Jessie Benton Frémont

Jessie Benton Frémont
Photo taken in 1876
Born	Jessie Ann Benton May 31, 1824 Rockbridge County, Virginia
Died	December 27, 1902(1902-12-27) (aged 78) Los Angeles, California
Spouse(s)	John C. Frémont
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Jessie Ann Benton Frémont (May 31, 1824 – December 27, 1902) was an American writer and political activist.

Frémont's initial notability came from her family: she was the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton and the wife of military officer, explorer and politician, John C. Frémont. She wrote many stories that were printed in popular magazines of the time as well as several books of historical value. Her writings, which helped support her family during times of financial difficulty, were memoirs of her husband's, and her own, time in the American West—back when the West was an exotic frontier.

A great supporter of her husband, who was one of the first two Senators of the new U.S. state of California and a Governor of the Territory of Arizona, she was outspoken on political issues and a determined opponent of slavery, which was excluded from the formation of California. By maintaining a high level of political involvement during a period that was extremely unfavorable for women, Jessie Benton Frémont proved herself to be years ahead of her time.

She was born near Lexington, Virginia, the second child of Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858) and Elizabeth McDowell (1794–1854). She was born in the home of her mother's father, James McDowell. Her father, Senator Benton, had been wanting a son, but went ahead and named her in honor of his father, Jesse Benton.

Jessie was raised in Washington, D.C., more in the manner of a 19th century son than daughter, with her father, who was renowned as the "Great Expansionist," seeing to her early education and introducing her to the leading politicians of the day, an unusual thing for the period. Jessie was very close to her father and stuck by his side. He shared with her the many books and maps in the valise that always accompanied him on their trips to and from Missouri and Virginia. She began, too, to share his dream of a nation stretching from ocean to ocean. In this manner, she became well educated in the ways of social structure and the disciplines of politics, history, literature and languages. After attaining some fluency in French and Spanish, Jessie helped in the translation of government documents.