Emma was the oldest eight children born to John H and Isabelle Stipes Greaves in. Bolivar,Jefferson County ,Virginia( later known as West Virginia as of 1863)She grew up during increased tensions between the North and South and was about 15 years old when John Brown and his
party raided the arsenal at Harpers Ferry( about a mile away from Bolivar) The family moved to Sandy Hook,Maryland ( per 1860 census) .That move may have been prompted by the rumors of a Cival War and secession
It is believed that Emma met her husband ,James Anderson,during her time in MarylandHe was stationed in the area in a Maryland Infantry Unit( Union)They married(?1866-67) either in Maryland or West Virginia.
The 1870 census noted her parents, and younger sibs living back Bolivar.Emma and husband,James were living in Harpers Ferry with sons, James age 3 and Charles 3 months old.
Her husband was from Princess Ann County,Md, and by the 1880 census,they were living there with a growing family of now eight children—4 daughters and 4 sons.Emma's parents and younger brothers had moved to Knox County,Missouri.All of these moves were prompted by
the devastation of the war on Jefferson County.
Emma died young around age 46 .The cause and exact date are unknown at this time but the consensus of opinion is 1890.By 1890,
most if not all of her children and possibly she and her husband had settled in Chester,Delaware County,Pa Her burial site has not been determined.There is the possibility that she died in Maryland prior to the move to Pa.Her husband was listed as a widower upon his admission to the Soldiers Home in Hampton,Va.(1894)
Two young daughters,Ella (1885)and Anna ( 1887) were later raised by their oldest sisterJulia( Marshman) and her husband indicating that Emma's death was around 1890 and the deteriorating health of their father suggests that they were all living in Pa at the time of her death.