Emma Sherman was born around 1843 in New York to Harvey Sherman and Lucinda Clark. Her father was a farmer who owned $6,000 of real estate and $800 of personal property in 1860. She grew up and attended school in Wayne County, New York, and she married Erastus Fuller around 1867. They adopted a son named Ervin, who was born around April 1870. Her husband worked as a farmer in Marion, New York, and they owned $2,500 of real estate and $400 of personal property in 1870. She remained in Wayne County, New York, for the rest of her life, and she died there on July 11, 1916.