Lua B. Edson (1895-1980), the oldest daughter of Charles and Eva Higgs, was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, on January 11, 1895. Her parents had immigrated to the United States from England around 1890. After Lua was born, her family lived briefly in Massachusetts, where Lua's sister, Mildred, was born. By 1902, however, they had moved to Barre, Vermont, where they settled and Lua's other siblings were born. Lua's father, Charles, worked as a granite cutter in Barre but apparently died by the time the 1920 U.S. census was conducted. Lewis W. Hine photographed Lua's brother, Alfred, as a 10-year-old newsie in 1916.
Lua Edson was educated in the Barre public schools and was a member of the Spaulding High School class of 1912. She married Robert R. Edson, who worked as an assistant cashier for the First National Bank in Montpelier. She worked as a secretary and stenographer for both Governor Redfield Proctor, Jr. and Governor Franklin S. Billings. She was Vermont's first woman Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs, having been appointed to that position by Governor John E. Weeks on March 25, 1927. She was reappointed by Governor Stanley C. Wilson on January 8, 1931 and continued as Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs until 1934. Her political career appears to have ended in 1934. Sometime between 1935 and 1942, Lua and Robert Edson divorced and Lua moved back to Barre, where she lived until her death in 1980.
From the description of Lua B. Edson papers, 1901-1970 (bulk: 1901-1935). (Vermont Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 495844609
