Jamelle Folsom
| Jamelle Folsom | |
|---|---|
| First Lady of Alabama | |
|
In role 1948 – January 15, 1951 |
|
| Governor | Jim Folsom |
| Preceded by | Position vacant (1947-1948) |
| Succeeded by | Alice Boyd McKeithen |
| First Lady of Alabama | |
|
In role January 17, 1955 – January 19, 1959 |
|
| Preceded by | Alice Boyd McKeithen |
| Succeeded by | Mary Jo Patterson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 11, 1927 |
| Died | November 30, 2012 (aged 85) Cullman, Alabama |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Jim Folsom |
| Children | Jim Folsom, Jr. |
Jamelle Moore Folsom (November 11, 1927 – November 30, 2012) was an American former First Lady of the U.S. state of Alabama, serving from 1948 to 1951 and again from 1955 to 1959. She was the wife and widow of former Governor of Alabama James E. "Big Jim" Folsom and the mother of former Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. She is the only Alabama woman in history to have both married and given birth to a state governor.
Folsom was born Jamelle Moore to E.M. Moore and Ebelene Utley Moore. She was a native of Berry, Alabama, in Fayette County.
Folsom met her future husband, Jim Folsom, while attending his campaign rally in Berry, Alabama, in 1946 when she was just seventeen years old. Jim Folsom's first wife, Sarah, had died in 1944 due to pregnancy complications, and he had been described at the time as one of Alabama's and the United States' most eligible bachelors. Jim Folsom saw Jamelle listening to his speech while sitting on the hood of a car. He quickly told the crowd, "they sure did have a lot of pretty girls in Berry, Alabama." After the rally, Folsom invited Jamelle to have a soda in a local drugstore and the two quickly began dating. Jim Folsom was elected Governor of Alabama later in 1946 and the pair continued dating for two years. In 1948, Jim and Jamelle eloped and were married by a probate judge, a friend of Governor Folsom's, in Rockford, Alabama. Jamelle Folson served as First Lady of Alabama for the remainder of his first term, beginning in 1948 According to an account by the retired Chairman of the University of Alabama's political science department, William Stewart, Jamelle Folsom played a major role in settling her husband's fast-paced lifelstyle, "She seemed to calm him down and she was a very faithful companion to him for the rest of his life." Jamelle Folsom, who was twenty years younger than "Big Jim," had seven children, including Governor Jim Folsom, Jr., as well as two stepchildren from her husband's first marriage. All three of her sons were born during her tenures as First Lady.
...
Wikipedia