Jessie Benton Frémont

Jessie Ann Benton Frémont (May 31, 1824 – December 27, 1902) was an American writer and political activist. She was the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton and the wife of military officer, explorer, and politician John C. Frémont. She wrote stories for popular magazines and several books. Her writings, which helped sustain her family during financial hardship, primarily focused on memoirs of her experiences in the American West.

She was a staunch supporter of her husband, who served as one of the first two U.S. Senators representing California and as governor of the Territory of Arizona. She was outspoken on political matters and was an opponent of slavery, which was never implemented in California after the Union won the American Civil War.

Early life and education She was born near Lexington, Virginia, on May 31, 1824, the second child of Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858) and Elizabeth McDowell (1794–1854). She was born at the residence of her maternal grandfather, James McDowell. Despite her father, Senator Benton, desiring a son, he named her in honor of his own father, Jesse Benton.

She was raised in Washington, D.C., in a manner more typical of a 19th-century son than a daughter. Her father, renowned as the "Great Expansionist," oversaw her early education and introduced her to the prominent politicians of the era, an uncommon practice for the time. Jessie formed a strong bond with her father and remained by his side. He shared with her the numerous books and maps from the valise that accompanied him on their journeys between Missouri and Virginia. She gradually began to adopt his vision of a nation stretching from ocean to ocean. Through this upbringing, she acquired a comprehensive education encompassing social structure and various disciplines such as politics, history, literature, and languages. After achieving fluency in French and Spanish, she contributed to the translation of government documents.

In 1840 at age 16, while studying and living at Georgetown Seminary, she met Lieutenant John C. Frémont who was in Washington, D.C., preparing a report on explorations (with Joseph Nicollet as commander) he had made between the Missouri River and the northern frontier of the United States. They became engaged, but her parents objected to a marriage at that time because of her age. Probably through the influence of Benton, Frémont then received an order from the Department of War to examine the Des Moines River on the western frontier. Shortly after their return they were married on October 19, 1841.

Career American West For a while after their marriage, Jessie and her husband lived on Army posts, until Frémont was assigned the task of exploring the West and scouting land for future U.S. territorial expansion. It was this assignment that began the couple's rise to fame.

In 1841, Jessie married John C. Frémont, a U.S. Army officer A reconciliation occurred between Jessie and her father when he promoted Frémont's famous explorations of the West.

Frémont garnered many Northern votes but ultimately lost the election to James Buchanan, though he did surpass the American Party candidate, Millard Fillmore. Frémont was unable to carry the state of California.

In the years following, the couple moved several times, living in California, St. Louis, and New York. She played an active role in the anti-Secession movement in California in 1861 and enlisted both Unitarian minister Thomas Starr King and writer Bret Harte to her crusade.

Later years

The Frémonts would not live in St. Louis again, moving to New York and then California. In the Panic of 1873, John C. Frémont, who had invested heavily in railroad stock, lost everything and declared bankruptcy. Undaunted by their financial situation, Jessie began writing books to help support the family, namely A Year of American Travel: Narrative of Personal Experience (1878), a story about her journey to California in 1849, and Souvenirs of My Time (1887).

From 1878 to 1881, John C. Frémont served as Governor of the Territory of Arizona. Three months after being allowed to resign from the Army with pension, he died in 1890 in a hotel in New York.

After the death of her husband, the Congress, in recognition of his valued services, granted Jessie a widow's pension of $2,000 a year. In 1891, she moved into a home at the corner of 28th and Hoover Streets in Los Angeles that was presented to her by a committee of ladies of the city as a token of their great regard. She remained in good health until about two and a half years before her death when an accident made her an invalid, but she was able to use a wheelchair and enjoy the outdoors.

Jessie Benton Frémont died at age 78 at her home in Los Angeles. A huge box of fragrant and beautiful roses was sent on December 29, 1902, by Lucretia Garfield, a former first lady. The rites of the Episcopal Church were conducted at 10:30 a.m. on December 30, at Christ Church, on the corner of Pico and Flower streets. She was cremated, and her ashes interred in Rosedale Cemetery.

In 1960, actress Lorna Thayer was cast as Jessie Frémont in the episode, "The Gentle Sword" of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days. In the story line, the Frémonts, in California during the gold rush, become involved in a mining claim dispute; Mrs. Frémont stares down organized claim jumpers.

Works The Story of the Guard: A Chronicle of the War (1863) A Year of American Travel: Narrative of Personal Experience (1878) Souvenirs of My Time (1887) Far-West Sketches (1890) The Will and the Way Stories (1891) The Origin of the Frémont Explorations (1891)

The book Memoirs of My Life (1887) by John C. Frémont includes Sketch of Senator Benton by Jessie Benton Frémont.

Letters The letters of Jessie Benton Frémont (1993) edited by Pamela Herr and Mary Lee Spence, Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Collection of 271 letters offering insights into the mind and heart of the author, across the span of her life, including her husband's presidential campaign, her role in the Civil War, her time as First Lady of the Territory of Arizona, and her impressions of the late 1800s in California.

Biographies

Jessie Fremont at Black Point (1974) by Lois Rather, Rather Press, Oakland CA Jessie Benton Frémont: A Biography (1987) by Pamela Herr Jessie Benton Frémont: A Woman who Made History (1995) by Catherine Coffin Phillips Jessie Benton Frémont: Missouri's Trailblazer (2005) by Ilene Stone and Suzanna M. Grenz Passion and Principle: John and Jessie Frémont, the Couple Whose Power, Politics, and Love Shaped Nineteenth-century America (2007) by Sally Denton Imperfect Union: How Jessie and John Fremont Mapped the West, Invented Celebrity and Helped Cause the Civil War, (2020) by Steve Inskeep, Penguin Press

In fiction Immortal Wife: The Biographical Novel of Jessie Benton Frémont (1944) by Irving Stone Phillips, Michael and Judith Pella. The Journals of Corrie Belle Hollister: On the Trail of the Truth Bethany House Pub., 1991. Dream West is a 1982 historical novel by David Nevin about Charles and Jessie Frémont, which was adapted into a 1986 miniseries of the same name.