When Emma Cora Showalters was born on 18 June 1871, in Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States, her father, Jacob Showalter, was 32 and her mother, Sarah Karns, was 33. She married John Smith on 7 February 1894, in Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons. She lived in Brush Creek Township, Fulton, Pennsylvania, United States in 1900 and Monroe Township, Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States for about 10 years. She died on 22 January 1952, at the age of 80, and was buried in Mattie, East Providence Township, Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States.