[1] She was a pleasant, logical and forcible speaker and writer in her special line of educational and scientific topics, particularly third-wave temperance, and was in frequent demand as an instructor at teachers' institutes.

[2] Emma Lee (sometimes recorded as "Lydia")[3][1] Benedict was born in Clifton Park, New York, November 16, 1857.

A desire for more extended opportunities for study and a broader scope for literary work led her to resign that position and begin to focus on miscellaneous literature.

The researches there begun were subsequently carried on in Boston and New York libraries and by correspondence with leading medical and chemical authorities.

In 1893, Benedict was with Hunt, in the home of the latter in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, assisting in laying out courses of study for institute instructors and preparing manuals for the use of teachers on the subject of physiology and hygiene and the effects of narcotics.