Primary Name: LeFevre, Emma
Filed as: lefevre_emma
Also known as: Emma Cooper Beall LeFevre, Emma Beall LeFevre, Emma Lefevre
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women’s Auxiliary No. 6; writer
Born: December 23, 1835, Fort Howard, Wisconsin Territory (present-day Howard, Wisconsin)
Died: June 30, 1926, Juneau, Alaska
Parents: Colonel Samuel Wooten Beall; Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper Beall
Spouse: George LeFevre (m. September 13, 1855)
Children: Henry Belfield LeFevre
Associated places: Fort Howard, Wisconsin Territory; Denver, Colorado; Berne, Switzerland; Oregon; Skagway, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Emma LeFevre, Emma Cooper Beall LeFevre, Emma Beall LeFevre, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women’s Auxiliary No. 6, Skagway pioneers, Juneau pioneers
Biography
Emma Cooper Beall LeFevre was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Women’s Auxiliary No. 6.
She was born on December 23, 1835, at Fort Howard in the Wisconsin Territory, the daughter of Colonel Samuel Wooten Beall and Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper Beall. Colonel Beall commanded the garrison at Fort Howard and later served as acting governor of the Wisconsin Territory.
Through her mother’s family, Emma was connected to several notable early American figures. She was a grandniece of the author James Fenimore Cooper and a great-granddaughter of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Although she grew up largely on the western frontier, she received the educational advantages of the East. On September 13, 1855, she married George LeFevre, a noted plainsman and scout who later became a judge in Colorado. The couple lived in Denver, Colorado, for a time when it was still a small trading post.
In 1867, while the family was living in Colorado, Emma became ill, and her husband sent her with their only child, Henry Belfield LeFevre, to Berne, Switzerland, for treatment at the famous baths. Judge LeFevre died on July 30, 1871. Emma and her son later returned to the United States and settled in Oregon.
Although essentially a woman of the frontier, Mrs. LeFevre was a writer of more than ordinary ability and a voracious reader. She maintained a keen interest in political affairs and remained well-informed about political and social developments throughout her life.
In 1898, she traveled north to Skagway, Alaska, and the North thereafter became her home. She moved to Juneau in 1913, where she lived for the remainder of her life.
Emma LeFevre died in Juneau, Alaska, on June 30, 1926. She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
Sources
Biographies of Alaska Yukon Pioneers, Vol. 3, p. 193, Ed Ferrell; Alaska Daily Empire, June 20, 1926; Alaska Daily Empire, June 30, 1926; 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Skagway; Find a Grave