Emily Benedict was born around 1839 in Connecticut to George and Harriet Benedict. Her father was a carpenter who owned $2,500 of real estate by 1850. She grew up and attended school in Newtown, Connecticut. She married George Benedict, and they apparently had no children. Her husband worked as a farmer and miller in Newtown, and they helped care for her elderly father until at least 1880. Her husband died on May 10, 1881. By 1900, she was living in Bethel, Connecticut, with her niece Harriet. She died sometime after 1910.