Sara Virginia Ecker Watts Morrison

Sara Virginia Ecker Watts Morrison (March 14, 1868 – May 26, 1950) was an American nurse, heiress, philanthropist, and civic leader. She was first married to financier George Washington Watts, whom she met while working as a nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Left widowed with a vast fortune in 1921, she became active in her late husband's philanthropic endeavors. She later married Cameron A. Morrison, who was serving as Governor of North Carolina, becoming First Lady of North Carolina. She served as First Lady from 1924 to 1925.

Morrison was an active patron of the Presbyterian Church and was a benefactor of Davidson College, Queens University of Charlotte, and Union Presbyterian Seminary. She endowed the Stuart Robinson School and served on the board of trustees for the Stonewall Jackson Training School. Morrison was also active in Welcome Wagon and the YWCA and served on the board of Watts Hospital, which was named after her first husband.

Early life and education Morrison was born Sara Virginia Ecker on March 14, 1868 in Belle Isle, a community within Camillus, New York near Syracuse, to Isaac Jesse Ecker and Mary Adelaide Scott. She had other siblings, including at least two sisters and one brother. Her stepdaughter had assumed the public role during her father's term as Governor Morrison entered public office as a widower.

She served as the state's first lady for a short tenure of less than one year. In 1917, the couple travelled to Japan for an International Sunday School convention. She remained in Harwood Hall as a widow, then owned by her stepdaughter Annie Louise Watts Hill, and continued her late husband's philanthropic endeavors. Soon after returning to Charlotte, the couple built Morrocroft, a large estate. During this time, Governor O. Max Gardner appointed Morrison's husband to fill a vacant seat for North Carolina in the United States Senate, and the couple moved to Washington, D.C. After her husband lost a bid for election for a full term in the senate, they moved back to Morrocroft.

Morrison enjoyed needlework, gardening and reading and was an active member of the Presbyterian Church.

Death Morrison died from cancer on May 26, 1950, at her estate in Charlotte. She was buried at Elmwood Cemetery.