The following data on Emma is compiled from various records, i.e. census, marriage, newspapers, and depositions from Emma's fraudulent Nov 1900 Civil War Widow's pension application as the 'wife' of Captain Silas Soule. [File found at Fold3.com under Silas Soule, 232 pages. Claim #737,887]

Emma was born in 1846 Hawkins County, Tennessee and first appeared as 'Cynthia Wills' age 6 with Jacob and Amanda Wills on the 1850 census of that county along with siblings, John, Andrew, Adeline, James, Elizabeth and [Nancy] Jane.

By 1860, Jacob and Amanda Wills resided in Concord, Dubuque County, Iowa with children, James, Emeline [Emma] 16, and son, William age 3 born in Iowa.

Emeline Wills married Emanuel R Bright on 8 Sep 1861 in Dubuque County, Iowa. They had one daughter, Ida M Bright, born in Aug 1862. Emanuel died in June 1863 in Central City, Gilpin, Colorado. Emma arrived in Central City after Emanuel's death and remained in the area until about 1865. She may have returned to Iowa but eventually moved to Lafayette County, Wisconsin where Emanuel Bright's mother and siblings lived.

On 28 Feb 1870, Emma Jane Bright married George B Bennett in Lafayette County, Wisconsin. The marriage license mistakenly lists her father as Jacob 'Bright' and her mother as Amanda Wells [Wills]. A brother of Emanuel R Bright, Thomas H Bright, was a witness.

Emma and George Bennett are enumerated in 1870 Scales Mound, Jo Daviess Co, Illinois along with Emma's daughter, Ida Bright [mistakenly noted as Bennett]. By 1880 the family is in Dubuque , Iowa and now includes their two daughters, Effie age 9 and Jennie L [Jean L] age 6. Effie Bennett died on 6 Apr 1881 in Dubuque.

Per Dubuque IA newspapers, Emma J Bennett divorced George B Bennett in September 1881 and received alimony of $10 per month and custody of minor child.

In November 1900, Emma S Soule [actually Emma S or J Bennett] presented a claim and application to the Commissioner of Pensions of the US as a widow of Captain Silas Soule, Co D, 1st Colorado Cavalry, Silas Soule had married Hersa Coberly on 1 April 1865 in Denver CO and 3 weeks later was assassinated on the streets of Denver. [See info on Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 Colorado.] Hersa received a widow's pension, remarried, and died in 1879.

Emma claimed she had married Silas Soule in November 1863 but no record was found nor was she ever known by the surname Soule prior to the Nov 1900 pension application. Various depositions are contained in the above noted file.

In 1904, Emma was indicted and a warrant issued for her arrest. She was found to be 'mentally unstable' and that the belief she had of being the widow of Silas Soule 'an hallucination.'

By 1915, Emma is listed the Washington, DC city directory as Emma J Soule, and in 1921 and 1922 even noted she was the widow of Silas. She appears on the 1920 and 1930 census under the surname Soule.

It seems quite certain that the widowed Emma must have had some relationship with Capt Silas Soule after the death of first husband, Emanuel R Bright. However, also seems certain there was no marriage between June 1863 and Silas's marriage to Hersa Coberly in April 1865.

Emma's surname is uncertain. The deposition by Emma S 'Soule' dated 20 Feb 1904 in the above stated pension file stated:

'I am 58 years of age....I was born in Hawkins County, Tenn., the child of Jacob and Mary Martin. I should state that my father's name was not Jacob, I don't remember his first name, but while very young, my mother remarried Jacob Wills and I think I went under the name of Wills till I was fifteen. I was known as Emma S. Wills, later Emma S. Bright, and Emma S. Soule and never had any other Christian name. The 'S' in my name is for 'Sinthia' as I spell it. [She goes on to state she was never know as Emma J or Emma Jane which is clearly not true.]

Another document in the file also gives her maiden as Martin. Even though the pension file is full of falsehoods, there would be no reason to claim a different birth name, but perhaps she was mentally unstable or confused about many things.

So a few discrepancies as to whether she was a Martin or a Wills. She noted her mother's name as Mary but it is Amanda on 1850 and 1860 census records. When an older sibling James Wills died in 1925 Montana, his death certificate lists parents as Jacob Wills and Amanda Martin.

Emma's sibling have been difficult to trace so unable to confirm if the 1850 Hawkins TN family is a blended family of Wills and Martins. All appear to use surname Wills.

The Jacob and Amanda Wills above are probably the same couple in 1880 Cheyenne, Laramie Co, Wyoming.

Siblings of Emma

Adeline Wills Selder 1839-1910 FAG 53189403

Jennie Wills 1847-1941 [Nancy Jane 'Jennie' Wills] FAG 18232407

James Wills b. 14 Jan 1842 d. 3 Mar 1925 Butte, Silver Bow, Montana

Daughters:

Effie Bennett d. 1881 [likely buried in Linwood Cemetery]

Jean Lowry Bennett 1873-1956 buried in Linwood Cemetery

Ida M Bright Maxwell 1862-1939 FAG 24035928

I have submitted a link to Silas Soule even though there was no evidence of any marriage. Many researchers have noted the 'second' widow pension application and the link perhaps solves the riddle of Emma S Soule.

Submitted in October 2023 by FAG Member #48430445 Cheryl Dahl