Phoebe Lovina Beecher was the daughter of Ransom Asa Beecher and Sylvia Desire Wheeler. She was born at Montrose, Lee, Iowa on September 23, 1846. Her parents were forced to leave their home in Nauvoo, Illinois by anti-Mormon mobs. They joined the great trek of Latter-day Saints west. Once across the wide Mississippi River in Iowa, the family stopped to rest and make preparations for Sylvia to give birth to twin girls. Phoebe Lovina was one of those twins.

Phoebe married Richard Drake on July 24, 1864. They lived in Willard, Utah between the years of 1872 and 1874. They moved to Elba or Connant, Idaho. Later they sold their home there and pioneered in the Teton Valley of Idaho.

Richard arrived in the Teton Valley in 1889 and stayed with his son, Richard Asa. He moved his wife and children there the following spring. He and his son-in-law, Edwin Rice, and his sons made homes in Victor and Cedron, Idaho. They grubbed the sagebrush, built good barns and homes and established fine herds of cattle and horses. Richard and Phoebe were the parents of eight children.

One time Richard was traveling in Oregon with a team of horses pulling a wagon. He made camp and heard a cow and calf bawling. He surmised they were being attacked by a wild animal and took his gun and went to their rescue in his bare feet. He shot at the animal and quickly jumped aside to be clear of the gun smoke and gain a clear view of the scene. The wounded mountain lion was coming after him and Richard did not have time to reload his rifle, so he used it as a club to hit the lion on the head. He knocked the mountain lion unconscious, but in doing so he broke his rifle in two, rendering it useless. Knowing the lion was only stunned and that it would be angrier than before, Richard quickly retreated back to camp. The next morning Richard returned to the skirmish site and found the lion had killed and partially eaten the calf.

Ruth Rice Jenkins remembers her grandfather, Richard, as being tall, slim and very kind. She recalls Phoebe as small, plump and darkly complected. Richard and Phoebe knew how to make their grandchildren feel loved and wanted. The high ideals and great talents found in Richard must have been instinctive, because he did not have a chance to acquire them in his youth.