Carolyn B. Shelton
| Carolyn Shelton | |
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Governor of Oregon Acting |
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In office February 27, 1909 – March 1, 1909 |
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| Preceded by | George Earle Chamberlain |
| Succeeded by | Frank W. Benson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Carolyn B. Skiff October 1876 Union County, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | July 26, 1936 (aged 59) Salem, Oregon, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
Carolyn B. Shelton (October 1876 – July 26, 1936) briefly served as Governor of Oregon. Her weekend as governor made her the first female governor in the United States. She was the longtime secretary to Oregon politician George Chamberlain, whom she married in 1926.
Carolyn B. Skiff was born in October 1876 to parents Willis S. and Mary C. Skiff in Oregon. When Carolyn was nine years old, her father mysteriously disappeared while waiting for a midnight train home. Although detective agency took on the case, he was never found. Her mother died just two years later. Skiff and her siblings, Nolan and Mabel, were placed in the care of her older brother Orrin and his wife, Elizabeth. A year later, local attorney John W. Shelton became the guardian of the children after unsuccessfully prosecuting her father's murder. At sixteen years old, Skiff married John W. Shelton on October 27, 1892, in Weiser, Idaho. Her husband died two years later.
A widow still in her teens, Carolyn Shelton became a stenographer at a law firm, Starr, Thomas and Chamberlain. Shelton excelled in the office, so much so that she was entrusted with drawing up legal documents, a task often assigned to young lawyers. She impressed George Earle Chamberlain, an attorney at the firm, and when he was elected district attorney for Multnomah County, he took Shelton with him as his private secretary. When Chamberlain was elected Governor of Oregon in 1902, Shelton again went to work for him as his private secretary.
Shelton briefly served as acting governor of Oregon in 1909, making her the first woman to serve as governor in the United States. Shelton was still serving as Chamberlain's personal secretary when he was elected to the United States Senate in 1908. He was to be sworn in as Senator on March 4, 1909 in Washington D.C.. Chamberlain left Oregon on February 27, 1909 even though his term was not slated to end until March 1, 1909, so that he could make the cross-country trip to Washington, D.C. and arrive on time to be sworn in with the rest of the incoming class of Senators. The governor-elect was sick in bed and unable to assume the office early, so Chamberlain left Shelton, his private secretary, to serve as governor over the weekend. It had been customary for governors to leave their private secretaries in charge when out of state for travel or otherwise unable to perform their duties, although prior to Shelton private secretaries to the governor had been men.
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