Emma Lees (1863-1899) was born in England and died in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her family emigrated to the United States in the 1860s, and in 1870 they were living in Fall River. By 1880 they were living in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and Lees was working in a cotton mill alongside her father, John Lees. Lees later worked as a dressmaker. In 1886 she helped found the Fall River Christian Science Institute. In 1888 her younger sister, Mary L. Hillson (b. Lees), wrote to Mary Baker Eddy from Fall River that her family wanted to join the Church of Christ (Scientist). It is unclear whether or not the family joined the church at that time; however Lees later joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 6, 1895. Lees held the office of Vice Grand as a member of the Rebekahs, a branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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