Caroline Margaret Watson Fleming (1844–1931) was the wife of former

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Aretas B. Fleming and served as that state's First Lady from 1890 to 1893.

Biography

Fleming was born on April 29, 1844, at

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, eighth-most populous city in ...

, a daughter of Matilda Lamb and James Otis Watson, early coal operators in that region. She attended

Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy was a private Catholic all-girls school in the city of Wheeling in the U.S. state of West Virginia. History It was founded in 1848 as the Wheeling Female Academy in downtown Wheeling and in 1865 moved to its ...

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

. In September 1865, she married the attorney for oil and gas magnate Johnson N. Camden: Aretas B. Fleming. They had one child, a daughter. Her husband, Aretas Fleming, served as

from 1890-1893. After a shortened three year term as first lady, due to the controversial 1888 election, the Flemings returned to Fairmont, where she played a prominent role in Fairmont's cultural, civic, and religious activities. In 1916, she signed a memorial from the West Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage that was sent to the legislature as they considered an amendment to the state constitution to expand the franchise to include women. Fleming died at Fairmont on July 19, 1931, at the age of 87."West Virginia's First Ladies," West Virginia Division of Culture and History, June 2007. She is buried next to her husband in the Woodlawn Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Carrie Watson 1844 births 1931 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of West Virginia Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy alumni People from Fairmont, West Virginia