Emma Rogers (maiden name: Savage) was born on March 4, 1824, in Boston, Massachusetts, to James Savage and Elizabeth Stillman. Her father was a prominent banker who owned at least $48,000 in real estate and $65,000 in personal property by 1860. Emma married William Barton Rogers on June 20, 1849, and the couple spent the next four years in Charlottesville, Virginia, where William worked as a professor. They moved to Boston in 1853 so William could devote more time to scientific research and Emma could be closer to her family.

William died in Boston on May 30, 1882, and Emma edited and published two volumes of his correspondence. She also privately printed her father’s family letters, explaining that she “thought [them] to be of sufficient interest to the family and friends of Mr. Savage, to merit their preservation.” For the rest of her life, she divided her time between Boston and Newport, Rhode Island. She died in Boston on May 18, 1911, leaving $1,000 to the University of Virginia and most of the rest of her estate to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.