nina and Robert. She enjoyed being a hostess for her husband.[32]
(1918–2010)1954–1959Born in Iowa. A World War II military widow, she married the widowed Governor Knight at the end of his first term.[33]
(1908–2002)1959–1967Born in San Francisco. Also mother of Governor Jerry Brown and State Treasurer Kathleen Brown.[34]
(1921–2016)1967–1975Born in New York. National League of Families of American POW-MIA received 100% of her salary from writing a syndicated column as spouse of the governor.[35]
Vacant1975–1983Brown was unmarried during this first tenure as Governor.
(b. 1933)1983–1991Born in Long Beach, California. Children: Leslie, Andrea and George. Advocate for community volunteerism. [36]
(b. 1942)1991–1999Born in Phoenix, Arizona. Sons Todd and Phillip from a previous marriage.[37]
(b. 1954)1999–2003Born in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Met her husband when she was a flight attendant. Wrote the book The Adventures of Capitol Kitty about a real-life black cat cared for by employees of the State Capitol building in Sacramento. Proceeds of the book went to the Governor's Book Fund, set up by Sharon Davis to benefit school libraries.[38]
(b. 1955)2003–2011Born in Illinois. Journalist, founder of The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement to inform and find a cure for the disease[39]
(b. 1958)2011–2019Born in Michigan. Business executive, attorney[40]
(b. 1974)2019–presentBorn in San Francisco. Documentary filmmaker and actress. Under Newsom, the office of First Lady is officially retitled as First Partner.[41]

See also

Bibliography

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: California State Library. Governors of California – Newton Booth. governors.library.ca.gov. November 27, 2017. en.
  2. Web site: California State Library. Governors of California – Washington Bartlett. governors.library.ca.gov. November 26, 2017. en.
  3. Web site: California State Library. Governors of California - Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown. governors.library.ca.gov. November 29, 2017. en.
  4. Web site: Jane L. Stanford: The woman behind Stanford University – Stanford University. November 26, 2017. 21 May 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160521025646/http://janestanford.stanford.edu/biography.html. 21 May 2016.
  5. Web site: Harriet Burnett. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  6. Web site: Jane Palmer McDougal. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  7. Web site: Elizabeth Graham Bigler. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  8. Web site: Mary Zabriskie Johnson. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  9. Web site: Lizzie Brockelbank Weller. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  10. Web site: Sophie Birdsall Latham. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  11. Web site: Maria Guirado Downey. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  12. Web site: Jane Stanford. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  13. Web site: Mollie Creed Low. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  14. Web site: Anna Bissell Haight. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  15. News: Friends Sorrow for Mrs. Romualdo Pacheco. November 26, 2017. Oakland Tribune. November 7, 1913. 24, col. 4.
    Web site: Mary McIntyre Pacheco. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  16. Web site: Amelia Cassidy Irwin. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  17. Web site: Ruth Amelia Perkins. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  18. Web site: Mary Hardisty Stoneman. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  19. Web site: Jane Gardner Waterman. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  20. Web site: Mary Dana Markham. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  21. Web site: Inez Merrill Budd. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  22. Web site: Fannie Rains Gage. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  23. Web site: Mrs. Pardee, Wife of Former Governor, Dies at 89. Oakland Tribune. November 26, 2017. 17. col. 4. March 11, 1947.
    Web site: Helen Pardee. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  24. Web site: Isabella Erzgraber Gillett. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  25. Web site: Minnie McNeal Johnson. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  26. Web site: Flora Rawson Stephens. State of California. November 26, 2017.
    News: End Comes to Wife of Stephens. November 26, 2017. The Los Angeles Times. April 22, 1931. 15, col. 4.
  27. Web site: Augusta Felder Richardson. State of California. November 26, 2017.
    News: Ex-Gov Richardson's Widow Dies in Orinda. November 26, 2017. Oakland Tribune. June 15, 1955. 31, col. 3.
  28. Web site: Lyla Vincent Young. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  29. Web site: Annie Reid Rolph. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  30. Web site: Jessie Millisack Merriam. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  31. Web site: Kate Jeremy Olson. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  32. Web site: Nina Palmquist Warren. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  33. Web site: Nelson. Valerie J.. Virginia Knight dies at 92; former first lady of California. Los Angeles Times. November 26, 2017. December 1, 2010.
    Web site: Virginia Piergue Knight. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  34. News: Bernice Layne Brown, 93, Devoted Matriarch of a Political Dynasty. November 26, 2017. The Los Angeles Times. May 11, 2002. 67.
    Web site: Bernice Layne Brown. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  35. Web site: Nancy Reagan Biography :: National First Ladies' Library. National First Ladies Library. November 28, 2017. en. May 9, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120509085730/http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=41. dead.
    Web site: Nancy Reagan. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  36. Web site: Gloria Deukmejian. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  37. Web site: Gayle Wilson. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  38. News: 9 lives, 3 terms at the Capitol. November 28, 2017. The Los Angeles Times. December 10, 2002. 55, 61.
    News: The Personal Touch. November 26, 2017. The Los Angeles Times. January 1, 1999. 239. ; Web site: Sharon Davis. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  39. Web site: ABOUT US THE WOMEN'S ALZHEIMER'S MOVEMENT. THE WOMEN'S ALZHEIMER'S MOVEMENT. November 26, 2017.
    Web site: Friedlander. James. Maria Shriver Is on a Mission to Make the World Better. SUCCESS. November 25, 2017.
  40. Web site: Maria Shriver. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  41. Web site: Morrison. Patt. Anne Gust Brown: Much more than California's first lady. Los Angeles Times. November 26, 2017. June 6, 2012.
    Web site: Anne Gust. State of California. November 26, 2017.
  42. Web site: First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom . California Governor . 12 September 2021 . en.