First ladies of Georgia (U.S. state)

First Lady of Georgia is the title held by the wife of the sitting governor of Georgia. The first lady serves as the official hostess of the Georgia Governor's Mansion.

First Lady of
Georgia
Incumbent
Marty Kemp
since January 14, 2019
ResidenceGeorgia Governor's Mansion
Inaugural holderMary de Veaux
WebsiteOffice of First Lady Marty Kemp

The current first lady of Georgia is Marty Kemp, the wife of incumbent Governor Brian Kemp, who assumed office in 2019.

Role

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The position of the first lady is not an elected one, carries no official duties, and receives no salary. However, the first lady holds a highly visible position in state government. The role of the first lady is the host of the Georgia Governor's Mansion. She organizes and attends official ceremonies and functions of state either along with, or in place of, the governor.

It is common for the governor's spouse to select specific, non-political, causes to promote. For example former first lady Sandra Deal is known for advocating for literacy and education throughout the state, for which the Georgia Association of Broadcasters awarded her their 2016 "Georgian of the Year" award.

List

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Name Took office Left office Spouse of
1 Mary de Veaux 1775 1777 Archibald Bulloch
2 Ann Bourne 1777 1777 Button Gwinnett
3 Marguerite Dupuis, Annie Unselt, third wife (name unknown) 1777 1778 John A. Treutlen
4 Hannah Bryan 1778 1778 John Houstoun
5 Hannah Wilkinson 1779 1779 John Wereat
6 Dorothy Camber 1779 1780 George Walton
7 unknown 1780 1780 Richard Howley
8 Jane Germany, Elizabeth Darden 1780 1780 Stephen Heard
9 Elizabeth Lewis, Elizabeth Dunham, Elizabeth McLean 1781 1782 Nathan Brownson
10 first wife unknown; remarried Mary Deborah Spencer 1782 1783 John Martin
11 Abigail Burr, Mary Osborne 1783 1784 Lyman Hall
12 Hannah Bryan 1784 1785 John Houstoun
13 Elizabeth Rae 1785 1786 Samuel Elbert
 
Elizabeth Rae Elbert
14 Sarah Gibbons 1786 1787 Edward Telfair
15 Anne Paul, Margaret (Cunningham) Reed, Mary Flowers Carpenter 1787 1788 George Mathews
16 Sarah Gibbons 1789 1793 Edward Telfair
17 Sarah Howe 1788 1789 George Handley
18 Miss Williams (first name unknown) 1796 1798 Jared Irwin
19 Mary Charlotte Young 1795 1801 James Jackson
20 Ann Lewis 1801 1801 David Emanuel
21 Harriet Fenwick 1801 1802 Josiah Tattnall
22 Martha Galphin, Ann Lamar 1802 1806 John Milledge
23 Miss Williams (first name unknown) 1806 1809 Jared Irwin
24 Jane Mills 1809 1813 David Brydie Mitchell
25 Ann Adams Smith 1813 1815 Peter Early
26 Jane Mills 1815 1817 David Brydie Mitchell
27 Mary Battle 1817 1819 William Rabun
28 Anna Twinning 1819 1819 Matthew Talbot
29 Nancy Williamson 1819 1823 John Clark
30 Anne St. Clair McCormick, Anne Carter 1823 1827 George M. Troup
31 Clara Meigs 1827 1829 John Forsyth
32 Eliza Frances Grattan 1829 1831 George Rockingham Gilmer
33 Elizabeth Walker, Annis Hopkins 1831 1835 Wilson Lumpkin
34 Charlotte Kirkley, Elizabeth Sarah (Jackson) Hargrove, Sophia E. Kerr 1835 1837 William Schley
35 Eliza Frances Grattan 1829 1831 George Rockingham Gilmer
36 Anne Franklin, Elizabeth (Roane) Ruffin 1839 1843 Charles James McDonald
37 Mary Ann McIntosh 1843 1847 George W. Crawford
38 Margaret Jane Campbell, Mary Winston-Jones 1847 1851 George W. Towns
39 Mary Ann Lamar 1851 1853 Howell Cobb
40 Ann Polk Walker 1853 1857 Herschel Vespasian Johnson
41 Elizabeth Grisham 1857 1865 Joseph Emerson Brown
 
Statue of Governor Joseph E. Brown and wife, Elizabeth Grisham Brown, Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia
42 Ann Harris 1865 1865 James Johnson
43 Sarah Jones, Emily Barnes 1865 1868 Charles Jones Jenkins
44 Helen Lydia Moore 1868 1868 Thomas Howard Ruger
45 Marie Salisbury 1868 1871 Rufus Brown Bullock
46 Sarah H. Semmes 1871 1872 Benjamin F. Conley
47 Hester A. Brown, Sarah Marshall Welborn 1872 1877 James Milton Smith
48 Dorothy Tarver, Sarah Tarver 1877 1882 Alfred Holt Colquitt
49 never married 1882 1883 Alexander Hamilton Stephens
50 Fannie Loyall, Susie T. Harris 1883 1883 James Boynton
51 Hester C. Felker 1883 1886 Henry Dickerson McDaniel
52 Fannie R. Haralson 1886 1890 John Brown Gordon
53 Martha Moss Neel 1890 1894 William J. Northen
54 Susan Cobb Milton 1894 1898 William Yates Atkinson
 
Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson, 1898
55 Eugenia T. Williams 1898 1902 Allen D. Candler
56 Jessie Lee Spivey 1902 1907 Joseph M. Terrell
57 Marion "Birdie" Cobb 1907 1909 Hoke Smith
 
Marion "Birdie" Cobb Smith with ladies of the cabinet of President Grover Cleveland, 1894
58 Cora A. McCord 1909 1911 Joseph Mackey Brown
59 Marion "Birdie" Cobb 1911 1911 Hoke Smith
60 Sarah Frances Grant Jackson 1911 1912 John Marshall Slaton
61 Cora A. McCord 1912 1913 Joseph Mackey Brown
62 Sarah Frances Grant Jackson 1913 1915 John Marshall Slaton
 
Sarah Frances Grant Jackson Slaton, 1910
63 Sarah Gibbons 1915 1917 Nathaniel Edwin Harris
64 Mary Adair Wilkinson 1917 1921 Hugh Dorsey
65 Sarah Gibbons 1921 1923 Thomas W. Hardwick
66 Rosa Carter Matthewson 1923 1927 Clifford Walker
67 Emma Wiley Griffin 1927 1931 Lamartine Griffin Hardman
68 never married 1931 1933 Richard Russell, Jr.
69 Mattie (Thurmond) Peterson 1933 1937 Eugene Talmadge
70 Lucille Lashley 1937 1941 Eurith D. Rivers
71 Mattie (Thurmond) Peterson 1941 1943 Eugene Talmadge
72 Mildred Slemons 1943 1947 Ellis Arnall
73 Betty Shingler 1947 1947 Herman Eugene Talmadge
74 Ann Newton 1947 1948 Melvin E. Thompson
75 Betty Shingler 1948 1955 Herman Eugene Talmadge
76 Mary Elizabeth Smith, Laura Jane Gibson 1955 1959 Samuel Marvin Griffin
77 Sybil Elizabeth Russell 1959 1963 Ernest Vandiver
78 Betty Bird Foy 1963 1967 Carl Sanders
79 Virginia Cox 1967 1971 Lester Maddox
80 Rosalynn Smith 1971 1975 Jimmy Carter
 
Rosalynn Carter, 1977
81 Mary Elizabeth Talbot 1975 1983 George Busbee
82 Elizabeth Carlock 1983 1991 Joe Frank Harris
83 Shirley Carver 1991 1999 Zell Miller
84 Marie Dobbs 1999 2003 Roy E. Barnes
 
Marie Dobbs Barnes, Nov. 2, 2010
85 Mary Ruff 2003 2011 Sonny Perdue
 
Mary Ruff Perdue at the 63rd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 17, 2004
86 Sandra Deal 2011 2019 Nathan Deal
 
First Lady Sandra Deal at the Milledgeville YCA Ribbon Cutting, October 12, 2016
87 Marty Kemp[1] 2019 present Brian Kemp
 
Marty Kemp with Gov. Brian Kemp

References

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  1. ^ "Marty Kemp - First Lady of Georgia". Retrieved January 16, 2019.
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